The council approved several finance and grant items brought forward by staff. Mister Hodgson introduced a professional services agreement with City Consultants & Research LLC to administer federal Community Development Block Grants (CDBG). He said the fee is paid from the federal grant and is capped at 15% of funds awarded; staff requested the agreement be retroactive to Oct. 1. The motion to approve the CDBG-administration contract passed on a voice vote.

Hodgson also presented a financing contract with Flex Financial, the finance arm of Stryker Sales, to extend funding for additional trucks; the requested authorization was for a $330,000 lease over 49 months and staff asked that John Myers (division chief in the fire department, named in the contract) be authorized to sign on the city's behalf. The council moved, seconded, and approved the lease authorization.

Engineering staff asked the board to authorize preparation of bid specifications for the 2026 partial reconstruction project after the city was awarded $1,000,000 from NDOT on Dec. 1; the award requires an approximate 50% local match. The council approved moving forward with bid preparation and solicitation. Paul (city engineering) also presented a utility reimbursement agreement tied to Duke Energy’s relocation of facilities for the Main Street Segments 1 and 2 project; the reimbursement was estimated at $37,046.25 to cover service-connection work necessary to relocate meters to rear yards. The council voted to accept and execute the utility reimbursement agreement.

What happens next: The CDBG administrator contract will be executed, the finance agreement will be finalized with an authorized signer, engineering will prepare bid documents for the NDOT-funded reconstruction project, and staff will process the utility reimbursement payment to Duke Energy per the executed agreement.