Jill Schramm/MDN Public Works employee Alex Kueffler attaches a new cutting blade to a snow plow Thursday at the Public Works Building. The CIty of Minot has been getting equipment prepared for winter.

Preparations are being made to improve the response to snow events in Minot this winter, Public Works Operations Director Bryan Banfill told the Minot City Council Monday.

The city will be working to educate residents in coming weeks about snow rules in city ordinances and how they can be of assistance, he said.

“We’re going to be pushing out videos highlighting as many ordinances as we can that pertain to snow removal, just to help everybody understand what it is, what it means, what it looks like,” Banfill said. “Make sure that you are clearing your sidewalks relatively quickly after a snowstorm ends, and please try to prevent or try not to pile snow around hydrants and traffic signals.”

He said the city also has actions it still needs to do, such as improving street signage related to parking regulations during snow events.

“We need to make sure that we have signage appropriately placed throughout the city to be able to properly enforce certain codes. We want to make sure that the community understands their role in snow removal as well because we can’t remove the snow without their assistance,” Banfill said.

“We’re not going to be going out and ticketing and towing immediately,” City Manager Harold Stewart added. “But we will be working towards that in the future because if those vehicles are out there, it slows down our ability to clear snow quickly, and our goal is to do it as quickly as possible.”

Among preparations made by Public Works has been to stage equipment at the airport that will enable crews to more quickly repair snow removal equipment on the north side of town rather than travel to the Public Works building in the southeast, Banfill said. The rental budget also was increased for 2025 to allow the renting of additional wings for a couple pieces of equipment, mainly the graders, to move snow faster.

“From a schedule standpoint, really it’s nothing different than what we’ve done in previous years. The team will run 24-hour operations,” Banfill said. “Rather than wait until the four inches of snow accumulation, as has been done in previous years, we’re going to dispatch early, meaning we’re going to get the salt and sand trucks out there to go and make sure that the roadways are clear. Once that’s complete, we’ll go ahead and put out the rest of our bigger equipment to ensure that the snow is removed quickly.

“On the residential side, again we’re going to be looking at implementing third party snow removal services when the cost benefit is in our favor. In other words, if we’re going to take just as many manpower hours to go out there and move it as a city – from a city worker standpoint – then we’re going to start looking at utilizing third party snow removal services to give us a leg up on the snowstorm itself,” he said.

Public Works will be using new software that will provide an online portal for the public, giving residents the opportunity to see the city’s snow removal progress and obtain information about where plows are going to be when it comes to residential areas.

Regarding the downtown, Stewart said the emphasis will be on communicating more quickly with downtown businesses using a communication matrix developed by the downtown association. The city also wants to be responsive to the business owners’ request for more enforcement in instances in which certain property owners aren’t abiding by ordinances, he said.

Council to renegotiate land lease

Managing potential liability for a lagoon system that someday will need attention dominated the Minot City Council’s discussion Monday regarding the lease of its adjacent land.

The city is leasing land next to the lagoon to Laverne Mikkelson for agricultural purposes at about $50 an acre. Utilities Director Jason Sorenson presented information indicating lagoon leakage is occurring, not only onto the city’s land but onto other adjacent land belonging to Mikkelson.

The council voted to renegotiate the expiring lease with Mikkelson rather than seek quotes, with the understanding that the City of Minot will not be held liable for leakage damage as long as the lease is in effect. The proposal is for the new lease to run for five years with an opt-out with a year’s notice.

Sorenson said the cost of repairing the lagoon cells would be in excess of $2 million. The city is looking at a potential need to construct a mechanical wastewater treatment facility in the future, which Sorenson estimated at about $90 million.