Jill Schramm/MDN Minot Mayor Shaun Sipma, left, and Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon listen as information regarding Minot’s flood protection project is presented at a meeting in Minot City Hall on Wednesday.

The head of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers met with Minot officials Wednesday to gather information for making a case for a federal appropriation for the Mouse River Enhanced Flood Protection Project’s Maple Diversion project.

“We want to make our strongest argument,” said Lt. Gen. Scott Spellmon with the Corps, who noted resilience to climate change and environmental justice are topics that can be added to Minot’s argument for federal dollars.

“I just want to dig into the National Climate Assessment,” he said, “and just make sure that we understand the weather pattern changes that are affecting this part of the state and the region, and I want to make sure we put that detailed argument together.”

Learning of the impact of the flood on older homes in Minot’s valley, Spellmon cited a Justice 40 initiative for federal agencies that states 40% of federal investment should go to communities that meet the conditions under environmental justice.

“If this is impacting low- and moderate-income, we just need the data, and we can add that to our case,” Spellmon said. “We haven’t hit that in this before, but I know that will get traction.”

A national security component with the impact of another flood on Air Force personnel and their mission is another argument he said he hopes to make. Additionally, he added, “Obviously, there’s a life safety component to this. Nobody wants to see a repeat of 2011 or come even close to that.”

Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D., who spoke by interactive video from Washington after being unable to travel to Minot as originally planned, stressed the need to fund the Maple Diversion through to completion as quickly as possible.

Maple Diversion, or Phase 4, is estimated to cost $92 million, of which about $60 million would be the federal share if included as a Corps project.

Hoeven listed $5 million as the target for the pre-engineering and design work in 2022, with the remainder of the federal share to come no later than 2023 to get construction started.

He said money could come from new appropriations or through the new infrastructure bill that identifies more than $2.5 billion for these types of projects. He also indicated he will be looking at Department of Defense funding options.

Already, the City of Minot is seeking about $900,000 through a military resilience program to assist with relocation of utilities for the Maple Diversion project. It also plans to seek about $10 million through the Defense Community Infrastructure Program for flood protection work east of Third Street as part of Phase 5.

The State of North Dakota has been funding 65% of flood project construction, with the remainder covered by Minot’s city sales tax.

Under the federal Office of Management and Budget’s cost-to-benefit ratio, the Maple Diversion only narrowly qualifies for consideration for federal funds. However, Hoeven outlined deficiencies in utilizing that formula. He noted the formula doesn’t consider the wider benefit of the diversion project in overall flood protection.

“You’re kind of that linchpin in that Phase 4 really brings the first three phases together and creates about 65% of the protection,” Hoeven told the Corps. “The sooner we get protection in place, not only are they going to be protected – their lives and their property – but they won’t have to be paying for flood insurance as well.”

City officials also argued the cost-to-benefit also is skewed because older homes in that portion of the valley carry less value.

Spellmon, who acknowledged challenges with the cost-to-benefit ratio, said $3.7 million is needed at a minimum to get started with engineering.

“I think about what are our tasks in the meantime at the district level, and probably number one is to be ready,” said Col. Karl Jansen, Corps commander for the St. Paul District, who attended Wednesday’s meeting. “When the day comes with funds, we’ve got our team mobilized, focused and ready to roll up our sleeves.”