Jill Schramm/MDN Jerry Bents with Houston Engineering speaks to the Minot City Council on the Maple Diversion configuration Tuesday. Council members from left are Paul Pitner, Mike Blessum and Lisa Olson.

A desire to limit the number of property acquisitions associated with the Maple Diversion project led the Minot City Council Tuesday to table plans for the flood protection phase until a closer look is taken.

Engineers presented a recommended configuration for the project to the council that would require buying out 11 property owners. The configuration was developed following negotiations with railroads to accommodate their tracks through that portion of west Minot. It resulted in the need for properties that weren’t previously contemplated.

Affected property owners met with the design team on Aug. 22 to preview the information presented to the council.

Jerry Bents with Houston Engineering said the owners all had concerns.

“All of them were shocked by the additional acquisitions,” he said. There were concerns about higher mortgage costs after relocation and questions about the appraisal process for income properties.

“We also heard from some property owners that said, ‘If this is what you’re going to do, tell us now. Don’t drag us along because we want to go on with our lives and start looking for replacement properties,” Bents said.

Dean Schneider, who lives on West Central Avenue, told the council his house had been purchased less than a year ago.

“If you’re going to take the house from us, I’m going to be upside down, because you’re not going to give me what I paid for it,” he said.

Chris Plank, disaster recovery grant administrator for the City of Minot, said the determination of payments to relocated residents includes an adjustment when necessary to avoid increased mortgage costs, or essentially an interest buydown to prevent residents from finding themselves in unfavorable financial situations.

“There aren’t any easy answers here. There haven’t been easy answers since 2011, and each time that we need to take a property is difficult,” council member Lisa Olson said. “But we also need to take faith in the work that our engineers have done, and we know this project has to be completed.

“As we’ve done with hundreds of properties in the past, I would assume that there will be a lot of close communication with the property owners, and that they will be, certainly, given the amount that their property is worth. We shouldn’t put people upside down on their loans, and I don’t think that has happened in the past,” she added.

Council member Rob Fuller voiced his concern about the goal posts continuing to change on flood control plans.

“It continues to cost the city and the taxpayers more money every time we sit back and we look at this,” he said. “We all realize that flood control has to happen, but, man, I’m going to tell you, I’m on the side of the homeowners here. I think this is ridiculous that all of a sudden now we’re going to have people be displaced from their homes because we have to change the plan again to appease the railroad, which, I’m not going to lie, I’m really tired of appeasing the railroads. At some point we have to say enough is enough and we’re going to stick with the plan.”

He also questioned the cost of the acquisitions, noting the city was looking at about $4.5 million last year to buy the six to 9 homes being considered then and relocate families. Ryan Ackerman, administrator for the Souris River Joint Board, said there is no estimate currently on buying 11 properties and relocating families.

Ackerman said construction would not start until 2026 so affected residents would have 1½ to two years to find new places to live.

Council member Paul Pitner moved to table, saying the council needs more information and more time to do due diligence. The council ultimately voted to postpone a decision until Oct. 21. A special meeting likely will be scheduled before then to go over options considered by the engineers before they chose one to recommend.