We'll call the Williams County
Commissioners meeting for September 1st,
2026 to order. Beth, please call roll.
» Barry
» Here.
» Steve
» Here.
» Bo
» Here.
» Chris
» Here. We have a quorum. We'll proceed.
If everybody please stand for the
pledge.
I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and
justice for all.
» Okay, brings us to item C, the consent
agenda. What are the wishes?
» Mr. Chairman had moved to approve.
» Thank you. Is there a second?
» Second.
» Moved and seconded. Any discussion?
» Discussion.
Roll call, please.
» Barry,
» Yes.
» Steve,
» Yes.
» Corey,
» Yes.
» Bo,
» Yes.
» Chris,
» Yes. Motion carried.
Item D is the public comment section. Uh
if there's anything that's not on the
agenda currently and there's somebody
from the public that wishes to address
the board, now is the time.
Seeing none,
we will move on. Uh item E, planning and
zoning.
» Good morning. Michelle Hogan with county
planning.
The first item that we have today is
LU-000057-26
which is Hannah Emmens and Von Cornell
on behalf of Herbert Cornell who are
requesting a variance for her proposed
1.21 acre lot to remain in the
agricultural zoning district. This is
located in the north half of the
southwest less the state highway and
previously deeded parts of section one
township 155 north range 101 west being
Missouri rich township and they have
recommended approval on this project.
The applicants are requesting a minor
subdivision which will create two lots.
The parent parcel is approximately
140.87 87 acres and within the
agricultural zoning district while only
68.12 acres are going to be platted. The
newly created lots will be approximately
1.21 acres and 66.90
acres.
The larger lot will remain in that
agricultural zoning district as it meets
the minimum required acreage. The
applicants are seeking the variance for
the 1.21 21 acre lot to also remain in
the agricultural zoning district
and from the required 175 foot minimum
lot width. The purpose of this minor
subdivision is to create a smaller
standalone parcel for Herbert and
Marlene's granddaughter Hannah to have a
single family residence like they had
done for their grandson. Access to the
subject property is off of US Highway
85. When planning and zoning heard this
item, they did recommend approval on
this.
» Okay. Is the applicant present?
Do you have anything you'd like to add?
» Okay.
All right. We will turn it to the board.
What are the wishes?
» Make a motion to approve following staff
comments.
Is there a second?
» Second.
» Moved and seconded. Any discussion?
Discussion.
Roll call, please.
» Steve,
» Yes.
» Chris,
» Yes.
» Corey,
» Yes.
» Bo,
» Yes.
» Barry,
» Yes. Motion carried very randomly. Thank
you, Beth.
The second item we have today is
LU-000058-26
Leon Brachie on behalf of Derek and Sadi
Offer and Lynen Mcnesen. They're
requesting a variance for a proposed
13.11 acre lot to remain in that
agricultural zoning district.
The location of this is in the
northeast, the east half of the
northwest. Government lot one, which is
northwest northwest and government lot
two being the southwest northwest. All
within section 31, township 159 north,
range 99 west, which is Rock Island
Township, and they have recommended
approval on this item. The applicant is
requesting a minor subdivision, which
will create two lots. The parent parcels
contain approximately 301.24 24 acres
and are within that agricultural zoning
district. The larger lot will be 288.13
acres and will will remain in the
agricultural zoning district.
The smaller lot will be approximately
13.11 acres. The applicants are
requesting a variance for the smaller
lot to also remain in that agricultural
zoning district and to allow the
irregularly shaped lot configuration
necessary to accommodate access to the
property. The requested variance would
also allow the access area to be
incorporated into the lot. The purpose
of this minor subdivision is to separate
the farmyard and access road to it from
the crop and pasture land. Access to the
subject property is taken from an
unnamed private access road off of 78th
Street Northwest. And on August 20th,
when planning and zoning heard this
item, they did recommend approval 6 to
zero.
Okay. Is the applicant present? Do you
have anything to add? No.
Uh, what are the wishes?
» I was just curious. Sorry, Chris. Uh, is
that how we typically handle the roads
like that? It seems like this is
different.
» Not typically. Um, with this particular
one, they we suggested that they could
do an easement, but they just felt like
they would rather have the road part of
the lot.
» Okay. Thank you.
Okay. Any other questions?
» Okay. What are the wishes?
I make a motion to approve following uh
planning and zoning recommendations.
» Is there a second?
Second.
» Moved and seconded. Any discussion?
Discussion.
» Roll call, please.
» Corey,
» Yes.
» Bo,
» Yes.
» Chris,
» Yes.
» Barry,
» Yes.
» Steve,
» Yes.
» Motion carried.
» The final item I have today is
LU-0062-26.
Clark Hatch on behalf of the Cork Trust
is requesting a zone change to the rural
commercial zoning district.
This is the south south half of the
northeast of section 8 township 156
north range 99 west which is Marshall
Township. The township has recommended
denial on this project. The applicant is
requesting a zone change to the rural
commercial zoning district for the
subject property. property is currently
within the agricultural zoning district
and consists of approximately 87 acres.
Purpose of this zone change is to allow
the owner to lease out the subject
property to a company who will utilize
it as a commercial parking lot to park
their vehicles on. Access to the subject
property is off of 127th Avenue
Northwest. When planning and zoning
heard this item in August, they did
recommend to deny the project.
» Okay. Is the applicant present?
» All right. Is there any other anybody
else that needs to address the board on
this one?
» Yes. If you do, if you're going to
address, please come up, introduce
yourself for the record, and uh
» My name is Jeff Severson. from the uh
landowner directly to the west of this
property. Um I guess I'm opposed to this
zone change on the fact of definitely
spot zoning. It's out in the middle of
nowhere. No infrastructure for
commercial.
None of the roads have been up to county
specs.
I don't know. It's just uh
kind of like I said, out in the middle
of nowhere.
Uh, I guess any questions for me?
» No. Thank you.
» Good morning. My name is Kimberly Erdman
and I am a land owner to the south of
this. It's on 127th Avenue and I oppose
this uh procedure. Number one, um this
proposal contains a non-conforming use
that harms the community's integrity. If
you look at the infrastructure on
highway 2 itself, there is no turning
lanes to go across the median median,
sorry. Which means that the truck would
have to come to a complete stop,
blocking swinging their trailer out into
traffic, blocking traffic and propose
proposed um harm to other vehicles,
stopping traffic, and even the
possibility of somebody passing away.
the approach and the road itself is not
designed to to handle truck traffic.
The the township nor the county maintain
it. So my question that I have is is if
this is not proposed in their paperwork,
who is the one that's going to maintain
this?
Also, my environmental concerns, as
we're all well aware in Williams County
that when commercial land is developed,
spills happen that go unreported. And
depending on how big the spill is, of
course, it could go into the waterway,
which could harm not only the local pets
that we have, cows, chickens, dogs,
cats, we got quite the arrangement out
there, but even wildlife. So on the
behalf of
the neighbors, farmers and ranchers, um
I do hope that you deny this. Thank you.
» Thank you.
» My name is Heather Brewer and my husband
and I own the parcel to the southwest
corner of this. Um, and we are opposed
to this because we just spent $800,000
to construct a home yesterday on that
parcel and we have six kids. Um, the
access road is not maintained at all.
Myself, our neighbors, neighbors to the
west. We all all of us have maintained
that road for the last couple of years.
We just got raw water this year. I think
that having 87 acres for a truck lot is
a little bit excessive and I think it's
going to create a higher fire hazard
right there. We've had a lot of fires in
the area. Um the access road that is in
their proposal is actually my driveway.
So I'm an access road, section line,
whatever you want to call it. It's um
it's not actually maintained by anybody
but myself and my husband.
We have six children and I don't think
that having a commercial truck lot just
to the north of our brand new home is
reasonable. We moved out there for a
reason and that was to get away from all
of uh the oil field traffic and I don't
think that having 87 acres for a truck
lot in the middle of nowhere is
reasonable and I think the county should
deny it.
» Anything you want to add?
» No. Um [clears throat]
we bought the property to get away from
out out of or in town and to enjoy some
peace of quiet and now
Now that they proposed this truck lot, I
mean it we probably would have thought
differently if this were to be approved,
but um yeah, really want to uh this to
be denied.
» Okay. What What's your name so we don't
have to write down husband?
» David Larson. David. Thank you.
» Thank you.
» I know. I could see the look on your
face. So we got a name now. Anyone else
wish to address the board?
Anyone else?
Okay, hearing nobody else. What uh what
are the wishes, gentlemen?
» Make a motion to deny following planning
and zoning recommendation.
» Okay. Is there a second?
» Second.
» Moved and seconded. Any discussion?
» Discussion. Roll call, please. B. Yes,
» Chris.
» Yes,
» Barry.
» Yes,
» Steve.
» Yes,
» Corey.
» Yes. Motion carried.
» Thank you. That's it for planning and
zoning. That was easy, Michelle.
» Okay, department heads. Lindsay, you got
a whole list of stuff.
All right. Good morning,
Okay.
Hallelujah.
Okay. We're going to start with rural
community grant program recommendations.
So, as a reminder, the rural community
grant program is the extension of the 1%
sales tax to uh communities with less
than 5,000 people with the dedication to
community gathering and recreational
spaces. There were two review cycles
here this year. Uh there's funds that
are allocated for 2026 and 2027. Only
public entities could apply for the
2026.
The finance committee serves as the
review committee. So this month or in
August, I don't know what this month is
right now. um September allegedly. Uh
they reviewed um two applications, one
from the Granora Park Board and one from
the city of Tyogga um for the remainder
essentially of the 2026 funds. Uh the
city of Granora is looking to install a
underground sprinkler system at Sunset
Park, which now serves T-ball, but also
is their park um as a way to cut down on
on manual watering and improve that
space. And the city of Tyogga is looking
to construct a new soccer field um for
utilization by the community and sports
teams.
So the maximum amount that can be
utilized for a project this year is a h
100,000. Uh so between the city of GRO's
request for about 90 and the city of
Tyogga for 100. Um the finance committee
did recommend awarding both of those if
they're approved, you'd have about
$2,200 left for projects this year. Uh
but there's no review cycle left for
this year. We're we're now looking at
2027. So then with this the
recommendation then also just to move
those remaining $2,200 to to 2027.
» Uh when we reviewed these uh in finance,
I mean they they are exactly what we're
looking for as far as projects. So um
that was where the recommendation came
from from the finance committee.
I'd make a motion to approve the
recommendations as presented and
authorize the chairman to sign the grant
agreements once finalized with legal and
roll the remaining 2026 grant funds into
2027.
» I'll second that.
Did somebody write that for you? That's
impressive. I like it. I like it.
» We have a You rattled off the top of
your head, right? We have a motion in a
second. Is there uh any discussion?
» No discussion. Roll call, please.
» Chris,
» Yes.
» Barry,
» Yes.
» Steve,
» Yes.
» Corey,
» Yes.
» Bo,
» Yes. Motion carried.
» Okay.
All right.
So now I have a variety of items related
to theratom committee that was appointed
uh here a few weeks ago. Uh so since the
commission appointed it, the committee
has met twice on August 17th and August
24th and the focus being on providing
recommendations to the commission to
then provide to the legislature. Uh the
legislature does convene today for
hearings. Um there is a special ad hoc
policy committee that will hear the
creatum related bills this afternoon,
other bills this morning. Uh and then
the special session will officially
start tomorrow. Um so this week will be
a big week for what the state decides to
to codify and and what they make their
decisions on. Um the recommendations are
kind of split into two different chunks
um coming from the committee. One um
first is for local action. So, we it was
recognized through our our county
departments that already exist through
the NDSU extension and the sheriff's
office, plus our partnership with the
upper Missouri district health unit um
that they do have efforts that go on
that support awareness and just to
continue to support those and expand
those um as well as with our local
behavioral health providers. And then
there was a a piece about making
additional funding locally available for
increasing those awareness and
prevention efforts.
And the second page in your credum
packet kind of breaks down that funding
recommendation. Um it was talked at a
high level from the committee and then
in in working with Commissioner Anderson
who serves as the chair of that
committee a little bit more. um an
initial amount of $50,000 was suggested
and then in again working with
Commissioner Anderson to break that down
to allocating 30,000 towards um what we
would call our internal departments or
partnerships. So again, focus on
delivering credible information um from
credible sources because this can be a
very uh minute topic um and allocating
then that again towards the extension
the sheriff's office and the the health
unit and then uh because the Williams
County behavioral health program uh
which licensed providers can apply for
that's currently open through September
18th um and then putting 20,000 towards
that program specific for creatum
related programming uh programming for
mental health awareness behavior health
awareness uh substance abuse is already
part of that program. So this would just
specifically allocate dollars towards
that.
So that's the local action piece. And
then the second piece is towards the
legis the legislative actions uh with
the two bills that are out right now
which is house bill 1628 which focuses
on age limits um and regulating pureum
versus synthetic and then senate bill
2408 uh which focuses on scheduling the
synthetics as a controlled substance
and in general um the committee did
recognize that while a total ban is
ideal it might just not actually be
practical because the focus should be
onfor enforcable and effective
legislation and regulations. Um and then
with additional focus on increased
consequences for retailers as opposed to
users and decrease access overall
toratom and products. Uh it was also
brought up especially from our public
health perspective uh with
kind of looking at catum more like
marijuana as opposed to tobacco in which
marijuana is regulated for medicinal
versus recreational use. And if there is
a true medicinal use for pureratom, then
it should be allowed under the
supervision of a physician um and and in
their care. And overall then as well if
the synthetic is going to be scheduled
as a controlled substance um the age
limits and other parts of that
regulatory framework uh not co-mingling
that with language related to tobacco
and instead with other similar
substances such as marijuana. So that
information is then provided synthesized
for you in the recommendations. The
funding recommendation is separate and
then should you so wish to issue then
those recommendations to the legislature
a draft of a letter is provided as well.
» Okay. I guess I would just like to thank
the the committee and commissioner
Anderson for the time and effort to to
go through and get all these things put
together for us. It's uh I'm sure it was
a lot of work and Lindsay, thank you for
uh being part of it since I volunteered
you without you knowing it was
happening. So Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo
Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo
Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo Bo at least did it on his
own. You kind of got stuck.
» Well, he says a lot of work. I guarantee
99.9% of it is Lindsay because she took
the ramblings of the committee and
brought it all together here. But the
moral of the story is the the committee
wants to have some sort of action now
that we can do and it's in education and
the the folks in the room um from the um
healthc care community basically said
absolutely we can continue to provide
education but uh additional funds would
be useful to for them. Um but we also
have I mean sheriff's office all these
departments within the county that offer
educational opportunities and I that
within our own organization I think we
can do a pretty good job of um
bolstering this education. So um thank
you Lindsay for putting all this
together. This letter I think is very
well written and um it should should
hopefully affect the legislature in a
good way. So, thank you.
» One thing I was just curious about,
we're a significant employer as Williams
County. Could we include some
educational material for our own staff
in the form of a simple email? I mean,
just some educational material. Uh, that
seems like an easy thing we could do
through HR and distribute information to
make staff aware of the issue. I
certainly didn't know about it until it
became an issue.
You know, one thing that one of the
folks in the room brought up and she
deals specifically with DOT violations.
There was a person that came into her
office that had a DOT violation because
of substance of some kind and she put on
the document that
was part of the issue, you know, would
have to be dealt with. the federal DOT
person told her you have to remove that
off there because there is no federal
guidelines withratom use and all this
stuff so you have to take it off. So
basically it makes their violation go
away because there there's nothing that
says that using
bad according to the federal government.
So the fact that there are drivers out
there on the road that are under the
influence of is is uh is concerning. So
» And I I will add on that note um the if
you remember back to the DEA scheduling
the earliest that they could have
scheduled it would have been August 5th
and that was based on their 30-day
timeline for the notice of intent. um
they didn't schedule it August the 5th
and really it wasn't expected to be that
day because that was just the first it
could have been but it was scheduled
last week so that DEA emergency
scheduling did get completed um their
press release was Tuesday and the
Federal Register came out Wednesday so
it's like they knew North Dakota was
going into special session um so at
least those pieces are kind of falling
apart because a lot of times you can't
do anything locally unless the state
does the state can't unless the federal
government does. So it's at least moving
along. The other thing the committee
talked about is the whatifs like what if
the legislature didn't do anything. So
as a group we also discussed that
whatever recommendation the committee
were to for it if something didn't come
out of legislature has to be enforceable
but it has to has to be lock step with
law enforcement to make sure that it's
it works. But not only that, it's going
to be a collaboration with every
community in the in the county so that
we can come up with something
comprehensive that fits the whole county
that actually that will work. I mean, I
say I say it will work to the best of
our ability, but it will involve every
community so that we can get on the same
page.
» Okay. So, what we're looking for is a
motion to uh approve the the funding
recommendation and also to approve the
creative committee recommendations and
put the letter together and authorize
the chairman to sign. Is that what we're
doing?
» That yes.
» Does that sound right?
» That sounds right. I didn't make that.
» Everybody catch that?
» I would make that motion.
» I'll second the motion.
» Okay. Beth, did you get the motion? All
right.
go in order but I got it.
» All right. As long as you got it. Is
there any discussion
» Discussion
» On the healthcare side of things? Just
for the record, I've seen uh people
withdrawing from in our ER. It is a
heart-wrenching site.
» Okay. Uh roll call. Beth,
» Yes.
» Steve,
» Yes.
» Corey,
» Yes.
» Bo,
» Yes. Chris.
» Yes. Motion carried.
» Okay. Thank you. All right. And the last
item is uh Senator Ingot. Uh so Senator
Mark Ingot represents district 2, which
encompasses a couple of counties and
actually most of the rural parts of
Williams County. uh and he is organizing
a data center information session for
September 14th uh from 10 am to 2 pm uh
for the public to be able to attend uh
and interact with um different subject
matter experts uh there's some folks
that are coming from the state some
folks that are coming from the electric
uh companies and cooperatives uh from
their planning coun uh one of the
planning council representatives and
then they're also inviting commissioners
and planning and zoning board
representatives. Um
I have been piecing some information
together here. Uh but once I had shared
some of this, it seemed that there was
quite a bit of interest from more than
one commissioner attending. Uh so
putting this before the board for your
discussion and then um who you would
like to have attend.
» I guess uh my first question for Karen,
how do we go about if we're going to say
we want everybody to be able to attend?
What do we have to do?
» And so into it is it so originally I had
thought it was only 10 to noon. It is 10
to 2. So it's four hours and it's an
openhouse comeand go format.
» I guess and my reasoning while you're
thinking um my reasoning behind it is I
I think there's going to be some good
information there if they're bringing in
other people. not necessarily us as
information because I'm I'm trying to
learn as much as I can while we're doing
this, but if I I mean, they did list on
there that Bo was going to be a speaker,
which I don't believe he's going to be.
» Well, and uh just and Mark is the one
that called me on this quite a while
ago. So, he and of course I'm like,
well, yeah, I'll put it on my calendar.
He's like, you're the only one that
hasn't said yes, I'm coming. So, I'm
like, okay, yeah, I'll be there.
Um, also since my uncle passed away and
I will be in New Mexico, so I will be on
my way home that day. So I won't be able
to go.
» Okay.
» So I will have to let Mr. Ingot know
that. But you know when Lindsay brought
up that the flyer says that the whole
commission I is coming. I in no way,
shape or form said absolutely the whole
commission will show up. But
I'm I guess I have a couple concerns.
one that it's going to be a, you know,
like a lynch mob. But, you know, to the
public, I want people to know that I
probably know just about as little about
some of these data centers as a lot of
people do. So, it's it's going to be a
learning curve for all of us. The good
news is that, you know, planning and
zoning work very hard to get our
ordinance updated and so that we have a
a better framework and a policy to get
through. I think that what people are
confused about though is that there's
city limits and then there's county. So
I on on the Facebook world, we all get
lumped together as one big huge group of
idiots. So, um
I think I it's going to be a good
meeting. I wish I could be there. I'm
sorry that sorry that I can't attend.
» Well, and I think that's that's my
reasoning. Uh because it's going to be a
good learning experience and and if and
not saying and I guess I'm not
volunteering everybody. Nobody has to
say yes, but I I know there at one point
there was a couple that had decided they
were going Barry being one of them. Um I
personally if I can make it work I would
like to be able to be there and I don't
know about Commissioner Kemp or
Commissioner
» If I can make it work I'd like to be
there as well.
» So I I think that brings us to the
question with you. What do we got to do?
» Well under state law there are certain
instances where the board can go to
meetings and things like that that don't
trigger public notice requirements. But
I'd have to really dig into the century
code to see if a legislative session is
one of those things. And so once I find
that out, I can ask I can talk to
Lindsay or coordinate with Lindsay and
if there's like public notices that are
required, whatever, then she can handle
that. Then
» That sounds like a great idea. Then you
guys just deal with it and do what we
got to do.
» Okay.
» Um so, uh would we do we need a motion
then to to do that and direct them to go
ahead and and move with this or do we
just do it?
» I think we just do it.
» Perfect. There's nothing I love more
than Karen saying, "Just do it."
» I'm gonna walk away now.
» Thanks.
» Thank you, Lindsay. Appreciate it. And
we got Karen to say just go. I love it.
[laughter]
» All right, Helen, you're up.
Good morning.
you'll see that we have no positions to
seek permission to fill and we don't
have any board appointments. So, this is
just an FYI report for you. The the one
thing that I would give you an update on
today is that we are working out at the
fairgrounds right now and when I say we,
I really mean County Highway and Company
are out there. Uh we they have
undertaken a clean out on the north end
of the site and so for maybe all of the
70 years of the fairgrounds things have
been put on the north side and the weeds
have grown up. So there's been an effort
to knock down those weeds and then pull
out the scrap. I understand the metal's
gone to metal recycling. Wood where it's
um good firewood is actually being
reused for the parks to resell for
camping and then the rest of course is
going to the dump. So it's been
I think nearly a full week. I was out
there at the end of last week and they
were working pretty hard filling up dump
trucks. I think there's been
a lot of dump truck loads taken out. So,
thanks to those guys for that. The other
thing that's happening is that we are
working closely with the fair
association and proceeding with the
demolition of a couple of buildings out
there. As uh we have previously
reported, there was some kind of a wind
shear episode out there in June in which
we lost a number a lot of roof material
for a couple of the oldest buildings and
they're used primarily just during the
fair. And so in conversation with the
fair association, what were we going to
do as a fix, the determination was uh we
can we can do something with some
temporary storage and some temporary
trailers during the fair and to store
their material in between. And so those
buildings are coming down as well.
So, baby steps and of course when when
we had the folks in town chip sealing
the highways, they also chip sealed all
of the the applicable hard surface out
there as well. So,
» And we had a meeting with Icon and the
gentleman from Preffort who was
livestock handling facility which I
thought he was fantastic but it's it was
interesting that the majority of the
icon guys were looking to the prefort
guy for advice on what would this
building look like? What should we do
here? Where would this go? I mean that
it was kind of interesting, but uh in
the discussion it sounds like County
Highway is going to do a whole bunch of
grading of parking lots and moving dirt
and so I I mean that it's good to have
everybody on board and kind of getting
on the same page. But um I mean as a
farmer I collect junk and like to clean
up and I I can see how the fairgrounds
in certain areas got the way it was you
know in that back but their county
highways cleaning all that up and it's
it's going to take time but I think it's
really even just basic improvements like
that is going to be huge. So it's nice
but uh the discussion with Icon and the
preer gentleman was I think was good. I
think Helen kept giving me the the skunk
eye occasionally because I kept telling
him
» I was never
» Tip tip over the tip over the apple
cart. Whatever whatever they think it
should look like. We just need to tip it
over. See what what recommendations we
get and then we go back to what what
will the public tolerate? You know, what
group what does this look like to all
the groups out there? But it was a good
conversation. Good starter. Oh, may be
willing to dream more than I am
sometimes, but that's good. That's why
we all do this together. Yeah, the um
county highway is also going to
undertake or has started. There's a west
area that I would call more of a swamp
than a parking area. And so, uh, we
they've they've done some design work to
be able to change, uh, sort of change
elevations, get some drainage happening
this year during that the big rain event
during the fair. You could really see
where all the water goes and either
we've got people parking there or they
can't park there because now it's really
wet. So, that's the other thing that
they're working on this fall. Uh,
Preffort is a nationwide leader in the
metal panels and all of the livestock
handling stuff. Look, people who know
know. And so, uh, this gentleman
happened to be in the area doing work
with ICON. And so, it was just a nice
opportunity for us to have somebody who
specializes in that kind of, um, animal
handling, thought processing to to be
out there. I I think all of the
architects who have talked to me and
have said we'd kind of like to be
involved in this project have mentioned
that they have contacts with Preffort
and Preffort could be involved and so
when I heard he was coming it just felt
like a good opportunity to to meet him
in person. and I think he's sort of the
regional guy
» And also has extensive knowledge of
facilities that are going to be used for
livestock that change immediately into
some other venue like a concert
basketball arena that type stuff. So
preferred does all the like a national
finals rodeo if you watch that all the
interior stock handling for that and
exterior is all preferred and guarantee
that Glenn was probably part of that
project. So it was it was a good visit.
» Again I anticipate end of the year or
probably early next year because here we
are in September already. We'll go
through a process to uh allow architects
to put their names in and we'll choose
someone who will be our our support
through the design process. But for now,
we're as it as it becomes possible,
we're getting a little more information,
educating ourselves a little bit, I
guess, if nothing else.
» Mr. Mr. Chairman, just one quick
question and I
my concern has always been around the
racetrack and since there's no appetite
to move it whatsoever, would there be an
opportunity to at least engage a company
like the one that put up the walls for
the data center just to do a noise study
to see if there is some remediation that
we could do as a part of this overall
master plan? I mean, it I don't I can't
imagine a study would cost a tremendous
amount of money, but at least we'd have
an idea of what it would take to to help
» That.
» Yeah, exactly. With the popping and the
cracking.
» Yeah. I mean, we have Yes.
» Okay.
» Well, we can do all sorts of studies and
determinations. Yep.
» I'll add it to the list.
» Okay. Would it would it be worthwhile
reaching out to McKenzie with their
facility down there? What what they wish
they would have done or or good god
don't do that kind of a thing.
» Yeah. Yep. I would say once we have our
architect uh once we have a contract
with an architect then there will be a
whole bunch of that. Uh DSU Dickinson
State has just built a new arena rodeo
grounds. uh McKenzo County of course and
so once we have somebody who's
collecting information and putting it
together and analyzing for us then we'll
start to do some of those efforts so
that we can again incorporate that into
what we're doing long
» Term for sure.
» And part of that meeting was supposed to
be a a trip to Watford City to tour
their facility and talk to them about
all that stuff but my harvest schedule
kept us from doing that. So we're going
to reschedu it. And I was pretty glad Bo
couldn't do it because I think we're
going to need to do it when we have
educated, knowledgeable consultants
anyway. So, it's okay for us to wait.
» Okay. Any other questions for Helen?
Is that all you got?
» That is.
» Thank you.
» All right. Anybody got anything else for
the good of the order?
We are adjourned.
840.