Grand Fork — The Southern End Flood Protection Master Plan was presented to members of the Grand Fork City Council at the Plenary Committee meeting on Monday evening.
Last spring, city engineer Al Glasser briefed the city council on land flooding and risk assessment. Based on feedback received from council members, the city’s engineering department has issued a request for qualification to hire his engineering firm, a consultant to provide hydrological assessments and hydrological evaluations of future development areas of the city at the southern end of the city. Did. This assessment serves as a baseline for stormwater analysis and flood protection.
Rainfall and flooding in April 2022 have raised some concerns, Grasser said.
“If I had closed the gate when the water passed, I would be very concerned. I think the pump couldn’t keep up,” Glasser said.
Grand Forks’ flood control system consists of riverside levees and pumping stations to address internal drainage from water entering from outside the city. Glasser said more water was pouring into cities from rural areas than originally expected and this needs to be addressed.
Additionally, Grasser said the technology needs to be updated so that it uses the latest computer software and data.
A task order agreement was signed between AE2S, HDR and Bolton & Menck, who were ranked by the selection committee as most qualified for the task.
The proposed master plan has several tasks including data collection and overview. development of existing models; future risk assessments for existing flood protection systems; Internal flood control master plan. Upgrading stormwater and wastewater standards. Outreach, documentation and reporting.
Phase 2 consists of implementing Phase 1 results and updating standards and city policies. The final result of the master plan will create the best possible approach for continued southern expansion without impacting existing development and flood control facilities along the English Cooley and South End Drainage Channels.
The total cost of engineering services is estimated at $568,670 and will be disbursed from the city’s Flood Protection Capital Maintenance Fund, but Grasser said additional analysis of Drain 4 and its capabilities may be required. I’m here.
Also on Monday, council members continued discussions on a contract with SRF Consulting Group Inc. to provide scoping engineering services for both the Intercity and Merrifield Bridge projects at a scale of $151,170.33.
East Grand Forks City Council members approved the agreement at their November 15 council meeting, but Grand Forks Council members voted 4 to 3 at their November 21 meeting to agree with East Grand Forks City Council members. did not agree with Last week, both councils met at a joint meeting to further discuss both bridge projects and the services the SRF will provide in its first phase.
Grand Forks council members mostly agree with the agreement and the additional information it provides, although some say they prefer the scoping service to focus solely on the Merrifield Bridge project.
“It’s going to take a lot of time to support bridges between cities,” city councilor Danny Weigel said at a meeting Monday. “But I support Merrifield Bridge. So I’m wondering if I should vote against this and it won’t move along Merrifield Bridge. and it is in our best interest.
Another argument for intercity bridges is where they will be located. Council members agreed to change the language in the agreement so that the location of the intercity bridge would not be set throughout the scoping phase.
Since the Merrifield Bridge will be a county-led project, city officials are proposing to split the cost of the service by four, taking into account Grand Forks and Polk counties.
In other news on Monday, council members said:
- Granted preliminary approval to Half Brothers Brewing Company LLC’s request to convert from a Class 16 brewery taproom alcoholic beverage license to a Class 3 on/off sale beer and wine license . The business originally had a Class 3 alcoholic beverage license, but half-his Brothers Brewing owner Chad Gunderson announced in late December 2017 that Brewer would be creating a new alcoholic beverage license for his taproom. I asked the city council to look into it. Setting up a Class 16 brewery taproom license was approved at the time. , Half Brothers Brewing is requesting that its license be reverted to a Class 3 Alcoholic Beverage License.
- Confirmed plans and specifications from the engineering department for several mill and overlay projects on various roads and greenways around the city. Mill and Overlay work includes sections of Hamline Street, Cambridge Street, Harvard Street, Princeton Street, and North 5th Avenue around UND. The section of Demers Avenue around the railroad crossing at the Amtrak station, the Alerus Center parking lot, and the bike path along the greenway. The total cost of all projects is estimated at $990,000 and is funded by a variety of sources, including the Roads and Infrastructure Fund and the Flood Defense Capital Sustainability Fund.
- We’ve received legislative session updates on where to find legislation related to Grand Forks legislative priorities. Bills specific to these Grand Forks priorities can be found in the Legislative Council section of the city’s website. One of these bills is House Bill 1199, which allows you to borrow money from the Bank of North Dakota to pay inflation costs associated with technical education centers. In Grand Forks, for example, construction of a proposed technology center has been delayed while the project awaits $10 million in state funding. Then it flows to Grand Forks, but it hasn’t come yet. In the meantime, inflation has pushed overall prices up due to delays.
