MFDA Finance Committee Meeting – June 25, 2025

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A regular meeting of the Metro Flood Diversion Authority Finance Committee was held on June 25, 2025. Members present: Dr. Tim Mahoney, Mayor, City of Fargo; Bernie Dardis, Mayor, City of West Fargo; Dave Piepkorn, Fargo City Commissioner; Tony Grindberg, Cass County Commissioner; Susan Thompson, Finance Director, City of Fargo; Lori Johnson, Clay County Auditor/Treasurer; Mike Redlinger, Administrator, City of Fargo; Rick Steen, Cass County Joint Water Resource District and Jim Kapitan, Cass County Commissioner.

Member(s) absent: Brandy Madrigga, Cass County Finance Director; Shelly Carlson, Mayor, City of Moorhead and Mike Rietz, Assistant City Manager, City of Moorhead.

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 MAY 2025 MEETING

MOTION PASSED

Mr. Steen moved to approve the minutes from the May 2025 meeting and Mr. Piepkorn seconded the motion. On a voice vote, the motion carried.

3. APPROVE THE ORDER OF THE AGENDA

MOTION PASSED

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

4. APPROVAL OF BILLS

Ms. Thompson reported that the bills payable through June 17, 2025, total $5,776,765, and are payable to the usual vendors, with Clay County being the largest at $1,700,299; the City of Fargo being the second largest at $1,271,109, and the Cass County Joint Water Resource District being the third largest at $1,077,333.

MOTION PASSED

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

5. FINANCIAL REPORT

Ms. Thompson reported the total assets as of May 31, 2025, are $343,700,496; liabilities total $3,453,515, and the grand total net position is $340,246,982.

MOTION PASSED

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

6. CASH BUDGET REPORT

Mr. Benson reported that revenues to date are $91,539,000, and they continue to track as expected. Costs  paid to date are $55,604,404. $233,655,150, has been allocated for milestone payments and $17,583,109, has been paid to date.

7. MOUs AND AGREEMENTS

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

a. Water Resource Districts & MFDA MOU

This MOU amendment further defines the roles and responsibilities of the Metro Flood Diversion Authority, the Southeast Cass Water Resource District, the Maple River Water Resource District, the Rush River Water Resource District, the North Cass Water Resource District, and the Cass County Joint Water Resource District for District facilities that are impacted by the Comprehensive Project. In particular, the MOU amendment identifies drain crossings that were separately identified in District-specific MOUs and discusses cleanup and repairs of District facilities following operation of the Comprehensive Project. The Authority is responsible for considering reimbursement requests from a District for cleanup and repairs resulting from Comprehensive Project operation.

MOTION PASSED

Mr. Grindberg moved to approve the MOU as presented and Mr. Steen 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. Task Order 47, Amendment 0 – WP38C- Property Structure Mitigation – Industrial Builders, Inc. – $229,660

Perform property structure mitigation services on OIN 831.

MOTION PASSED

Mr. Grindberg moved to approve Task Order 47, Amendment 0, as presented and Mr. Kapitan seconded the motion. On a roll call vote, the motion carried.

b. Task Order 06, Amendment 14 – P3 Procurement Support and Design and Construction Contract Monitoring Activities – CH2M Hill Engineers, Inc. – $15,810,986

The purpose of this amendment is to reallocate between subtasks and add additional funds in 2025 to add additional funds in 2026 & 2027 to Task D (Monitoring of Activities During Design and Construction), Task E (Management of Payment Mechanisms) and Task F (Design & Construction Period Completions). This change was anticipated in the Program Budget since the Task Order 6 fee was truncated at 6 years when it was originally signed back in 2019, due to the lack of clarity of the P3 moving forward, at the time. This Amendment will allow Jacobs to continue to provide the same level of services and staffing through Substantial Completion of the P3 portion of the project. This effort is approximately 18 FTE for 2025 and 2026 but ramps down in late 2026 and 2027.

MOTION PASSED

Mr. Steen to approve Task Order 06, Amendment 14 as presented, and Mr. Piepkorn seconded the motion. On a roll call vote, the motion carried.

9. OTHER BUSINESS

a. City of Fargo Project NR-25-D-STS LS #41, #42 & #58

LFPAI, formerly referenced as the In-Kind Work Plan or In-Town Projects, has been developed and approved by the Diversion Authority Board and the Member Entities. The LFPAI summarizes the additional impacts and measures that need to be implemented to accommodate a flow through the Fargo-Moorhead urban area that produces a river stage of 37 feet during a 100-year flood event. Member entities include the City of Fargo, City of Moorhead, Cass County, Cass County Joint Water Resource District and Clay County. LFPAI project development through construction is led by the member entity jurisdiction where the construction is occurring.

Given the similarity in scope, the city decided to consolidate Project #NR-26-B (lift station #58) into Project #NR-25-D (lift stations #41 and #42). The consolidation was done to reduce construction administration costs and improve the likelihood of receiving competitive bids by combining the rehabilitations of all three lift stations into one project.

The estimated costs provided as part of the 2025 budget preparations showed all three projects having a combined project cost of $13,486,000.00. With the previously discussed revised scope of work, the combined project cost estimate for all three lift stations is $4,289,780.00. The project is scheduled to receive bids on July 2, 2025.

MOTION PASSED

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

b. MFDA 2024 Audit Letter

Mr. Benson reported that the audit letter was received from Eide Bailly and the overall results were very positive. There were no issues that needed attention or corrective action, which speaks well to our financial management.

10. NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be on July 23, 2025.

11. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 4:23PM.