Grand Forks County Commission Providing Emerado With No Interest Loan

(KNOX) – The Grand Forks County Commission will provide a no interest loan to the city of Emerado. The loan is projected to be for roughly $132,000, and it’s being provided to help Emerado pay for emergency repairs to the water lines that are near the city.

County Administrator Tom Ford says the loan would have to be paid off in five years and that there would be a 12-month deferral period.

The city made emergency repairs in June when there were water leaks west of town. Some residents did not have access to water when this was happening. Emerado has also had previous instances of water maintenance issues before the emergency repairs were made last month. There were water issues that were reported in August 2025.

The commission is giving Emerado a loan under the impression that city staff will verify the loan total , and that they will confirm which county fund would be used to pay the loan.

Jim Olson of Blue Water Consulting says Emerado is still planning to transfer 10 rural water customers located between Emerado and Arvilla to East Central Regional Water District. This transfer would make them new customers for East Central Regional Water District. This is so the leaking water line those 10 customers are connected to can be removed. Even with the 10 customers being transferred, there would still be roughly 4,000 feet of asbestos pipe that will feed into Emerado’s water line.

Olson also says that he wants Emerado to ask the State Water Commission for grants that would replace the rest of that water line when its audits are finished.