Ryan Ackerman

An $81.1 million legislative appropriation for flood control construction in the next biennium is being viewed as positive for the Minot area.

Previous legislative intent was to provide $76.1 million a biennium, but given inflation and a desire to advance the project more quickly, the North Dakota House had proposed $125 million, which was whittled down in the Senate before the compromise was reached.

“I would say that we came out $5 million ahead of where we were slated to be based on the action of the previous Legislature,” said Ryan Ackerman, administrator for the Souris River Joint Board.

“In that regard, that’s a positive from our perspective. During the session, there are always ebbs and flows and differences of opinion and philosophy, and we understand that,” he added. “Where we ended up, we’re still satisfied. We’re going to be able to get a lot of work done in the next couple of years, because on top of the state appropriation of $81.1 million, there is an additional approximately $70 million coming from the federal government for the construction of the Maple Diversion, plus our local share that goes into into that as well. So the overall program is going to be nearly $200 million for the next biennium, using all the funding sources from all the different partners. And we’re pretty excited about that. We’ll get a lot of work done.”

There also is some confidence that previous large inflationary increases that resulted in bids considerably higher than estimates is behind the project. Nor is there concern about contractor capacity and getting adequate bid quantity, Ackerman said.

“We have also demonstrated historically that if we do not have a competitive marketplace, we will not award bids. If we are not seeing a competitive marketplace, and we see bids coming in far in excess of what is being estimated, or to a point where there isn’t strong parity among the bids, we’ll reject them, because we don’t think it’s in the best interest of the public to move forward with a contract that would overspend,” he said. “We just have to maintain our agility in that and be flexible and find the best deal.”

Scheduled work this biennium includes continuing the ongoing construction of MI-7 in Roosevelt Park and Zoo. Construction within the park and zoo should wrap up by the end of the biennium. Work also will continue in the MI-6 area between Main Street and Roosevelt Park.

Work on the Maple Diversion is expected to start toward the end of the biennium. Ackerman said this will be a complex project because BNSF, CPKC and Amtrak rail operations that run through that area all need to continue services.

“We have to build temporary railroad tracks to keep CP active,” Ackerman said. “Then we build the new bridge that sits basically where the current tracks are at. After we get the bridge built, then we can excavate the channel out.”

The Maple Diversion project probably will take five construction seasons to complete, he said. It likely will be three construction seasons before the Roosevelt Park Zoo piece is completed.

“It’s just the nature of the complexity of the construction and all the things that have to occur,” he said.

Design work and acquisitions for future construction in Minot as well as some work outside of Minot also will be advancing with the legislative funding for the biennium.

In total, the Legislature and governor approved $769 million in the Department of Water Resources (DWR) budget bill.

DWR’s budget is almost entirely supported by North Dakota’s Resources Trust Fund, which is funded from 20.5% of the state’s oil extraction tax. Included in this budget are dollars for regional, rural and municipal water supply projects, flood control efforts and general water management, according to a DWR news release.

“The passage of House Bill 1020 will provide local water managers and the agency with tremendous opportunities to develop and manage North Dakota’s water resources,” DWR Director Reice Haase said in the release. “Because of oil extraction tax revenues into the Resources Trust Fund, North Dakota will be able to continue its strong support of water development in all areas of the state – protecting our citizens from flood-related impacts; delivering clean, reliable sources of water for people, industry, and agriculture; and advancing smaller general water management projects that make positive impacts in urban and rural areas alike.”