METRO FLOOD DIVERSION AUTHORITY
October 1, 2020 3:30 PM
CALL TO ORDER
An in-person and virtual meeting of the Metro Flood Diversion Authority was held on October 1, 2020, at 3:30 pm with the following members present in-person and videoconference: Dr. Tim Mahoney, Fargo City Mayor; Johnathan Judd, Moorhead City Mayor; Bernie Dardis, West Fargo City Mayor; Shelly Carlson, Moorhead City Council Member; Mary Scherling, Cass County Commissioner; Chad Peterson, Cass County Commissioner; Rick Steen, Cass County Commissioner; Chuck Hendrickson, Moorhead City Council Member; Dave Piepkorn, Fargo City Commissioner; Grant Weyland, Clay County Commissioner; John Strand Fargo City Commissioner and Rodger Olson, Cass County Joint Water Resource District Manager.
Member absent: Kevin Campbell, Clay County Commissioner.
Others present: Joel Paulsen and Kris Bakkegard, FMDA; John Shockley, Ohnstad Twichell; Sadie Moen, Rocky Schneider and Eric Dodds, AE2S; Martin Nicholson, PGM Advisor; Peggy Harter and Paul Barthel, Jacobs.
Dr. Mahoney opened the meeting with a roll call and introducing Major General Diana M. Holland. Colonel Jansen was assisting with hurricane clean-up efforts and was unable to attend.
Major General Holland commented on the impressiveness of the Project as well as the strong relationship with the Corps and the City and County leaders resulting in a collaborative team.
Major General Holland also extended her thanks to the St. Paul District for their hard work and dedication to the Project over the years.
Mrs. Scherling, Mr. Peterson, Mr. Strand and Mr. Paulsen also commented on their experiences working with the Corps on the Project and their strong focus on the mission.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
MOTION passed
Mr. Peterson moved and Mr. Strand seconded to approve the minutes from August 2020. Motion carried.
APPROVAL OF ORDER OF AGENDA
MOTION passed
Mr. Piepkorn moved and Mr. Peterson seconded to approve the order of the agenda. On a roll call vote, the motion carried.
CONSENT AGENDA APPROVAL
MOTION passed
Mr. Weyland moved and Mr. Hendrickson seconded to approve the consent agenda as presented. On a roll call vote, the motion carried.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR UPDATE
Executive Director Paulsen announced staffing changes as follows:
The Water Topic Overview Committee met in Fargo last week. A tour was taken to the Diversion Inlet and Wild Rice structures. Mr. Boerboom and Mr. Paulsen emceed the tour. It was received very well and there were a lot of positive comments.
We are still engaged in the P3 discussions. It is anticipated that there will be three more one-on-ones in the coming months.
Fish passages are being reviewed and will need to be approved by state and federal agencies.
GENERAL COUNSEL UPDATE – WIFIA
WIFIA is currently working on the final draft term sheet to determine the binding interest rate. We should have a closing date scheduled by the next board of authority meeting.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
A board tour of the Diversion Inlet, Red River and Wild Rice River sites is tentatively being planned during the next concrete pour at the Diversion Inlet site.
Updated videos have been released and can be found on the diversion website.
The Facebook page has been launched and has already received 300 likes. Visit the page FM Area Diversion Project and like us too!
Episode 1 of the Diversion Download podcast has been launched in hopes of reaching audiences that we have not reached in the past.
LAND MANAGEMENT
Mrs. Scherling gave an update on land management projects currently underway:
Property Acquisition Status Report
Acquisitions – 11 additional parcels have been acquired since the August meeting from property owners under LRED.
Bio-Geo – 371 out of 375 permits have been secured.
Scoping the Phase II crop insurance development report.
CLOMR will be mailed soon to over 700 property owners.
FINANCE
Mayor Dardis gave an update on the Finance Committee meeting and indicated that the 2021 budget was presented.
Mayor Dardis reviewed and recommended the following contracting actions for final approval:
Beaver Creek Archeology MSA, Amendment 1 – $0
WP-50C (Property Structure Mitigation) – $313,265.00
WP-43G (OHB Wetland Mitigation) – $2,326,992.44
CCEC Utility Relocation Agreement – $44,500.00
Houston Moore Group TO 30, Amendment 5 – $220,500.00
BNSF Preliminary Engineering Agreement – $60,000.00
MOTION passed
Mayor Dardis moved to approve the contracting actions per above and Mr. Peterson seconded the motion. On a roll call vote, the motion carried.
OTHER BUSINESS
Mr. Paulsen reviewed the new Non-Disclosure Certificates (NDC) policy and indicated that it needs to be signed, executed and adhered to by all Diversion Authority employees, professional services consultants, contractors, stakeholders and third-party vendors.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
MOTION PASSED
At 4:10 pm, Mr. Piepkorn moved to go into Executive Session and Mr. Peterson seconded the motion. Motion carried.
ADJOURNMENT
Board members returned to the Chambers at 5:54 pm.
MOTION PASSED
Ms. Carlson moved to adjourn the meeting and Mr. Steen seconded the motion. Motion carried and the meeting adjourned at 5:55 pm.