Buyouts likely next step for Fargo in flood protection process

Talk about it

More...

• Fargo buyout list

When it comes to permanent flood protection for the Fargo-Moorhead area, there’s plenty of talk about diversions, levees and floodwalls.

But until officials on both sides of the Red River decide on a metrowide plan, what people will most likely notice are home buyouts, with subsequent demolition or removal, and drain widening projects.

In Fargo, buyouts will be paid for, at least in part, by money accumulated from a one-half-percent sales tax approved in Tuesday’s landslide special election.

The tax is expected to raise $200 million over 20 years to pay for flood control projects.

“The main thing is, that’s one of the first things we can do,” City Commissioner Dave Piepkorn said Wednesday. “Some homes shouldn’t be there. That will be the first thing that will be visible to the average resident of Fargo.”

Fargo city staff have a list of 54 homes and vacant lots that they’ve prioritized, depending on damage and the importance of the location for overall flood protection.

The Priority 1 list has 26 homes, ranging in appraised value from $56,000 in the north side Oak Grove neighborhood to $772,000 for a Harwood Groves home on the south side.

The Priority 2 list includes homes valued at $54,300 to $305,900.

Residents of many of the properties listed requested buyouts, but not all. And the appraised prices are not necessarily the prices the homes will command if a deal is struck.

City Commissioner Mike Williams said the city may also be able to improve Drains 53 and 27 south of town to increase their carrying capacity and water retention.

Fargo can also look for opportunities to use land upstream for water retention, Williams said.

Mayor Dennis Walaker said a large part of what Fargo and Moorhead do in coming months will be tied to the decisions of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The corps is expected to have a recommendation for a metrowide flood plan in September or October, but it will be another year after that before it would be ready to go to Congress.

“There’s too many unknowns right now. People want to have plans. It’s going to take some time,” Walaker said.

Fargo has its $161 million Southside Flood Control Project on hold. But city officials say it could largely be finished in two to three years after work starts.

Moorhead is unlikely to have a sales tax to pay for flood control. Officials there said they’ve been told by the governor and legislators that flood project money will come in the state’s bonding bills.

“I’m taking them at their word,” Moorhead Mayor Mark Voxland said.

In the short term, Voxland said his city will also pursue home buyouts with state and local funds.

“It takes a long time to get everything lined up and ready to go,” he said. “We’re anticipating by fall, we can do some buyouts.”

Moorhead City Manager Michael Redlinger said a sales tax was “never really considered as a viable option” because it must be approved by the Legislature, which frowns on that route for the state’s cities.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., called Tuesday’s vote “a very positive sign from the citizens of Fargo that they want to move ahead with some kind of flood control project.”

Readers can reach Forum reporter Helmut Schmidt at (701) 241-5583

Tags: flood protection, news, flood, fargo, moorhead, buyouts, communities