Dear Minot:
March is shaping up to be a busy month at the City of Minot, as we’re hosting four neighborhood meetings in a variety of locations in our community.
We’ve already held the first meeting, where we discussed code enforcement issues related to nuisance properties. That meeting was held at Fire Station 4 and focused on the challenges of rectifying problem properties and the associated costs of cleaning up problem properties.
There are three more neighborhood meetings scheduled this month, including one tonight:
- Thursday, March 13, at 5:30 p.m. at Recycling Transfer Station (4450 37th Ave SW). Topic: Recycling and landfill use.
- March 25 at 5:30 p.m. at Parker Center (21 1st Ave SE). Topic: Snow plan and downtown.
- March 27 at 5:30 p.m. at Minot Public Library (516 2nd Ave SW). Topic: Public Safety, Police Department’s future building plans.
We’re hosting these meetings to provide more opportunities for members of the public to interact with City department heads and other officials. It’s an opportunity to bring us your questions and concerns without having to stand up in front of City Council.
We’re focusing on specific topics at these meetings, based on responses to a community survey we took in 2023. Another survey will be conducted this year, but for now we’re utilizing the data we collected from 2023.
Nuisance properties, recycling and the landfill, our snow plan operations, and the future of our police department were all listed as areas of priority in the 2023 survey, and that’s why the first meetings are focused on those issues. These issues are important to our community, and they’re important to the staff at the City of Minot.
Tonight, we’ll focus on our curbside recycling program and other things that are happening at our landfill in southwest Minot. Recycling has been up and running for nearly two years, and our residents who take part in the program are doing a good job sorting their recyclable materials. There is always room for improvement, of course, and Recycling Coordinator Christina Wolf will lead the discussion tonight, including continuing to educate the public on what’s acceptable in our recycling stream and what isn’t accepted.
The next meetings will focus on two other popular topics: snow removal and the future of our police department. These are important issues, and there are always important decisions to be made during budget time, which will begin very soon.
We’ve made improvements to our snow plan recently, and the meeting on March 25 at the Parker Center in downtown Minot will be a great opportunity to hear more about those changes and express any concerns you have moving forward.
What is the future of our current Police Department building? We know there is work to do to make the building more user-friendly and efficient, but would it be more economical to build new or renovate the current facility? Again, there are some big decisions to be made in the near future by the City Council, and we want to gather as much community input as possible before making those decisions.
I encourage you to be engaged citizens and join us at these meetings. We’re holding them for the benefit of our residents, and to provide updated information to those who attend. We want input from the residents of Minot, and these are opportunities to engage in face-to-face discussions on issues you have identified as being important.
You can find more about what’s happening at the City of Minot at minotnd.org, or find us on Facebook and Twitter. We’d also encourage you to sign up for our monthly electronic newsletter on our website.