Jill Schramm/MDN Daeja Sutton works on a project in the arts and crafts room in Hartnett Hall Monday. The Legislature approved funding last week for renovation of the nearly 50-year-old Minot State University building.

The North Dakota Legislature’s plan for spending federal coronavirus aid creates potential for additional funding for Souris River flood control and provides for renovation of Hartnett Hall at Minot State University.

During its special session last week, the Legislature approved spending about $1 billion in American Rescue Plan Act dollars.

Of that, $75 million was set aside for water projects. No funds were designated to particular projects, said Sen. David Hogue, R-Minot.

“The State Water Commission will have the discretion to spend that money as they deem appropriate,” he said.

Dan Jonasson, Minot Public Works director, said the city is looking at possibly applying for some of the money to advance design work on future phases of the Mouse River Enhanced Flood Protection Project through Minot.

During the Legislature’s draft of a spending bill, the city sought $25 million for acquisitions for future phases. Since then, it has been discovered that acquisitions do not qualify under ARPA’s spending rules.

“We will be taking a look at pretty much our work plan for the next couple of years and see if there’s something that fits into the requirements for ARPA,” Jonasson said.

Legislators appropriated $25 million to the renovation of Hartnett Hall.

The remodeling project seeks to revitalize and modernize the nearly 50-year-old campus building. Renovation plans would relieve congestion, improve entrances, enhance flexibility of spaces, enhance technology, correct a major ventilation problem, refresh finishes, provide new furnishings, improve daylight and address a backlog of deferred maintenance, according to MSU.

Hartnett Hall serves the departments of English, Foreign Languages, Humanities, Art, Broadcasting, Theatre Arts, Communications as well as KMSU Radio Station and many of MSU’s general education courses.

In addition, the Legislature approved $2 million for Minot’s intermodal facility and $5.9 million for the Magic City Discovery Center. Federal CARES Act funds had been approved during the regular session, but these two projects were among state appropriations later found to be ineligible. They are now being funded with ARPA dollars.

The money for the intermodal facility will go toward track construction. A loan has been allowing work on design to proceed while waiting for finalization of the state funds. The track construction is required by BNSF as part of a property lease agreement with the intermodal facility.

Construction also is ongoing on MCDC’s children’s science museum, with tentative completion by next spring and opening by November 2022.

The International Peace Garden, which received $3 million for capital projects from the CARES Act during the regular legislative session, also needed to be refunded with ARPA money. The Peace Garden’s funding is contingent upon the province of Manitoba providing 50% of the cost of any project.

The Peace Garden is expanding its conservatory and adding a children’s play area. Another planned improvement is renovation of seven aging duplex cabins and the addition of five new seasonal staff cabins that can be rented to park users in the off-season. A new staff building will have a kitchen and meeting space.

Total planned capital expenditures come to about $12 million in U.S. dollars from North Dakota and Manitoba since 2019.

Additional ARPA spending approved by the Legislature provides money for state, county and township roads and bridges. Originally, the proposed allocations for individual counties were based on motor vehicle registrations. Hogue said the Legislature adopted a different formula that is less advantageous to larger counties. It takes into account the amount of road and bridge needs in each county, as compiled by the Upper Great Plains Transportation Institute, a research and education center at North Dakota State University.

The original formula would have provided Ward County an estimated $3.8 million, according to the North Dakota Association of Counties. Hogue said Ward County’s share is capped at $3 million under the adopted formula.