> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.bunchgrass.org/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Burleigh County adopts zoning changes and hears Summit ruling; City of Mandan backs pop-up shop rent aid
- URL: https://www.bunchgrass.org/burleigh-county-adopts-zoning-changes-and-hears-summit-ruling-city-of-mandan-backs-pop-up-shop-rent-aid/
- Published: 2026-11-07T16:17:59.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-07T16:17:59.000Z
- Description: Burleigh County commissioners adopted rural zoning amendments and a $1.38 million grader contract and heard the Summit pipeline ruling; Mandan approved $15,000 in pop-up shop rent aid; Bismarck school bond failed again.
- Author: Bunchgrass Staff
- Tags: Missouri Slope, #wrap-up

The Burleigh County Commission on Monday adopted a set of rural zoning ordinance amendments, after pulling out a section on portable storage containers for more review, and awarded a $1.38 million motor grader contract. The county's state's attorney recommended against appealing a district court ruling that sent Summit Carbon Solutions' pipeline permit back to the Public Service Commission for more findings. In Mandan, the City Commission on Tuesday approved a $15,000 pilot program to help pop-up shops rent empty Main Street storefronts during Holiday Lights on Main. Bismarck Public Schools voters on Tuesday rejected a $116.5 million bond for the second time this year.

## Morton County

The Morton County Commission did not meet during election week.

### Mandan City Commission

The commission met Tuesday, Nov. 3, with its four sitting members present: Mayor James Froelich and Commissioners Heidi Belohlavek, Mike Braun and Ryan Heinsohn. One seat is vacant; the commission voted Oct. 20 to fill it in a special election on Feb. 16, 2027, according to minutes in the [meeting packet](https://mandannd.portal.civicclerk.com/event/346/files?ref=bunchgrass.org). Every action passed 4-0, according to the [meeting video](https://dakotamediaaccess.org/programs/show/mandan-city-commission-replay-11-3-26-2-12012/?ref=bunchgrass.org). No one spoke during public comment.

Pop-up shops. The commission approved a Mandan Growth Fund recommendation to spend $15,000 on rental assistance for temporary businesses in vacant downtown storefronts from Nov. 27 through Jan. 9, 2027\. The program covers half of monthly rent, up to $7 per square foot per month, for city-approved spaces on Main Street between Collins Avenue and Sixth Avenue NW. Participants must sign a three-month lease and be open at least 4 to 9 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Business Development and Communications Director Madison Cermak said the fund had $75,857 after commitments as of Oct. 31; the packet had listed $99,346.55 as of Sept. 30\. She said staff counted fewer than a dozen open spaces along that stretch.

![Map of downtown Mandan highlighting Main Street from Collins Avenue west to Sixth Avenue NW, the stretch where the pop-up shop rent pilot applies, north of the BNSF rail yard and a block south of City Hall](https://storage.ghost.io/c/3f/91/3f919046-d4dd-4249-8ba2-f8bde68b214b/content/images/2026/11/mandan-pop-up-rent-aid-map.png)

The pilot covers city-approved storefronts on Main Street between Collins Avenue and Sixth Avenue NW. Map data [OpenStreetMap contributors](https://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright?ref=bunchgrass.org).

Highway 1806 trail. The commission approved Task Order 13 with Moore Engineering to design the rehabilitation of the asphalt trail along North Highway 1806 from 14th Street to 38th Street, including separation from traffic under the Interstate 94 bridge and drainage repairs. The task order form puts the fee at $90,400; the staff memo describes it as $90,000\. The project is funded in part by a Transportation Alternatives grant through the state Department of Transportation and is designed for construction in 2028\. The staff memo puts the city's share of this task order at $18,000, with the rest assessed to the Mandan Park District after construction.

The commission also passed on second reading Ordinance 1493, rezoning the 6.97-acre Octavia Addition on the northeast side of Highland Road from agriculture to R7 single-family residential. (The Oct. 20 minutes number it 1491.) It approved an amendment to the city's 1997 water supply contract with the Morton County Water Resource District, which does business as Missouri West Water System, moving its master meter to Lot 1, Block 4, Sunrise View Estates Addition, citing capacity. Assistant City Engineer Riley McAdoo-Roesler said the approval does not cover engineering plans for a connection to the city's 30-inch transmission line.

McAdoo-Roesler said the First Street reconstruction is slightly behind schedule but should be drivable by Thanksgiving.

### Mandan Public School Board

The board met Monday, Nov. 2, and acted without dissent, according to the [meeting video](https://dakotamediaaccess.org/programs/show/mandan-school-board-replay-11-2-26-2-12388/?ref=bunchgrass.org). It sent draft rules on board members' internet and social media use back to committee and approved Superintendent Carly Retterath's formative evaluation. Retterath said the district's capital plan puts Lewis and Clark, Mary Stark and Roosevelt elementary schools first and that the district is taking bids on old lots it owns; the board then met in closed session on negotiating strategy for a sale of district property.

### Election results

Andy Zachmeier and Jackie Buckley, the two incumbents on the ballot, were elected to the two open Morton County Commission seats without opposition, according to unofficial [KFYR-TV results](https://www.kfyrtv.com/politics/election-results/?ref=bunchgrass.org). The result of the vote on Morton County's official newspaper, the Morton County Mandan News or the Morton County News Journal ([KFYR-TV background](https://www.kfyrtv.com/2026/10/30/two-local-newspapers-compete-title-official-county-newspaper/?ref=bunchgrass.org)), had not been reported by Friday.

Coming up: The Morton County Commission meets at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, in the Commission Room of the courthouse, 210 Second Ave. NW, Mandan; its agenda had not been posted by Friday ([meeting materials](https://www.mortonnd.gov/meetingdatesandmaterials?ref=bunchgrass.org)). Mandan voters will consider Initiated City Measure No. 1, which would prohibit data centers with 25 megawatts or more of electrical demand in the city and its zoning area, in a special election from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15, at Spirit of Life Roman Catholic Church, 801 First St. SE, the [city said](https://www.cityofmandan.com/index.asp?SEC=2D86B9D1-D9CE-4F5E-A296-215D569359DA&DE=97EEED5D-3887-4A13-9B03-7EAB08AF50B3&ref=bunchgrass.org); absentee ballots are available on application.

## Bismarck and Burleigh County

### Burleigh County Commission

All five commissioners attended the Monday, Nov. 2, meeting ([meeting packet](https://www.burleigh.gov/media/0p3ji0qm/2026-11-02-meeting-packet.pdf?ref=bunchgrass.org); [meeting video](https://dakotamediaaccess.org/programs/show/burleigh-commission-replay-11-2-26-2-12036/?ref=bunchgrass.org)).

Zoning ordinance. Commissioners voted 4-1, with Commissioner Steve Schwab opposed, to adopt amendments to nine articles of the county zoning ordinance, including the agricultural, residential, mobile home, commercial and industrial districts. Planning Director Mitch Flanagan said the changes add rules for communication towers, storage units, shop condos, child care centers and home occupations, and change accessory building limits, which the draft sets at 5% of lot area on parcels up to 5 acres and 4% on larger ones. The Planning Commission recommended them 8-0\. Before the final vote, commissioners voted 5-0 to strike the provisions on portable storage containers and send them back to the Planning Commission; Flanagan said neighbors had complained about shipping containers in residential areas and that he would propose permits, setbacks and screening.

Summit Carbon Solutions. State's Attorney Julie Lawyer summarized an Oct. 9 district court order on the appeals of the Public Service Commission's November 2024 route permit for Summit's carbon dioxide pipeline. By her account, the court found that Burleigh County's pipeline zoning rules were not automatically superseded by state law and sent the case back to the PSC to make findings on whether Summit proved the ordinance unreasonably restrictive, whether a redacted version of Summit's plume dispersion model can be released, whether public welfare supports the permit, and whether Summit adequately addressed the southern route around Bismarck the PSC had asked it to study. Lawyer said the county "won our appeal in the parts where it mattered" and recommended against appealing. Parties have 60 days from notice of entry of judgment to appeal, which she said runs to about Dec. 11\. The PSC may rule on the existing record or hold more hearings, and its new order can be appealed. Commissioners took no vote.

Roads and equipment. By 5-0 votes, the commission awarded three John Deere motor graders, two standard and one with GPS grading equipment, to RDO Equipment for a total purchase of $1,378,700 under a five-year total cost bid with a guaranteed repurchase price; bought a Kubota mower tractor from Acme Tools for $173,130.43, under the $200,000 budget; and adopted the 2027 highway fee schedule. By 4-1, with Commissioner Jerry Woodcox opposed, it authorized bids to repair Bridge 08-118-20.0 on 132nd Street NE, 1.75 miles north of Baldwin Road, which has carried a year-round restriction since inspectors found failing piles. County Engineer Daniel Schriock said the repair is estimated at about $200,000, compared with $800,000 to $1 million to replace it, and that the county hopes to bid it this year and repair it in spring. Staff said paving on the Apple Creek Road box culvert project could come Monday, Nov. 9.

Mill levy error. Finance Director Taylor Schmidt followed up on the board's Oct. 19 vote to use reserves to reimburse taxing districts for an error in the 2025 mill levy calculation. Her written memo recommended using current valuations; at the meeting she recommended the valuations reported to the state instead, saying the difference was about a tenth of a percent. She said the state's attorney advised that the payments do not count as levied taxes for the 3% cap and need no budget amendment, and that of the $913,447 total, about $837,804 will leave the county. Commissioners took no new vote.

### Bismarck Board of Adjustment

The board voted 5-0 on Thursday, Nov. 5, to deny a variance that would have let property owner Ralph Romans build a 1,672-square-foot garage at 414 W. Avenue C, where the limit for accessory buildings is 1,200 square feet ([agenda and packet](https://bismarcknd.portal.civicclerk.com/event/2183/files?ref=bunchgrass.org); [meeting video](https://dakotamediaaccess.org/programs/show/bismarck-board-of-adjustment-replay-11-5-26-2-12139/?ref=bunchgrass.org)). Board members said they found no hardship tied to the land. The chair said the decision can be appealed.

### Election results

Voters in the Bismarck Public School District rejected the district's $116.5 million bond with 56.7% in favor, short of the 60% required, [KFYR-TV reported Nov. 3](https://www.kfyrtv.com/2026/11/04/bismarck-public-school-voters-reject-second-attempt-bonding-referendum/?ref=bunchgrass.org). For three at-large Burleigh County Commission seats, Kay LaCoe, Commissioner Wayne Munson and County Auditor Mark Splonskowski finished in the top three, ahead of Mark Wagner, Commissioner Steve Schwab and Jim Small, and Thomas Larson led Marla McMonagle for auditor, according to unofficial [KFYR-TV results](https://www.kfyrtv.com/politics/election-results/?ref=bunchgrass.org). Terms for the three seats end Dec. 7, according to the [county's commission page](https://www.burleigh.gov/government/county-commission/members/?ref=bunchgrass.org).

Coming up: The Bismarck City Commission will consider awarding the construction manager at risk contract for the City/County Office Building remodel to Northwest Contracting, along with public hearings on annexing part of Silver Ranch Fifth Addition and on changes to the snow and ice removal ordinance, at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 10, in the Tom Baker Meeting Room, City/County Office Building, 221 N. Fifth St. ([agenda](https://bismarcknd.portal.civicclerk.com/event/2150/files?ref=bunchgrass.org)). The Burleigh County Commission next meets at 5 p.m. Monday, Nov. 16, in the same room.

Who sits on each board, when it meets and how to comment: [Missouri Slope local government](https://www.bunchgrass.org/missouri-slope-local-government/).