01-18-2018
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29 <br /> <br />Bernie Dardis- Board Chair, Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce <br />Being chosen as one of the members of the Governors’ Task Force was a true honor. After seeing <br />the toil flooding has taken on the region, being a part of providing a permanent solution is <br />something I hope I will always be able to look proudly back on. I say I hope, because the work is <br />not done. Several large changes to the project were recommended, but we left unknowing how the <br />DNR would consider these through the permitting process or how we would pay the additional <br />costs, which are considerable. <br />When Governor Burgum asked me to serve, it gave me pause because I wasn’t sure what I had to <br />offer. I have paid attention to the Diversion Project closely, but I was not familiar with all the <br />details. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I might be in a unique situation to provide <br />perspective. I was identified as Chairman of the Greater North Dakota Chamber, but I didn’t feel <br />that meant I was looking out for only North Dakota. As CEO of Indigo Signs, we had significant <br />business interests across North Dakota and Minnesota. I often thought about the economic <br />prosperity of both states as I made my way between locations on trips back and forth on I-94. It is <br />with this mindset that I set out to do my job as a member of the Task Force. <br />Flood Insurance <br />When discussing flood protection with those more technically inclined than myself, the conversation <br />usually turns to river stages, flows per second, and other hydraulic factors. While these are important <br />when designing a project, they are not the first things on the minds of the public. When I’m at <br />meetings around town or talking to neighbors, the topic that comes up most frequently is something <br />much closer to the pocket book, flood insurance. <br />The technical presentations from city engineers in Fargo and Moorhead showed that more than <br />1,000 homes in Moorhead and more than 11,000 in Fargo are at risk of being mandated to carry <br />federal flood insurance. Too often, this topic is ignored when we talk about the need for flood <br />protection and the speed at which we need to accomplish it. We know that the flood risk is the <br />highest in early spring, the risk of flood insurance is something that impacts people every day. <br />According to the information at the Task Force from the DNR’s website, a primary $200,000 <br />residential property can expect to pay in excess of $4,000 a year in flood insurance. The kicker here <br />is that this rate is actually subsidized by the federal government. Over the last several years, we have <br />seen Congress slowly chisel away at this subsidy to work towards a more actuarial rate. The DNR’s <br />document estimates that a non-subsidized rate for a similar house that sits at an elevation similar to <br />the 2009 flood would face almost double the rate at $8,000 a year. This is 4% of the price of the <br />house every year! I have seen estimates that across Fargo-Moorhead this could mean $30-50 million <br />in annual premiums. This would be money leaving our economy, rather than being reinvested here <br />locally. This is an economic catastrophe that worries me as much or more than the risk of actual <br />flooding. <br />The long-term results of these flood insurance requirements will mean the detriment of our existing <br />housing stock, the tumbling of property values, the loss of family’s retirement nest eggs, and the loss
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