Kennedy water bids in, awaiting USDA approval

By Anna Jauhola
There is a positive outlook for the water project at Kennedy.
On Wednesday, March 18, Bollig Engineering – the city’s engineer – opened three bids at their office in Fargo.
City Clerk/Treasurer Melissa Woinarowicz said the apparent low bid came in at $34,000 under the engineer’s estimate of $1,580,000. There are hurdles they have yet to clear.
The biggest sticking point is the low estimate, by Northern Plains Construction, does not guarantee a completion date of September 2026, as required by the USDA grant contract.
Woinarowicz said the next lowest bid from American General Construction does guarantee the completion date of September this year, but is $719,000 over the engineer’s estimate.
When the city of Kennedy received the $1.73 million in grant funding from USDA, that agreement indicated the project must be finished within five years.
In 2017, the water tower at Kennedy froze and could not be repaired. The expense to remove and replace the water tower was entirely too much, so the city began pursuing other options. After two engineering firms dragged their feet, the city hired Bollig Engineering at the end of 2025 to hopefully move the project to completion.

To read the whole story, see the March 25, 2026, edition of the Kittson County Enterprise