GF County Board mulls parking options

It would cost less to make repairs to the downtown Grand Forks County parking ramp than to create a 250-space flat-surface parking lot.

That’s what County Administrator Tom Ford told the County Board on Tuesday.

Ford said Jay Kleven of AE2S was asked to study options, since the ramp is deemed in poor condition for its age, which is close to 25 years.

Ford said, according to Kleven, a new parking lot would cost “almost $3.3 million for 250 spaces,” while ”putting in necessary identified repairs to the parking ramp (would cost) $2.4 million in the next three years, which would keep 330 parking spots and we would not have to buy a property.”

In the words of Board chair Tom Falck: “It wasn’t the news we were hoping for.”

No decisions were made. Ford says Kleven will be invited to the next commission meeting. In August, Kleven told the Board that it makes financial sense to invest in the ramp.

A 20-year maintenance plan for the ramp carries a $5.1 million dollar price-tag. 

The county is facing some expensive projects down the road like a jail expansion and new juvenile detention building.