Lack of funds halts second phase of NRR dike project

By Anna Jauhola
In the spring of 2024, after meetings with several agencies the previous spring, farmers who operate in North Red River Township created three holes in a 50-year-old dike to alleviate flooding.
The Kittson County Commissioners act as the township board as North Red River was unorganized after the 1997 flood. The board held a meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 15 to discuss a bid from Twamley Construction to lower two portions of the dike on the north and south ends. The bid totaled $17,597.20.
Four landowners and farmers attended the meeting and voiced concern regarding the cost, the necessity of the project, the lack of funds for it and a lack of communication from the board.
“There are three holes in the dike now, you realize that right?” said Joel Lindegard. “That was two years ago when I opened it up to get the water out. And it hasn’t flooded since. They’re still there and we plan to leave them open. I don’t know that there needs to be anything done with this.”
According to a proposed budget for the four unorganized townships the county board tabled in its regular meeting, North Red River Township has a negative balance of $159,535.49. Board member Theresia Gillie said she received the bid from Terry Osowski and she wasn’t aware the township was so far in the red.
The landowners said they don’t see the necessity of any more change in the dike – a 3-mile structure built in the 1970s – until there’s another flood. They believe the holes punched in the dike will alleviate the bathtub effect the dike creates and drain fields as flood waters recede without any other alterations.
Erik Lindegard said he and Osowski were on the committee with other officials to work out the plan for the dike.
“We talked about the three holes and that was at our expense, and that’s fine,” he said. “But how about we wait for a flood and see if that’s all we need to do. Why spend $17,000 and go, ‘Huh, I guess we didn’t need to.’ Especially since we’re in the red.”In the end, the North Red River board agreed to not approve the bid from Twamley Construction as there is no money in the budget and to see if the three holes will solve the issue.
The landowners asked for an explanation on the lack of funds.
“We pay our taxes to this county. Why are we in the red? What costs more there that’s more expensive than normal?” asked Rick Lindegard.
County Administrator Aimee Sugden said there’s less taxing revenue because there’s no homes in the township and the extensive amount of flooding causes higher costs. FEMA reimbursements are also slow to come in, causing a strain on the township’s coffers. Gillie said there should be about $30,000 coming from FEMA from the 2022 flooding. County CFO Shirley Swenson said there are funds in the highway department account that need to be shifted to North Red River Township.
“Some of the FEMA money, right when Andrea (Weleski) left, she was the one heading up all that money,” Swenson said. “ So we need to sit down with Keith (Klegstad) and Arthur (Kukowski) and go through it. We don’t have that split yet.”
They suggested ways to save money on the township budget, including less blading.
The landowners also asked why there was no communication from the board specifically about the meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 15.
“We knew nothing about it until Tracy Bergh’s wife saw something in the paper,” said Erik Lindegard. “I found out two days ago. That’s pretty poor. There has to be a point of contact when we don’t have a township board.”
Gillie said Osowski had contacted her about having a meeting and there was an assumption all around that he would inform others. They said Board member Ryan Swenson is the point of contact, as North Red River is in his district. Sugden apologized and reiterated the board was approached by another landowner “and just kind of assumed he was kind of a representative of the group.”
Board member Loren Younggren pointed out the group didn’t communicate among itself either. Lindegard acknowledged the lack of communication between him and Osowski, but reiterated that it’s still the township board’s job to communicate with landowners.
“It goes back to you guys again. You’re trying to put it on us, but it’s actually you guys because you’re the board. … Communication is key. And that’s what I’m mad about. Let us know so we can have some input because we’re the ones most affected.”
In the future, the landowners agreed they’d like to see communication from the board regarding meetings, such as a phone call or a letter, not just the statutorily required notice in the newspaper.