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MINUTES/PUBLIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
Monday, April 26, 1999 - 4:30 p.m.

Members present: Bakken, Bouley, Martinson.

1. Requests for block parties:
a) Lee Barnum to hold block party (cast party) for 6th
graders at Viking Elementary on May 13 at 703 Park Drive.
Moved by Bouley and Martinson to approve the application. Motion carried. (comm. only)

b) Residents of Hamline St. on May 15 and to block 500 block.
Lt. Kirby of police department stated they had no objections. Moved by Bouley and Martinson to approve request. Motion carried. (comm. only)

2. Request by VFW Post 187 and Auxiliary to hold poppy sales
on May 8-15._____________________________________________
Moved by Bouley and Martinson to approve request as presented. Motion carried. (comm. only)

3. Requests for variance to noise ordinance:
a) Johnstone/Fulton Smith Halls on April 29 at annual
barbecue.
Rickey Ward, Smith Hall president, presented request for end of the year annual barbecue, and stated that noise level not that loud; request has been approved by their residence hall directors and staff will take part in security as well as UND police department. He noted their live music is guitar which is not hooked up to any amplifier; and not aware of any previous incidents and that this was first time were asked to request variance to the noise ordinance for this function. Mr. Ward stated they have barbecue set up so that it probably won’t exceed 11:00 p.m., that there will be a bonfire which will be monitored by resident assistants. Fire and Police reps. had no objections, but it was noted that bonfire is subject to fire marshall’s approval. Moved by Martinson and Bouley to grant the request from Smith Hall, not exceed 12:00 midnight, and further that the bonfire is subject to fire marshall’s approval. Motion carried. (comm. only)

b) North Dakota Alpha Chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon on
August 21 and August 23 for recruitment events.
Held in committee for further information.

4. Requests from organizations to hold walks/runs:
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a) American Diabetes Assn. to hold bike ride (Tour de Cure)
on May 16
Lt. Kirby stated no concerns with event and with route. Moved by Bouley and Martinson to approve request to hold bike ride. Motion carried. (comm. only)

b) Grand Forks Park District to hold 10th Annual Mother’s Day
walk/run on May 8.
Lt. Kirby sated they had no concerns with request. Moved by Bouley and Martinson to approve request. Motion carried (comm. only)

5. Request from Bethel Lutheran Church Youth Group for refund
temporary restaurant license fee._________________________
Moved by Bouley and Martinson to approve request for refund of license fee in the amount of $65.00. Motion carried. (comm. only)

6. Application for transfer of Class I alcoholic beverage
license from Bradley A. Spicer dba The Long Haul Saloon to
Long Haul Saloon, L.L.P. (Arch Simonson), 4720 Gateway Dr.
It was noted that the application for transfer of Class I general on and off sale liquor license has been approved by the city attorney and the police department. Moved by Martinson and Bouley to approve the transfer of the Class I license. Motion carried.

7. Application by Wayne Westling for taxi license.
Mr. Westling stated he has his vehicle and equipment and eager to start business. It was noted that the application had been approved by the police department, and that inspection of his vehicle would be done after application approved, and liability insurance would be filed prior to issuance of license. Moved by Bouley and Martinson to approve the application for license contingent upon inspection of vehicle and filing of liability insurance. Motion carried.

8. Consideration of bid for auctioneer for police auction.
Three bids were received: Babler Auction Service, 10% of gross sales; Dietrich Realty & Auction Co., 6.95% of total gross amount proceeds; and Curt D. Johnson Auction Company, 8.85% of gross sales. Lt. Kirby recommended approval of low bid.

Moved by Martinson and Bouley to accept the low bid of Dietrich
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Realty & Auction Co., in the amount of 6.95% of total gross amount proceeds.

Doug Merfeld, Curt Johnson Auction Company, stated that last year they didn’t award to the low bidder, that they broke precedence last year because they were the low bidder and that there was a meeting they were not aware of, that there were some statements made that were inaccurate and committee reconsidered and did not award to the low bidder last year, and would ask for the same consideration this year. Committee stated they cannot address last year’s bids. Mr. Merfeld asked why the police department would recommend to the low bidder automatically, and if there was a special reason. Lt. Kirby stated that Lt. Sieber was handling this matter and he didn’t have any direct details as to the process but it was his understanding that it was Lt. Sieber’s recommendation to go to the low bid and no details as to that decision. Mr. Merfeld stated that he thought committee should look at last year’s minutes, and to consider more than just the bid. Chairman Bakken stated that they take low bids unless some kind of discrepancy or doesn’t meet bid require-ments; that it wouldn’t change their motion, but would like to look at copy of minutes from safety committee last year con-sidering the bids for police auction.

Upon call for the question, the motion carried.

9. Consideration of bids for southside fire station.
Asst. Chief O’Neill reported that they opened bids at EAPC last week with rep. from auditor’s office present, that they had one bid that was not opened as it didn’t contain a contractor’s license. Allen Dossert, EAPC, was present at the bid opening. Mr. O’Neill asked committee to accept the low bid and also that they do not have enough money set aside to cover the bids. He reported that the total low bids with all alternates included is $989,768.00; base bid with zero alternates is $857,571.00, and dedicated CDBG monies is $800,000. It was noted that project was bid with three separate prime contracts and low bidders were (base bids): general contractor, Baukol Builders, Inc. $535,894; mechanical contractor was Custom Aire, Inc. $188,577; and elec-trical contractor, Hope Electric, $133,100; plus alternates for a total project bid of $989,768 and all bidders appear to have qualified bid documents and bona fide bids.

Chairman Bakken stated that his intention is to approve the low
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bids subject to CDBG financing approval by the council, that recommendation will go from here to Urban Development on Wednesday and then to council on Monday. He noted that Urban Development will be changing the CDBG matrix on Wednesday. Asst. Chief O’Neill stated that he has no problem with that but does have a prior commitment out of town on Wednesday, and will have a rep. from the fire department at the meeting. Mr. Dossert stated they would also have a rep. of EAPC at that meeting. Chairman Bakken stated he looked at what they had presented with alternatives but didn’t want to get into that at this point unless it is necessary and then have to come back to review alternates - but would like to approach this total project as being doable. Asst. Chief O’Neill asked if they would look at alternates as listed on bid information submitted by their office, but has not proposed accepting or deleting any of those alternates.

Martinson and Bouley moved to accept the low bids: general contractor, Baukol Builders, Inc. $535,894.00; mechanical contractor, Custom Aire, Inc. $188,577; and electrical contractor, Hope Electric, $133,100.00, plus alternates in the total amount of $989,768.00; (refer to Urban Development Committee for additional CDBG funding); and subject to approval of the city council for CDBG funding for the rest of the project Motion carried.

Mr. Dossert stated he would like Mr. Swanson to be made aware of the irregular bid that may come up at the council meeting, that reason for not opening the bid from Richland Group, Inc. was that it was not responsive in the bidding documents that were required. He stated that the bid bond envelope was opened and no license was found (that the auditor’s rep. opened the bid to look for the license, no license found and bid envelope resealed and not read).

10. Matter of McGuire’s Bar (124 South 3rd Street), request for
waiver of liquor license renewal fee and request to extend
license for a period of five years from date of lapse._____
Chairman Bakken stated he had discussed this with Mr. Swanson and that they have some latitude on this and their request is that they have a liquor license now and want to waive the renewal fees and retain the license for five years to try to sell or reuse in another location; their building was flooded
and torn down. Chairman Bakken stated that five years is
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probably too long a period of time, longest they’ve done has been two. Chairman Bakken stated Mr. Swanson wasn’t sure of the fees but not right to charge a fee they were flooded out and lost their building.

Moved by Martinson and Bouley that we approve request for waiver of license renewal for period not to exceed two years. Motion carried.

11. Matter of requests from Central Business District Authority:
a) matter of poor parking enforcement in the downtown.
Held.
b) to raise parking fines.
Gary Christianson, Urban Dev., reported that the CBD Authority discussed this matter at one of their meetings, and their feeling was that a $5.00 parking fine is not high enough to be any significant deterrent, and recommendation was to increase the regular overtime parking fine from $5.00 to $10.00 and that if not paid within five days, it would go to $20.00 (currently is $5.00 and $10.00). He stated he discussed this with Chief Packett and the Mayor and from their conversation, they were supportive of this. Mr. Christianson stated he didn’t do any specific research from the people who commented, Fargo is $10 and $20. Mr. Christianson stated that in talking with Mr. Swanson, this should be for the whole community. Lt. Kirby stated that parking in UND lots different, on streets city-wide; and that the police department would have no particular position as to whether or not you desire to raise fines, that with aggressive enforcement and some degree of increase in the fines will clearly have deterrent effect. He stated he saw this on the agenda and wanted to take the opportunity to bring up an issue that the police de4partment has with parking fines in general, that under Section 8-1503, paragraph 11 and various subparagraphs, there’s a variety of different standards for the schedule of payments (ie., some say if paid within five days the fee is such, and if paid within ten days, doubles, and there are other ordinances under those same subsections that give several different schedules and that there maybe some need to look at the fines and police department would like to have the opportunity for Mr. Swanson to review that particular section and standardize the payment schedule so that all ordinances are either a certain fee within five days or certain fee within ten, and some schedule for some periods of time after that. He stated it’s very confusing for records people to try to keep
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track of that and creates difficulty for them.

Held in committee for further consideration.

12. Matter of grant between Health Dept. and Children’s Services
Coordinating Comm. Region IV Abstinence Education grant.____
Don Shields, Health Dept., presented grant and asked for review and approval of the committee, that this is second year of the grant and targets kids 9 through 14 year of age and is a billboard advertisement in a number of counties, incl. Grand Forks, Pembina, Walsh and Nelson, and encourages parents to have conversations with their kids concerning abstinence. The grant runs from April 2, 1999 - September 30, 1999, in the amount of $12,987. Moved by Bouley and Martinson to approve the grant agreement contingent upon final approval of the city attorney. Motion carried.

13. Budget amendments:
a) Comm. Disease, Abstinence Ed. grant - $12,987
Don Shields, health department, reported this budget amendment reflects grant that was just reviewed and is amendment to Communicable Disease grant. Moved by Bouley and Martinson to approve the budget amendment. Motion carried.

b) Municipal Court - $8,000
16. c) Municipal Court - $2,000
Darla McLaren, Municipal Court, reviewed request for budget amendments; that approx. a year ago the workload started increasing as they had additional police officers that increased workload, new judge and new procedures and caused additional work. She stated they have three positions, however the clerk of court retired March 31, that she has been appointed as clerk of court, but that her position has not been filled nor has a part-time position which has been approved but won’t be filled until mid or end of May. She stated that with her position vacant they will ask for transfer of those wages into overtime. She stated this will be on-going for now. She stated that the caseload is much heavier and reviewed workload; and also noted that they are working on a new program for court that will eliminate some of the duplications that they have to do.

Moved by Bouley and Martinson to approve the budget amendments
in the amounts of $8,000 and %2,000. Motion carried.

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14. Applications for gaming permits:
a) Health Institute Gift Shop (Altru) - raffle 6/11/99
b) Grand Forks Exchange Club - calendar raffle (Sept/Dec.)
c) Grand Forks Blue Line Club - site auth) for 7/01/99 to
6/30/00 at 1602 Mill Rd. and 2525 S. Wash. St.
It was noted that a) and b) have been reviewed and approved by the city attorney. Moved by Bouley and Martinson to approve applications for a) and b) and approve c) subject to review and approval of the city attorney. Motion carried. (comm. only)

15. Applications for gaming permits:
a) Sons of Norway - raffle 12/11/99
b) Meritcare Foundation - raffle 5/09/99
c) The ARC, Upper Valley, Inc. - site authorization
701 S. 15th St. (Johnny’s Lounge) - 7/01/99 to 6/30/00
205 N. 3rd St. (Hub Bar) - 7/01/99 to 6/30/00
205 N. 3rd St. (Hub Bar) - 5/01/99 to 6/30/99
d) Listen, Inc. - site authorization
4720 Gateway Dr.- 5/05/99 - 6/30/99
It was noted that a) and b) have been reviewed and approved by the city attorney. Moved by Martinson and Bouley to approve
applications for a) and b) and approve c) and d) subject to review and approval of the city attorney. Motion carried. (comm. only)

16. Budget amendment:
b) Health Dept. - $ 2,244.00
c) Health Dept. - $11,000.00
Mr. Shields reported that b) is unanticipated revenue from the Children’ Services Coordinating Committee for 1999 and requesting to use that as part of move related furniture/fix-tures as they move to the new County office bldg.; and c) is cash carryover and is to take care of some shortfalls they have in the 1999 budget and to use portions of those dollars formove-related expenses and amendments have been approved by the finance department. Moved by Bouley and Martinson to approve the amendments. Motion carried.

17. Consideration of police vehicles.
Lt. Kirby advised committee that on January 11 the committee approved the opportunity for the police department to purchase four intermediate marked vehicles for their use (two Crown Victorias Hansen Ford, and two Chev. Luminas from Rydell), and that they received notification formally on April 20 from Rydell
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Chevrolet that they will be unable to deliver the two Luminas, that they were told that they had submitted the purchase order in time to meet the deadline but Chev. did not produce enough of those vehicles to fill our order. He stated that Chevrolet is also in the process of no longer making the Lumina in a police package so options very limited; and wanted to advise committee that they are reviewing their options and in the near future will come back to committee with some type of recommendation as to how to purchase two more cars, are re-evaluating their needs to see what they can or cannot get. He stated GMC is going back to the Caprice as a police package vehicle but won’t start pro-duction on those vehicles until July or August; they also make a Tahoe(?) in a police package but the 2000 models won’t be avail-able until July or August. He stated they made a quick check with Ford to see if could pick up two more Crown Victorias but are beyond period to which they could order any more 1999’s. He stated they will evaluate their needs are as far as parking enforcement and that’s an area they need to have some attention to and are short on a vehicle there, so looking at a variety of options as how they might re-deploy some of the money that was budgeted for the Luminas towards parking enforcement; and also looking at possibility of some lease options they may have, but at this point in time, don’t have any recommendations but wanted committee to be aware.

The committee complimented police department on their Strategic Action Plan, and suggested use of more reserve officers.

Moved by Martinson and Bouley to adjourn; meeting adjourned at 5:25 p.m.

Alice Fontaine
City Clerk

Dated: 4/27/99