Grand Forks council stalls water plant redevelopment over cost

The Grand Forks City Council failed to advance the redevelopment of the water treatment plant site on Monday night. A preliminary vote to issue a request for qualifications ended in a 3-3 tie. Because the vote was split, the council recorded no recommendation. The item will return for discussion at the next regular meeting.

City Administrator Todd Feland and City Planner Ryan Brooks presented the plan to the Committee of the Whole. The proposal involves narrowing down a list of qualified development teams. Feland stated that the intent is to move forward with the development process itself. If the council approves the request, he expects proposals back in January.

The redevelopment concept includes five-story apartments with a public plaza, seven-story apartments with a plaza, or a mix of five-story apartments, townhomes, and a plaza. Cost estimates for the project range from $95 million to $162 million. Feland noted that the area would feature limited retail, limited commercial space, rental units, and home ownership opportunities.

The council members had traveled to Sioux Falls and Brookings, South Dakota, to observe development projects in those cities. Feland cited the downtown area and cleanup work from the 1997 flood as factors that make the project feasible. He believes the site could become a new district in Grand Forks.

Councilman Ken Vein raised concerns about applying lessons from the South Dakota trip to the treatment plant location. He pointed to the underground piping and water storage that will require demolition. Vein questioned the affordability of the project given the cost increases.

Vein said, “The thing that concerns a little bit no matter what we do (is) those earlier estimates were up $100 million, $150 million; that was something that wasn’t very affordable for us.” He added that the team would have to be creative with the design due to the site constraints.

Councilman Dana Sande voted in favor but expressed worry about demolition costs. He noted that the estimated $6 million in demolition fees would force higher residential density. Sande recalled that the council previously rejected a higher density when it issued a request for proposals.

Councilwoman Rebecca Osowski voted against the request. She argued that the city already has excess commercial space and has pursued apartment projects with tax incentives in recent years. She said, “Now here we are looking at basically the exact same projects that we’ve been looking at over the past couple years.”

The members voting in favor were Dana Sande, Tricia Berg, and Danny Weigel. The members voting against were Angela Salentiny, Rebecca Osowski, and Ken Vein. Councilman Mike Fridolfs was absent from the Monday night work session.

In other business, the council preliminarily approved an ownership change for Grand Forks Taxi from Jesse Stephan to Nate Gregoire. It also approved the purchase of 126 new Glock handguns for the police department at a cost of $132,946. Additionally, the council approved a $154,386 change order for the municipal solid waste landfill soil treatment pad project.