Grand Forks City Council Approves Multiple Items Monday, Grand Forks County Commission Does So Tuesday

(KNOX) – The Grand Forks City Council and Grand Forks County Commission each approved multiple items at their respective meetings earlier this wee.

The Council on Monday approved an amendment to the Community Development Block Grant 2025 through 2029 Consolidated Plan and Action Plan. Northlands Rescue Mission would receive $85,000 in grant funding for an infrastructure project, and United Way would be getting $195,000 for an emergency shelter rehabilitation project. The plan would also cut down 15 of the program’s recipients to a total of 565.

The Council also approved amending resolutions that authorize issuing a sales tax revenue bond for the construction of the underpass at 42nd Street and DeMers Avenue. The amendment was made because of a pledge requirement of the general sales tax. A previous pledge was used to get temporary financing for the Altru Sports Complex.

The City Council on Monday approved a revised engineer’s report for a paving and street light project that will happen at Grand Park First Addition. This is to increase the special assessment markup rate for city engineering services from 3 percent to 5 percent. The project’s estimated assessment amount would increase to a total of $194,571.

The Council also officially declared August 17th as Grand Forks Nonprofit Day.

The County Commission approved a permit that will allow a raffle to happen at the Sacred Heart Back-to-School Golf Scramble on August 20th.

The County Commission approved a quote of $15,460 from Bergstrom Electric. This is for a project that will replace outdoor light sensors at both the Grand Forks County Correctional Center and the Youth Assessment Center. They will replace them with new sensors that turn the lights on when it gets dark and they will stay on until dawn.

The Commission also approved an updated reimbursement agreement for healthcare services with Altru Health System for the correctional center. The county would reimburse Altru for services at 130 percent of the Medicare allowable rate that is in effect at the time of treatment.

They also approved an engineering agreement with Widseth Engineering for a flood protection project on County Road 5. They also made an agreement with CPS Engineering pertaining to a project on County Road 17 in Thompson. The project in Thompson is waiting for approval from both State’s Attorney Haley Wamstad and the Department of Transportation.