Police to receive 'Back the Blue' funding

The Carrington City Council learned that the Carrington Police Department will receive monies from the State of North Dakota through the "Back the Blue Grant" which was created to be used to hire and retain law enforcement and correctional officers.

During the meeting held on Monday, December 11, Carrington Police Chief Christopher Bittmann presented the Award Acceptance letter from the office of the Attorney General.

In the letter, Bittmann explained how he would use the $11,538 grant.

Bittmann said he will allocate $2,878 to himself, $2,880 to officers Orminston and Jensen, and $1,550 to each of two new hires.

In other business:

Committee Reports

FIRE:

The council heard from Carrington Fire Chief Ken Wangen he reported:

• They were called to a roll-over where they had to extracate the driver of a semi.__

• Wangen reported that they cannot put off getting a new truck any longer. He said it will most likely take two years until the new truck arrives and that it will be a clone of their current main truck.

He said the current cost of these trucks are about $448,000 without any tools or equipment, but some pieces will transfer over and others will need to be replaced.

He said this new truck will be replacing the department's 1994 truck.

• Wangen also talked about "e-dispatches" as state radio's current method of communication with Carrington fire fighters has problems.

eDispatches automatically detect audio dispatches as well as CAD (web application) dispatches and delivers notifications directly to the members mobile devices.

FINANCE & LEGAL:

• Mayor Tom Erdmann reported that he had met with the Foster County Commission about transferring over Municipal Court services to the District Court.

Erdmann said they will need to create an ordinance removing the elected municipal judge position. Motion passed.

• Erdmann reported that they found someone to clean City Hall as well as the police department.

• He discussed a bill that Kelly Hagel received from Interstate Engineering for $1,865 along with another bill for $383.00.

Erdmann said the bills were regarding staking and surveying to Hagel's Tyner's Addition property and the city will pay those bills.

• The mayor reported that it has been suggested that the city increase employee wages from between six-percent and seven and a half percent effective January 1, 2024. Motion passed.

A motion was passed to hire a firm to do a salary study.

Finally, Erdmann said all employees will receive a $500 holiday bonus.

CCEDC:

The CCEDC will apply for funds in the form of a grant to help assist the Garden Gate with their updates to the apartments above the store and also funds for a housing study for Carrington.

These funds will come from the Rural Workforce Housing Grant.

• Central City Wellness Center has submitted their receipts for the remaining costs of remodeling their building.

The incentive voucher for CED funds will be $3,915.61 which is 25 percent of the total cost up to $30,000 as stated in the application.

CVB:

The Facebook contest has begun. Cash the Elf is promoting the merchants that accept Christmas Cash and will hold a drawing for $100 in Carrington Cash this month.

• Carr Construction has run into problems erecting the sign on Hwy 200 East due to a high water table in that area. They may need to look at a different site for the sign or build up the area with clay and then install.

•On the Carrington Rainbow Gardens, they heard back on the ND Tourism grant and did not receive funding.

N.D. Tourism received applications for 81 projects from 42 communities requesting more than $151.5 million in funding with only $25 million to disburse.

AIRPORT:

• Carrington Public Works Director Jason Wolsky reported they are having trouble with the fuel system where they sell fuel to pilots. He said they will buy a new one.

POLICE:

• The Carrington Police Department received 229 calls for service in the past month.

• Holiday with Heroes was a success.

NO MEETING:

• Library

• Organizational Review