Oakport could get dike support

Oakport Township, Minn., may be getting help from the Army Corps of Engineers, said Town Board Supervisor Chair Greg Anderson on Sunday night at a community meeting.

In the first gathering since the flood struck the community north of Moorhead, Anderson announced that he had just gotten word that the corps was considering diking around the area to keep a second crest from doing further damage to homes.

The Corps will let Anderson know sometime today what it decided.

Oakport will hold its regular town meeting at 7 tonight at the Oakport town hall at 1401 28th Ave. N.

After Sunday’s meeting he said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the proposal.

“If the Army Corps approves it, I hope we get great cooperation from the people I need to get easements from,” Anderson said, noting that the clay dike would cut across some properties.

Representative Collin Peterson, of Minnesota’s 7th District, a guest at the meeting, said the corps would take into consideration any adverse affects a dike may have on other areas.

The informational meeting, held at the Dilworth Community Center, packed more than 300 people into the room. The two-hour gathering was civil, but some residents asked pointed questions about whether lift stations would keep running during a second crest, whether those who personally bought sand for sandbags would be reimbursed and what was being done to ensure flooding wouldn’t happen again.

“Plan A has failed. It’s time for Plan B,” said Patti Kratky, who lost her home of 35 years on Broadway. She wants to see a regional watershed planning authority established to manage water and was critical of the government for not doing something sooner to address flooding issues.

While she drew support for her comments, she didn’t feel she was truly heard by Anderson and Peterson.

“I feel they shut me off,” she said later. “We’re never going to let them forget this. … I’m never going to stop going to meetings.”

Readers can reach Forum reporter John Lamb at (701) 241-5533