City says bill will not affect NAWS

By JILL SCHRAMM, Staff Writer jschramm@minotdailynews.com
A 1 percent sales tax will generate enough money for both a community bowl and the Northwest Area Water Supply project, city officials reported at a news conference Thursday.


Mayor Curt Zimbelman and Alan Walter, Minot public works director, said a ballot measure proposing to divert half of the 1 percent sales tax dedicated to NAWS to fund a community bowl for three years won’t affect the NAWS timeline or finances.


“There’s plenty of money for both the community bowl and the NAWS project,” Zimbelman said. “These two regional priorities are vital to the health of this community and the surrounding communities, and Minot is fully committed to the success of both of these ventures.”


Alan Walter, Minot public works director, said calculations of the State Water Commission show there would be more than enough money for both projects through 2011. After the full tax is restored to NAWS in July 2011, collections and reserves will be adequate to take NAWS to completion on schedule, he added.


Minot residents will vote on the tax measure June 10.


The temporary redirection of the tax would raise more than $9 million for construction of a community bowl. The Community Bowl Committee would privately raise the remaining $2 million or whatever amount is needed to fully fund the construction.


The NAWS Only Committee, formed by the Ward County Farm Bureau and Farmers Union to oppose the measure, has argued that redirection of the NAWS could delay the project. Dan Deaver of Berthold, president of the Farm Bureau, said the committee continues to hold that stance despite the city’s reassurances at the news conference.


“They keep saying that it won’t affect it, but can they guarantee it? Our point is they can’t guarantee it,” Deaver said. “If the matching funds aren’t there, they will run out of money.”


Walter, who is the city’s representative on the NAWS project, said there have been a few times when the amount of federal aid was uncertain, so the State Water Commission asked the city to provide money upfront from the NAWS account, which has seen collections come in well ahead of the bills. However, the federal dollars always have materialized, so the city’s sales tax has not had to actually cover more than its share of the region’s costs, he said. Voters approved the NAWS tax to pay the local 35 percent share of the project costs.


The State Water Commission, which is managing the NAWS project, receives federal funding through the Garrison Diversion Conservancy District’s Municipal, Rural and Industrial account for statewide water projects. Walter said the state is expected to receive $24 million in MRI money this year, of which NAWS would get a significant share.


“That money is coming in – more than it has been in the last couple of years,” Walter said. “We expect that to continue into the future.”


A major expense remaining is the treatment facility, and that cost is uncertain.


An environmental study to be completed late this fall will recommend a type of treatment. The study came about because of a lawsuit brought by Manitoba. The province wants water to be treated before it’s taken across the continental divide from the Missouri River Basin to the Souris River Basin. The state and the Minot region have favored a plan calling for limited pretreatment, with full treatment at the Minot Water Treatment Plant. There is a huge difference in cost between the two proposals.


Walter said the State Water Commission is estimating the cost of a treatment plant to meet the border treaty requirements could be $70 million. The cost of complying with the treaty is a federal expense, though, and not a local one, he said.