Finance Committee Meeting – August 24, 2022

A regular meeting of the Metro Flood Diversion Authority Finance Committee was held on August 24, 2022. The following members were present: Bernie Dardis, Mayor, City of West Fargo; Chad Peterson, Cass County Commissioner; Dan Jacobson, Chairman, Cass County Joint Water Resource District; Terri Gayhart, City of Fargo Finance Director; Lori Johnson, Clay County Auditor/Treasurer; Mike Redlinger, City of Fargo Interim City Administrator; Rick Steen, Cass County Commissioner; Dave Piepkorn, Fargo City Commissioner; Shelly Carlson, Mayor, City of Moorhead and Brandy Madrigga, Cass County Finance Director.

Members absent: Dr. Tim Mahoney, Mayor, City of Fargo and Mike Rietz, City of Moorhead Assistant City Manager.

1. CALL TO ORDER

Mayor Dardis called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM. Roll call was taken, and a quorum was present.

2. APPROVE MINUTES FROM THE JULY 2022 MEETING

MOTION PASSED

Mayor Carlson moved to approve the minutes from the July 2022, meeting and Mr. Steen seconded the motion. On a voice vote, the motion carried.

3. APPROVE ORDER OF AGENDA

MOTION PASSED

Mr. Steen moved to approve the order of the agenda and Mr. Peterson seconded the motion. On a voice vote, the motion carried.

4. APPROVAL OF BILLS

Ms. Gayhart reported that the four bills payable through August 16, 2022, total $2,014,254.23 and are payable to the usual vendors, with Cass County Joint Water Resource District being the largest payee.

MOTION PASSED

Mr. Steen moved to approve the bills as presented and Mr. Piepkorn seconded the motion. On a roll call vote, the motion carried.

5. FINANCIAL REPORT

Ms. Gayhart reported that our current net position is $149,182,466.

MOTION PASSED

Mr. Jacobson moved to approve the financial report and Mr. Piepkorn seconded the motion. On a voice vote, the motion carried.

6. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FINANCIAL REPORT

Mr. Paulsen reported that city and county sales tax revenues have been coming in higher than anticipated and for year-to-date spending, we are tracking as expected. A Legacy Bond Fund reimbursement request of $7,346,509 has been submitted and the Legacy Bond Fund continues to track under budget.

7. CONTRACTING ACTIONS

a. DA Board Approval Contracting Actions

Mr. Paulsen provided an overview of the following contracting actions:

• Services Agreement, new MSA – provide crop insurance product development services through August 31, 2025 – Watts and Associates, Inc. – $0.
• Task Order 101, Amendment 4 – Design and Construction Support – scope change and budget amendments for new subtasks. Add subtask for Cass Rural Water District Mitigation and Mobility Improvements in Cass County – 38th Street S and 52nd Avenue S – HMG $2,580,000.
• Task Order 02, Amendment 0 – Utility Relocation for SE-4 – add 3.5 miles of single-phase to avoid two underground crossings of SE-4 and to serve the Walstad property – Red River Valley Cooperative Power – $237,000.

MOTION PASSED

Mayor Carlson moved to collectively approve the contracting actions as presented and Mr. Peterson seconded the motion. On a roll call vote, the motion carried.

8. OTHER BUSINESS

a. MFDA 2021 Audit Report Acceptance of Findings

Ms. Jamie Fay, Eide Bailly, LLP, provided the opinion of the audited financial statements for year ended December 2021. Ms. Fay indicated that the reason for the opinion is to audit and verify that the financial statements are accurate and that the MFDA received a clean audit opinion.

Ms. Fay also reported that there was a $56,770,517 positive change in net position with a net position ending balance of $93,435,929. The balance of total assets for year ended 2021 is $148,526,445.

MOTION PASSED

Mr. Steen moved to approve the 2021 audit as presented and Mr. Peterson seconded the motion. On a roll call vote, the motion carried.

9. NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be September 21, 2022, at 3 PM. The November 16, 2022, meeting will also be held at 3 PM.

10. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 4:28 PM.