Employees, small-business owners and residents press council on benefits, construction impacts and ADA access

Several members of the public used the council’s five-minute public-comment slot June 1 to raise personnel, accessibility and construction-impact concerns.

Employee benefits: Maria Romanic, a Minot resident and city employee, urged the council to consider the effects of recent benefit changes. Romanic said the 2023 switch from leave accrual to a paid-time-off system left many employees dissatisfied, that the buyout promised for those with large accruals has not been budgeted or funded, and that recent changes increased employee out-of-pocket maximums and premiums. She said managers were instructing some employees to leave early to preserve benefits, which shifts costs onto staff via PTO or unpaid leave; she asked the council to consider retention implications.

Construction and small-business impacts: Sharon Gadal, owner of Best Cam Indian Kitchen in Highlander Plaza, testified that nearby construction has closed roads and parking, deterred customers because of noise and vibration, and materially cut sales. She asked the city to identify relief, compensation, review options or other assistance programs for affected small businesses while construction proceeds.

ADA and public-safety concerns: Billy Gunderson detailed several ADA-access failures in construction detours, alleged an instance of police removal from a residence, and said some detour routing forces pedestrians, including people using wheelchairs, to traverse dangerous or noncompliant paths. Gunderson asked that contractors and project managers ensure accessible routes and remedy outstanding violations.

Election testing allegation: Josiah Reus told the council that an outside "election integrity" expert who he hosted reviewed recent local machine tests and concluded those tests were administered incorrectly; Reus said the expert recommended emergency county-level testing and hand counts. The city did not take action at the meeting; Reus said he would present findings to the county commission.

Council response and next steps: The council acknowledged the testimony. City staff and department heads who later presented on services (public health, library, aging services) did not propose immediate policy changes tied to the comments during the meeting; items that require budget or policy changes will need separate agenda consideration.