Approval recommended for purchase agreement on lot for indoor baseball, softball facility

Yahoo

27-03-2025

Mar. 27—JAMESTOWN — The Jamestown Finance and Legal Committee recommended approval on a 4-0 vote to have the city of Jamestown enter into a purchase agreement with Eagles Nest LLC for a city-owned lot that will be developed into an indoor practice facility for youth baseball and softball.
Councilman David Schloegel was not present at the meeting on Tuesday, March 25.
The property is on lot one and block two at the Harold P. Bensch Addition and is adjacent to 12th Avenue and 5th Street Southeast. The purchase price is about $76,000 for the property.
Matt Perkins with Eagles Nest said he had a couple of concerns with the purchase agreement but didn't want those concerns to derail the project. His concerns included needing Jamestown City Council approval to sell the property within the first 30 months after the purchase agreement and city staff being able to request records from Eagles Nest of the indoor practice facility's operations.
Mayor Dwaine Heinrich said the city needs to ensure that the project in the request for proposal is what happens at the location.
Abbagail Geroux, assistant city attorney, said the city would actually need a valid reason to look into the records of Eagles Nest regarding the performance of the purchase agreement.
The purchaser must agree to sell the property back to the city at the original purchase price if development does not occur within 30 months of the purchase in accordance with the development plan submitted as part of the original purchase proposal.
The indoor practice facility for youth baseball and softball was originally planned to be on 2 acres in the JMS Aviation Park near Jamestown Regional Airport before changing its location, Perkins told The Jamestown Sun after the meeting.
The Finance and Legal Committee unanimously recommended approval of a request from the Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. for a forgivable loan of $1 million to the city of Jamestown that will be used as matching dollars for a grant program that helps create residential housing development.
Heinrich said $500,000 is also being deobligated for a JSDC housing program for the development of residential lots within Jamestown city limits. The $500,000 will be reallocated to use as matching dollars for the Housing for Opportunity, Mobility and Empowerment (HOME) grant program in the North Dakota Department of Commerce if Senate Bill 2225 is approved.
Senate Bill 2225 would create the Housing for Opportunity, Mobility and Empowerment grant program. It would appropriate $50 million to the program.
If SB 2225 is approved, the Commerce Department would award grants to political subdivisions to build infrastructure to support affordable market-rate housing. The grant program would be funded one time and ends on June 30, 2027.
The Commerce Department would allocate $10 million for communities with a population of 5,000 or less, $20 million for communities with a population of 5,001 to 20,000 and $5 million for rural metropolitan areas located within 20 miles of city limits of a community with more than 20,000 people.
The program would provide grant dollars for one-third of the infrastructure costs for residential development projects. The local political subdivision and the developer of the residential lots would each provide one-third of the costs for residential development projects.
A minimum of five residential lots would need to be developed using the HOME program and the agreements for residential lot development would be between the city of Jamestown and the developer.
The Finance and Legal Committee unanimously recommended approval to introduce the first reading of an ordinance to prohibit camping on public property within Jamestown city limits.
The ordinance would add Article 53 of Chapter 22 to Jamestown city code and amend the existing city code — Section 21-16-04.1 — regarding campers.
Geroux said the ordinance would prohibit camping on city streets, boulevards, parks and other publicly-owned property. She said camping would be allowed in designated areas for camping.
She said a camper or recreational vehicle is still allowed to be placed adjacent to a property owner's property for up to 14 days.
The Jamestown City Council will make the first reading of the ordinance at its meeting on April 7.
In other business, the Finance and Legal Committee unanimously recommended approval to introduce the first reading of an ordinance to amend Section 1-10 of the city code to increase Jamestown Municipal Court fees.
The administration fee will increase from $30 to $125 and the facility fee will increase from $25 to $100.
Heinrich said the intent was to have the Municipal Court fees match the fees at Southeast District Court in Jamestown.