Fargo City Commission Meeting Wrap-Up - 05.27.2025
In case you missed the May 27, 2025, Fargo City Commission meeting, here are a few highlights we would like you to know about.
City Commission Approves Plan to Utilize Public Safety Sales Tax
In November 2024, Fargo voters authorized the collection of a one-quarter percent Public Safety Sales Tax, which went into effect in April 2025.
At a special City Commission meeting on May 14, City Commissioners received a presentation from City staff and MRA, The City of Fargo's compensation consultant, on a proposed plan to utilize funds from the Public Safety Sales Tax in 2025 and 2026. The plan includes funding for future personnel and operating and capital requests for the Fire and Police Departments. Presentation materials from the May 14 meeting are available at FargoND.gov/PSST.
On Tuesday night, City staff provided an updated allocation plan for 2026 Public Safety Sales Tax expenditures. Based on feedback received from Commissioners following the May 14 presentation, the updated 2026 plan removes funding for existing public safety facility debt service. These funds are reallocated to future ongoing operating and capital support for the Fire and Police Departments. No change was made to the 2025 proposed allocation of funds presented May 14.
The City Commission voted 4-1 to approve the updated Public Safety Sales Tax Utilization Plan for 2025 and 2026, including the pay plan and structures for Police and Fire positions as presented as well as 2025 and 2026 operating, capital and personnel expenditures.
The City of Fargo to Host Public Open House with Finalists for Fire Chief Position
The City of Fargo is inviting community members to attend an open house event on Wednesday, May 28, from 4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. in Commission Chambers at City Hall (225 4th St. N.) to meet the three finalists for the position of Fargo Fire Chief. The finalists are Fargo Fire Division Chief Tim Binfet, Grand Forks Fire Chief Gary Lorenz and Fargo Fire Division Chief Craig Nelson.
The City of Fargo formed the Fire Chief Selection Committee to conduct a national search for a new Fire Chief in anticipation of Chief Steven Dirksen’s retirement on May 16, 2025. The City received a total of 15 applications for the position. The Selection Committee conducted virtual interviews with six applicants and designated Binfet, Lorenz and Nelson as finalists who will take part in an in-person interview process.
Following that process, the Selection Committee will recommend one of the finalists to City Administrator Michael Redlinger, the hiring manager for the Fire Chief position. The City Administrator will present the preferred candidate to the City Commission for their consideration and approval.
Fargo, Moorhead, West Fargo Working Toward SMART Traffic Signal System
The cities of Fargo, Moorhead and West Fargo were awarded a U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) grant to help the metro area create a regionalized and coordinated SMART Traffic Signal System.
The goal of the SMART Traffic Signal System project is to deploy strategic hardware in the field and cloud-based software to better respond to traffic incidents and disruptions. SMART stands for Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation.
The grant is in the amount of $1,989,000, with 100% of it being federal dollars; no local match is required.
The City of Moorhead is the lead agency on the project. The next steps include all three cities agreeing on a memorandum of understanding and then having the City of Moorhead finalize their agreement with USDOT.
On Tuesday night, the Fargo City Commission unanimously approved the memorandum of understanding between The City of Fargo and the cities of Moorhead and West Fargo.
Schedule Updated for Construction of 64th Avenue South & I-29 Interchange
The City of Fargo secured federal funding in January 2020 for the 2025 construction of the 64th Avenue South and Interstate 29 interchange. The City selected in January 2023 an engineering consulting firm to perform the design engineering work for the project.
However, in April 2023, the North Dakota Department of Transportation pushed the construction date of 2025 to 2028 due to increased construction costs across the state. As a result, the original project schedule has significantly changed.
The project’s engineering and design were originally expected to be finished in 2024; engineering and design are now scheduled to be completed in 2026. Due to this delay in work progress and change in the project’s scope, the City Commission unanimously approved on Tuesday the addition of about $205,000 to fund the consulting firm, which has a total estimated cost of $1.1 million.
City Commission Reappoints Library Board Member
The City Commission voted 5-0 on Tuesday night to reappoint Hannah James to Fargo’s seven-member Library Board.
James, whose term expires on June 30, 2025, was reappointed for a three-year term ending June 30, 2028.
Residents are encouraged to research and apply for appointment to any of The City of Fargo’s boards, commissions and committees for consideration in the event of future vacancies. For more information on the responsibilities of each board, commission and committee, please visit FargoND.gov/GettingInvolved.