The Minot City Council held a special session to meet with several legislators from Districts 3, 5, 38 and 40 as they prepare for the legislative session to begin Jan. 7. The council outlined projects and programs needing state funding, including flood control, the Northwest Area Water Supply Project, public transit, child care and military base retention.

The Legislature’s stated intent in 2023 was to appropriate $76.1 million in each future biennium to help finish the Mouse River Enhanced Flood Protection Project.

“We’ve had discussions about what inflation is doing to us – how quickly we seem to be falling behind,” council member Mike Blessum told legislators. If the state is to continue paying 65% of project costs, that $76.1 million may come up short, he said.

Jason Sorenson, Utilities director for the City of Minot, said the last two phases bid, MI-6 and MI-7 in the area of Roosevelt Park and Zoo, were significantly over engineer’s estimates.

“We’re hoping to bid out MI-4, the Maple Diversion project, next year,” he said. “Then (phases) eight and nine should also be pretty close to being ready to go for bid here in the next year/year and half. That would be the Burdick bridge project and the east tieback from that project.”

The federal government will pick up 65% of the Maple Diversion construction cost, but the potential cost of MI-8 and MI-9 could eat heavily into the state appropriation and city sales tax dollars.

“Where, I think, the bonding would help is that we’re not then restricted to that $76.1 (million). Over the course of that biennium, we can move further along because that money would be available without waiting for the next session,” Sorenson said.

NAWS nears finish

Sorenson also discussed NAWS, for which the state Department of Water Resources has included $107 million in its 2025-27 budget. About $46 million will be federal funds to construct a permanent intake structure at Snake Creek. The remainder of the project would require state Water Resource Trust Fund dollars and city funds to construct three booster pump stations between Mohall and Kenmare and another phase of construction at the Minot Water Treatment Plant to get to final treatment capacity for NAWS.

“That just about completes all the infrastructure for the NAWS project,” Sorenson said, indicating water could be flowing from Lake Sakakawea into the system by mid-2025. “Everything is moving along as scheduled. The biota treatment plant is almost substantially complete. The holdup is on Snake Creek, and that’s moving along as planned. Part of the issue there is some long lead times on pumps and control panels – over a year to get some of the specialty pumps and switch gear built.”

Hub City formula

The City of Minot also is preparing data for legislators when discussion on Hub City funding occurs during the session, Finance Director David Lakefield said. The City of Minot expects to receive just over $6 million in 2024 based on the formula under which Minot, Dickinson and Williston receive the oil-related Hub City money.

Lakefield said legislators have had questions about Minot’s level of debt due to oil-related impacts as they look at alternate ways to determine impact and allocation of Hub City dollars. He estimated a little more than 30% of Minot’s debt is oil-impact related, which is less than other hub cities.

Lakefield explained Minot has been advancing large projects, including NAWS and flood control, which have required a significant amount of debt.

“So, we’re very conservative about issuing any other debt that wasn’t related to those large infrastructure projects,” he said. While other cities have bonded and kept mill levies low, Minot paid for items upfront or used sales tax or other funding sources, he said.

Lakefield added cities facing instability with oil production and prices need stability in the funding formula and not legislative changes every two years in how the program allocates money.

Council member Mark Jantzer, also with Minot Area Chamber EDC’s Task Force 21, said the Legislature can expect a request that is similar to last session’s funding for military base retention efforts in the state.

The 2023 Legislature approved $500,000 related to Minot Air Force Base retention and an additional $350,000 to prepare for construction-related impact on the community from the Sentinel missile replacement project. Jantzer said the Sentinel project has experienced delays due to discussions on the federal level, but activity should escalate rapidly in 2025.

Transit funding

Brian Horinka, City of Minot Transit superintendent, cited the need for additional state funds to address federal revenue changes in Minot’s transit service. Minot recently went from a rural funding category to an urban category, resulting in changes to how money is received and how it can be spent.

“This has definitely raised some concerns about the adequacy and the equity of the funding to support our population and the public transportation needs we have within the urban communities,” Horinka said, noting it affects Souris Basin Transportation funding, too. “We definitely have some significant challenges moving forward.”

A coalition of North Dakota’s urban transit services has been looking for alternate revenue and plans to bring a request to the Legislature, Horinka said. State aid has been providing around $50,000 a year, or only about 3% of Minot’s transit budget, which totals $1.7 million for 2025, he said.

A proposal still is being drafted, but an option is for the state to pick up 50-75% of the local share of transit costs, he said. About 37-40% of Minot’s transit budget comes from local funds.

Horinka said fares make up only 7-8% of local revenue. Minot’s fixed-route transit system is on track to provide just over 81,000 rides in 2024. The demand-response service that provides scheduled door-to-door rides through a contract with Souris Basin adds about 50,000 additional rides within city limits.

Asked about the size of the buses, Horinka responded the buses aren’t too big because a fixed route must be equipped to accommodate the highest potential ridership. Fixed route ridership can’t be determined in advance, he noted.

Child care support

Council member Lisa Olson urged legislators to consider continuing funding programs initiated in 2023 for child care. She said limited use of the new state programs appears to be due to lack of familiarity with the programs by families and providers.

“We have partnered with MACEDC to try and share this information, not only with member investors of the chamber but with families, current child care providers and possible potential providers,” she said. “Our committee’s request is to continue funding child care initiatives because we believe that economic growth and workforce issues begin and end with child care. Please do not look at the remaining funds from 2023 as a failed attempt to make a difference, but rather find ways to communicate the benefits that these dollars can provide.”

Fire insurance change

Minot Fire Chief Kelli Kronschnabel spoke of ongoing work with Rep. Scott Louser, R-Minot, regarding proposed legislation that would require insurance companies to withhold a portion of proceeds to property owners following fires. The funds would be held as a lien to ensure governments have the ability to pay for removal of the debris if property owners fail to do so, she said.

“It discourages abandonment of the properties,” she said. “It can expedite returning properties to productive use, helps local governments cover the cost if it is abandoned and helps kind of reduce the amount of risk for these hazards when they are neglected for a long period of time.”

Research is being conducted on laws that exist in other states and case studies are being gathered from around the state, she added.

Mobile home parks

Sen. Bob Paulson, R-Minot, asked whether the city has been engaged in the issue of out-of-state investment companies coming into Minot to buy mobile home parks and then raising rents and mistreating residents.

“The city’s position on that would be that it’s a private transaction,” City Manager Harold Stewart said of those purchases. “Maybe local government isn’t always the answer to everybody’s problems, and we have enough of our own challenges, dealing with what is our responsibility.”

He added the city listens to mobile home park residents who call with concerns and will intervene when the issue falls within its codes, ordinances or responsibility.