Finance Committee Meeting – July 27, 2022

A regular meeting of the Metro Flood Diversion Authority Finance Committee was held on July 27, 2022. The following members were present: Bernie Dardis, Mayor, City of West Fargo; Dr. Tim Mahoney, Mayor, City of Fargo; Chad Peterson, Cass County Commissioner; Dan Jacobson, Chairman, Cass County Joint Water Resource District; Steve Sprague, City of Fargo Interim 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; Mike Rietz, City of Moorhead Assistant City Manager and Brandy Madrigga, Cass County Finance Director.

Members absent: no members were absent.

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 JUNE 2022 MEETING

MOTION PASSED

Dr. Mahoney moved to approve the minutes from the June 2022, meeting and Mr. Peterson seconded the motion. On a voice vote, the motion carried.

3. APPROVE ORDER OF AGENDA

MOTION PASSED

Mayor Carlson moved to approve the order of the agenda and Dr. Mahoney seconded the motion. On a voice vote, the motion carried.

4. APPROVAL OF BILLS

Mr. Sprague reported that the bills payable through July 20, 2022, total $10,316,425.86 and are payable to the usual vendors, Cass County, Cass County Joint Water Resource District, Ohnstad Twichell, P.C., City of Fargo and Clay County.

MOTION PASSED

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

5. FINANCIAL REPORT

Mr. Sprague reported that our current net position is $135,013,500.

MOTION PASSED

Dr. Mahoney moved to approve the financial report and Mayor Carlson seconded the motion. On a voice vote, the motion carried.

Mr. Sprague introduced Terri Gayhart, the new City of Fargo finance director. She is a member of the finance committee and will be providing the financial updates at future meetings.

6. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FINANCIAL REPORT

Mr. Paulsen reported that current revenues for the month are $7.3 million and $59.4 million year-to-date. The majority of expenses continue to be in land and mitigation and are expected to increase in coming months.

7. CONTRACTING ACTIONS

a. DA Board Approval Contracting Action

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

• Task Order 1, Amendment 0 – This project consists of the work required to relocate the exiting Sprint 36 count fiber that now runs north/south on the west side of Highway 75 south of Comstock, MN to the Clay County line to be clear of the SE-4 Embankment along Highway 75, and be clear of any crossings of the SE-4 Embankment by moving our cable west of the project. Sprint Communications Company, L.P. – $540,321.36.
• Change Order 01, WP50F Property Mitigation – Additional cost due to property OIN 826 and OIN 2185 being demolished due to winterization issues of the structures and removal of OIN 25 from the contract. Schmidt and Sons Construction Inc. – $111,655.
• New Agreement – Document management services through July 31, 2025, Affinitext Inc. – $118,630.

MOTION PASSED

Dr. Mahoney moved to collectively approve the contracting actions as presented and Mr. Steen seconded the motion. On a roll call vote, the motion carried.

b. 2022 Cash Budget Changes

There were no changes to report.

 8. OTHER BUSINESS

a. Updated City of Fargo Work Plan for Projects Bid in 2022

Mr. Bakkegard provided an overview on the City of Fargo projects bid in 2022, the budget changes and additional funds requested.

FM-19-C (Phases 1 and 2): Bids came in as anticipated. No budget change requested.

FM-22-C1: 2018 Estimate = Bids came in higher than the 2022 Engineer’s Estimate. Requested Budget Increase = $375,000.

FM-22-B1: Bids came in as anticipated. No budget change requested.

The City of Fargo does have one final project that is planned to be bid in 2022 and was included in the approved 2022 Cash Budget. Project FM-21-A1 is an O&M project for erosion protection and bank stabilization of the South University floodwall. The Development Plan Summary Sheet for this project is attached. The City of Fargo recently revised their engineer’s estimate for this project due to the following:

• The area of the riverbank to be armored with rock rip rap needed to be expanded due to the riverbank failure area increasing since the original estimate was put together. The area increased was slightly less than double the original area.
• The addition of pavement removal and replacement on 52nd Avenue S to repair the roadway where the bank failure has extended into it. This cost accounts for approximately $75k of the increased cost.
• The current bidding market and inflation impacts.

FM-21-A1:  2022 Engineer’s Estimate including engineering and contingency = $2,805,000 Request Budget Increase = $1,292,500.

MOTION PASSED

Mayor Carlson moved to approve FM-22-C1 – for a budget increase of $375,000 and FM-21-A1 – for a budget increase of $1,292,500 and Mr. Redlinger seconded the motion. On a roll call vote, the motion carried.

b. MFDA 2021 Audit Report and Governance Letter

Mr. Paulsen reported that the 2021 audit report is included in the packet for review. Eide Bailly will be presenting the results at the August meeting.

c. BNSF Preliminary Engineering Amendment

Mr. Shockley provided an overview and summary of the proposed agreement with BNSF. The agreement would provide a project engineer employee dedicated to complete various design review and research tasks regarding the flood mitigation plan and potential impacts on rail operations and maintenance.

MOTION PASSED

Dr. Mahoney moved to approve the BNSF agreement as presented and Mr. Jacobson seconded the motion. On a roll call vote, the motion carried.

9. NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be August 24, 2022.

 10. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 4:37 PM.