Planning Committee Meeting – September 10, 2024

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A meeting of the Metro Flood Diversion Authority Planning Committee was held on September 10, 2024. The following members were present: Dr. Tim Mahoney, Mayor, City of Fargo; Bernie Dardis, Mayor, City of West Fargo; Kevin Campbell, Clay County Commissioner; Shelly Carlson, Mayor, City of Moorhead and Rick Steen, Cass County Joint Water Resource District.

Member(s) absent: Tony Grindberg, Cass County Commissioner.

1. CALL TO ORDER

Mayor Carlson called the meeting to order at 1:00 PM. Roll call was taken, and a quorum was present.

2. APPROVAL OF THE AUGUST2024 MINUTES

MOTION PASSED

Mr. Campbell moved to approve the minutes from the August 2024 meeting and Mayor Mahoney seconded the motion. On a voice vote, the motion carried.

3. APPROVE THE ORDER OF THE AGENDA

MOTION PASSED

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

4. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR HIRING UPDATE

Ms. Peters reported that six candidates have been selected for the first round of interviews. These interviews will be virtual and be held in executive session of the Planning Committee on October 4, 2024. The final candidate(s) will be interviewed on October 18, 2024, at Fargo City Hall, Commission Chambers; these interviews will be conducted by MFDA board members and will be open to the public. There was also discussion regarding a tour of the project and a MFDA staff meet and greet with the final candidate(s).

5. MFDA CLASSIFICATION & COMPENSATION STUDY UPDATE

Mr. Redlinger reported that four responses were received from the RPF mailing.  Mr. Redlinger will schedule a small group meeting to screen the proposals and bring a recommendation to the board. The goal is to have an organization in place before fall.

6. GOVERNANCE POLICIES UPDATES

The 2022 governance policies were reviewed and updated to reflect clarification and update verbiage. A general overview of the proposed updates are:

The chair of the Board of Authority has the authority to place the executive director of the MFDA on administrative leave.

All executive director travel outside of Minnesota and North Dakota will require approval from the chair and vice chair of the Board of Authority.

The executive director will report to the chair on a regular basis. The chair is to verify that policy decisions are being followed and implemented by the executive director.

MOTION PASSED

Mr. Campbell moved to recommend the governance policy proposed updates to the Board of Authority for approval and Mayor Mahoney seconded the motion. On a voice vote, the motion carried.

7. CASS COUNTY & MFDA HR MOU AMENDMENT

Extensive dialogue was held around the preferred methodology for COLA increases. It was suggested that COLAs would either be an average of the member entity increases or consistent with Cass County COLAs, given at the first of the year.

MOTION PASSED

Mr. Campbell moved to recommend to the Board the first amendment of the MOU for approval, with an amendment to reflect that COLAs would be an average of the member entities’ COLAs. Mayor Dardis seconded the motion and on a roll call vote with Mr. Steen voting “nay,” the motion carried.

8.  CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS UPDATE

Mr. Redlinger reported that the Water Topics Overview Committee will be in Fargo on Thursday for a tour of the project and business/update meeting.

9. OTHER BUSINESS

Mr. Barthel reported that FEMA is in Fargo this week for the LOMR and certification meeting.

10. NEXT MEETING

A special meeting will be held on October 4, 2024, for virtual executive director candidate interviews. The next regular meeting will be October 8, 2024.

11. ADJOURNMENT

The meeting adjourned at 2:08 PM.