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Flood Diversion Board of Authority – January 21, 2014 1 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> FLOOD DIVERSION BOARD OF AUTHORITY JANUARY 21, 2014 – 1:30 PM <br /> <br />1. MEETING TO ORDER <br />A special meeting of the Flood Diversion Board of Authority was held Tuesday, January 21, 2014 at 1:30 PM in the Fargo City Commission Room with the following members present: Cass County Commissioner Mary Scherling; Cass <br />County Commissioner Ken Pawluk; West Fargo City Commissioner Mike <br />Thorstad; Fargo Mayor Dennis Walaker; Fargo City Commissioner Tim Mahoney; <br />Fargo City Commissioner Brad Wimmer; Cass County Joint Water Resource District Manager Rodger Olson; Clay County Commissioner Kevin Campbell; and Moorhead City Council Member Nancy Otto. <br /> <br />Staff members and others present: Cass County Administrator Keith Berndt; <br />Fargo City Administrator Pat Zavoral; Clay County Administrator Brian Berg; Bruce Spiller, CH2MHill; Brett Coleman, Project Manager, Corps of Engineers (via conference call); and Fargo City Attorney Erik Johnson. <br /> <br />2. MINUTES APPROVED MOTION, passed Mr. Walaker moved and Ms. Otto seconded to approve minutes from the December 19, 2013, meeting as presented. Motion carried. <br /> <br />3. MINNESOTA DNR CONTRACT AMENDMENT <br />Keith Berndt said staff was authorized at the last meeting to negotiate a contract with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) at an estimated cost of $750,000. He <br />said now that scoping is complete, the more exact figure is available and this <br />special meeting was called to authorize the cost increase. He said negotiations <br />with the DNR have resulted in an estimated contract of $1,146,618, an increase of nearly $400,000. <br />In response to Mr. Pawluk’s question about whether the increase may be <br />because the DNR seems opposed to the project, Bruce Spiller said the figures do <br />not appear to be inflated. He said originally $750,000 was in the contract as a placeholder, even before the scoping process was started. Following the scoping process, he said, a supplemental Environmental Assessment (EA) was <br />completed from which they were able to compile a more complete figure for <br />negotiations; however, that was not available at the time of the last meeting so <br />the number approved was the only figure available at that time. <br />Mark Bittner said he sat in on the EIS meetings and it appears to him they are <br />intent on following Minnesota laws. <br /> <br />In response to a question from Rodger Olson about whether all federal projects go through this type of review by the states and if the Diversion Authority is <br />bound by this EIS, Mr. Coleman said the Corps works with states for the permits <br />required.