(KNOX) – The Grand Forks City Council heard from residents Monday who spoke about City Council President Dana Sande’s since deleted Facebook comments about Grand Forks Public Schools’ special needs services. Maureen Riley and Paige Curran asked for Sande to resign and Riley requested that his comments be reviewed by the City’s Code of Conduct. City Attorney Dan Gaustad says a review of Sande’s comments wouldn’t result in much because of the First Amendment. Councilwoman Rebecca Osowski mentioned how Sande has apologized and she asked the community to forgive him and move on.
Sande says that he has been trying to reconcile with members of the public who were not happy with his comments, and that some community members don’t want to have a conversation with him.
The Grand Forks City Council also made several approvals at Monday’s city council meeting.
The City Council approved upholding two decisions that came from the Board of Zoning Adjustments to deny variance requests for garage driveway lengths. The lengths are required to be at least 20 feet from the garage to the alley. The council also approved overturning a Board of Zoning Adjustments decision that approved a variance request to reduce a second front yard setback for a property in order to construct a single-family rental.
The City Council approved an ownership change for J&N Operations LLC. This company does business as Grand Forks Taxi, and the ownership will transfer from Jesse Stephan to Nate Gregoire.
The City Council approved the Grand Forks Police Department spending $132,946 to buy 126 new Glock handguns and associated accessories.
The City Council approved a $154,386 change order for the municipal solid waste landfill soil treatment pad project. This is being approved after it was discovered that more soil was found than originally expected.
The City Council approved a $138,308 task order with AE2S for design and construction administration. This will be for an improvement project at a ground storage reservoir at South 34th Street. The project would replace a pump and other equipment.
The City Council approved recommended state legislative priorities from the Grand Forks Legislative Committee for the 2027 session.
The City Council approved accepting both a Grand Forks Housing Action Plan and has accepted an invitation from the National League of Cities to participate in the Housing Supply Accelerator Challenge.
The City Council moved forward with a qualifications request for the former water treatment plant redevelopment project, as the vote passed 4-3. City Council Members Dana Sande, Tricia Berg, Danny Weigel and Mike Fridolfs voted in favor, while Rebecca Osowski, Ken Vein and Angela Salentiny voted against.
The Job Development Authority also voted to approve a land purchase proposal from Florian and Sons Excavating Inc. for $1 per square foot/$212,573.
FOLLOW US FOR INSTANT UPDATES!
