Finance Committee Meeting – March 26, 2025

See full minutes.

A regular meeting of the Metro Flood Diversion Authority Finance Committee was held on March 26, 2025. Members present: Dr. Tim Mahoney, Mayor, City of Fargo; Bernie Dardis, Mayor, City of West Fargo; Dave Piepkorn, Fargo City Commissioner; Susan Thompson, Finance Director, City of Fargo; David Ebinger, Clay County Commissioner; Mike Redlinger, Administrator, City of Fargo; Mike Rietz, Assistant City Manager, City of Moorhead; Rick Steen, Cass County Joint Water Resource District; Jim Kapitan, Cass County Commissioner; Shelly Carlson, Mayor, City of Moorhead and Tony Grindberg, Cass County Commissioner.   

Member(s) absent: Brandy Madrigga, Cass County Finance Director. 

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 THE MINUTES FROM THE FEBRUARY 2025 MEETING

MOTION PASSED 

Mr. Grindberg moved to approve the minutes from the February 2025 meeting and Mr. Kapitan seconded the motion. On a voice vote, the motion carried. 

3. APPROVE THE ORDER OF THE AGENDA

MOTION PASSED 

Mr. Ebinger moved to approve the order of the agenda and Ms. Thompson seconded the motion. On a voice vote, the motion carried. 

4. APPROVAL OF BILLS

Ms. Thompson reported that the bills payable through March 19, 2025, total $1,344,567, and are payable to the usual vendors, with the City of Fargo being the largest at $947,590.  

MOTION PASSED 

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

5. FINANCIAL REPORT

Ms. Thompson reported that the sales tax receipts have been received from the City of Fargo and Cass County. Again, noting that they are reflected two months in arrears.  

Ms. Thompson reported the total assets as of February 28, 2025, are $333,191,238; liabilities total $2,198,757, and the grand total net position is $330,992,481. 

MOTION PASSED 

Mr. Grindberg moved to approve the financial report as presented and Mr. Redlinger seconded the motion. On a voice vote, the motion carried.  

6. CASH BUDGET REPORT

Mr. Benson reported that that revenues for the month are tracking as anticipated and the expenditures are as well. Mr. Benson noted that the first milestone payment was made to the developer and an additional $233,718,400, is anticipated to be paid in 2025.  

7. MOUs AND AGREEMENTS

Mr. Shockley provided an overview and summary of the following MURA: 

a. Ottertail Power Company & MFDA MURA 

The purpose of this Master Utility Relocation Agreement (MURA) is to ensure a coordinated, time-efficient, and cost-effective process for completing the Utility Relocation Project, for coordinating operations and maintenance activities after completion of the Utility Relocation Project, and for the development of individual Task Orders issued in conjunction with, and subject to, the terms and conditions of the Agreement. The Authority, via its Member Entities, is required to obtain property rights in the form of a flowage easement from property owners where additional flood water is temporarily stored when the Comprehensive Project operates. The parties agree and acknowledge that the storage of additional flood water will flood property where the Utility owns easements and rights of way. As part of this MURA, the Utility authorizes the Authority, via its Member Entities, to temporarily store additional flood water in, on, over, and across its easements across Project Property. 

MOTION PASSED 

Mr. Grindberg moved to approve the MURA as presented and Mayor Mahoney seconded the motion. On a roll call vote, the motion carried. 

8. DA BOARD APPROVAL CONTRACTING ACTIONS

Mr. Bakkegard provided an overview and summary of the following contracting actions:  

a., i. Budget Change Request 019/2025 Cash Budget Amendment 

This Budget Change Request (BCR) facilitates two transactions to support HMG Task Order 102 Amendment 9.  

Reallocate $2 million of existing program budget reserved under the “Certification” Work Breakdown Structure (WBS) to the Engineering and Design Fees WBS. This amount will be apportioned between years 2025 & 2026.

Increase the 2025 cash budget $1 million from $424,055,689 to $425,055,689, to support the added scope under HMG Task Order 102 Amendment 9.

a., ii. Houston Moore Group, Inc. – $2,174,989 

Task Order 102, Amendment 9 – H&H, Mitigation and Permitting Support – balance the 2024 budget with actual spent and adjust remaining budget for 2025 and 2026. Budgets in 2025 and beyond have increased due to the accelerated schedule to the FEMA Physical Map Revision, additional permit compliance monitoring and cemetery mitigation support. 

MOTION PRESENTED 

Mayor Mahoney moved to approve items 8 a., i & ii., as presented and Mayor Carlson seconded the motion.  

MOTION AMENDED AND PASSED 

Mr. Grindberg moved to amend the previous motion to include the verbiage “not to exceed $2,174,989” and Mayor Carlson seconded the amended motion. On a roll call vote, the motion carried. 

b. LinnCo., Inc. – $258,400

Task Order 11, Amendment 0 – WP38C Property Structure Mitigation – perform property mitigation services for WP38C on OINs 1093X and 5002. 

MOTION PASSED 

Mayor Mahoney moved to approve the contracting action as presented and Mr. Ebinger seconded the motion. On a roll call vote, the motion carried.  

9. OTHER BUSINESS

a. MFDA Employee COLA Increase 

Mr. Benson indicated that there will be no salary or COLA increases for MFDA staff in the next several years and asked that the MFDA follow the Cass County handbook for 2025 and future years.  

MOTION PASSED 

Mayor Mahoney moved to approve the recommended action and Mr. Ebinger seconded the motion. On a roll call vote, the motion carried.  

b. Minnesota Funding

Mr. Benson reported that there has been a lot of positive support for funding on HB2024 that potentially would provide for the completion of the City of Moorhead in-town projects as well as projects in Wolverton, Comstock and Georgetown. 

10. NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be on April 23, 2025. 

11. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 4:34 PM.