Jun. 20—JAMESTOWN — The Jamestown City Council in a 3-0 vote approved an amendment to a special-use permit for property that will be a temporary storage location for wrecked vehicles.

Mayor Dwaine Heinrich was not present at the special meeting or committee meetings on Thursday, June 20, and Councilman Dan Buchanan passed away on June 10.

The amendment to the special-use permit will allow the temporary storage location to have wrecked campers, motorhomes, buses or other items higher than 8 feet inside its fenced area. The special-use permit does not allow vehicles to be visible above an 8-foot fence surrounding the area and requires the owner to install an opaque fence that is 8 feet in height surrounding the area containing the vehicles.

The City Council approved a special-use permit on June 3 for the property located at 1512 Business Loop East. The special-use permit is for lots five and six of Lubeck’s First Addition.

Brian Hanson, owner of Budget Auto Sales & Service, requested the permit.

The request for a special-use permit is for the property to be a temporary storage location for vehicles that have been wrecked or for vehicles where the Jamestown Police Department or the Stutsman County Sheriff’s Office is waiting for paperwork.

Councilman David Steele said an amendment needs to be added because Hanson sometimes needs to get a wrecked camper, motorhome or a semitrailer that is higher than 8 feet. He said Hanson will need hold the wrecked items at the temporary vehicle storage site until the paperwork is finalized.

“We can’t have him build a 20-feet high fence,” he said.

The Jamestown Police and Fire Committee unanimously recommended approval to introduce the first reading of an ordinance related to fires.

One driving factor to make amendments to section 15-3.1-3.4 of Article I of the city of Jamestown’s municipal code related to fires is the placement of state fire danger ratings on the city’s website, said Abbagail Geroux, assistant city attorney.

“That way the citizens of Jamestown can have a quick and easy way to determine when they are allowed to have a campfire on their property, and because of that, we wanted to update our ordinance to reflect those changes and also to make it more straightforward, hopefully, for citizens to be able to understand what they can or cannot do,” she said.

Geroux said the purpose of the ordinance is to separate what is considered a campfire and have different requirements for those compared to a grill.

“The goal is so that it’s a little bit easier to understand when they are looking at it,” she said.

Fire Chief Jim Reuther said one of the biggest changes is when the state of North Dakota issues a fire rating, the city of Jamestown will follow that.

“So when we get into that ‘high’ or ‘extreme’ or ‘red flag,’ that means that outdoor campfires, bonfires are not allowed,” he said. “That also will affect the fireworks when we get into dry conditions.”

The ordinance makes it a Class B misdemeanor for any person who is guilty of starting, maintaining or instructing another individual to start or maintain a campfire during a “red flag” warning or while fire danger rating is “very high” or “extreme.”

The ordinance makes it an infraction for any property owner or person who has authority over property violates 15-3.1-3.4 of Article I of the city of Jamestown’s municipal code. It also makes it an infraction for any person who violates sections 15-3.2, 15-2.1 or 15-4.

For infractions, a first offense will result in a minimum fine of $250. A subsequent offense within one year will result in a minimum fine of $750.

Any person who has been convicted at least twice for the same offense classified as an infraction will be guilty of a Class B misdemeanor for a third offense.

A Class B misdemeanor is punishable by 30 days in jail and a $1,500 fine.

The Jamestown Public Works committee unanimously recommended approval to add an amendment to the contract between the city and North Dakota Recycling & Sanitation.

The amendment would allow North Dakota Recycling & Sanitation to discontinue collecting clothing and shoes.

Ralph Friebel, owner of North Dakota Recycling & Sanitation, said there is no outlet for the clothes that get collected at the recycling center.

“The issue has come up that a lot of clothes from the U.S. are going overseas and filling up landfills,” he said.

The recycling center will continue to collect glass. Friebel previously said it costs $800 to ship the glass but his business only gets $600 in return. The difference also doesn’t account for labor to sort and crush the glass.

Steele said it is easier to make an amendment to the contract versus rewriting the contract.

The Public Works Committee unanimously recommended approval of a supplemental engineering agreement for the pedestrian bridge project.

The supplemental engineering agreement includes the development, submittal and coordination of a letter of map revision to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

City Engineer Travis Dillman said the North Dakota Department of Water Resources is unable to certify the project as a no-rise condition for the James River floodplain mapping.

Any project in a floodway must be reviewed to determine if the project will increase flood heights, according to FEMA’s website.

Dillman said the project can’t go out to bid until the Department of Water Resources certifies the project.

The cost of the project has also increased by $10,000.

The pedestrian bridge project includes replacing the bridges in McElroy, Nickeus and Klaus parks with wider structures for easier maintenance and better access.

The cost to replace three bridges is more than $1.6 million. The city of Jamestown will be allowed to let contractors bid on the project to replace all three bridges with the bridge at McElroy Park being an alternative.

The project is a joint effort of the North Dakota Department of Transportation, the city of Jamestown and Jamestown Parks and Recreation.

The Public Works Committee unanimously recommended approval to submit a grant application to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development for the second phase of the 96-inch storm sewer replacement project.

Dillman said the city is applying for $2.8 million to help pay for the project.

The first phase included repairing a 96-inch stormwater pipe last year near Applebee’s. Stormwater runoff and flooding resulted in the failure of the pipe located south of 25th Street Southwest and east of 8th Avenue Southwest. The sinkhole at the site was estimated to be 12 to 14 feet deep.

The second phase of the project consists of replacing the storm sewer with 96-inch pipe going north from 25th Street Southwest to the east of U.S. Highway 281 and toward Interstate 94.