county commission 

Nancy Edmonds Hanson

The Clay County Commission has rejected a request to change the zoning of a rural site along Highway 10 to permit construction adjacent to the Buffalo Aquifer, from which Moorhead and Dilworth are getting 40% of their drinking water.

On Tuesday, the request of Red River Valley Electric Cooperative to rezone a 7-acre tract to permit construction of an office and shop facility was rejected by a vote of 3 to 2. It overturned approval given last month by the county’s planning and zoning board, which had recommended a change to “limited highway commercial.” The request would also remove the parcel from the waterhead protection overlay district that protects the underground water from pollution.

Rich Whitcomb, president of Halstad-based Red River Valley Cooperative Power, told commissioners the co-op had been seeking a site for a secondary facilities to serve Clay County for several years. The property on which it had settled – kitty-corner from the border of the protected area – is some 8,000 feet east of Dilworth’s city water and sewer, and would thus require its own well and septic system. He stressed that water use would be very light, and that the utility was open to considered septic tank storage instead of the drain field originally proposed. He stressed that the facility would be kept neat and clean, and that no hazardous materials like faulty, leaky transformers would be stored on site.

Construction, he said, would not be started for three to five years.

While the Dilworth and county planning boards and Dilworth City Council had already approved the conditional use permit in the area, now zoned for agriculture, Moorhead Public Service and the Moorhead City Council objected strenuously. Their concern, said water plant supervisor Marc Pritchard, centers around the shallow depth of the aquifer in that area and the potential for leakage from the well and septic system, which – he said – could lead to very quick bacterial contamination.

“The Buffalo Aquifer is critical to the cities of Moorhead and Dilworth,” he asserted, “especially in times like this.”

He pointed out that management of the water resource is currently guided by standards established in 2011. A revision of the Drinking Water Supply Management Area standards is due in 2022, and may include enlargement of the overlay district.

The commissioners discussed whether a spill from the proposed facility was an imminent risk, deeming it highly unlikely, given the RRVCP’s plans for the site. Commissioner David Ebinger responded, “There are a lot of unknowns here. It boils down to a comparison between probabilities and consequences. The risk may indeed be a long shot, but if it occurs, it would be catastrophic.

“Coming out of this drought, we appreciate how precious our water resource is. This feels like we’re rushing something that shouldn’t be rushed.”

MPS general manager Travis Schmidt called the proposed conditional use permit for the power company’s long-range plan “unorderly growth. It’s imperative to protect this water resource for generations to come. Whether there’s a low or igh probability of catastrophe, we need to protect it.”

Commissioner Jenna Kahly added, “West Fargo had an aquifer, but they pumped it dry. This is a treasure.”

Commissioners Jenny Mongeau and Frank Gross pointed out that other businesses already operate within half a mile to a mile of the site; their colleagues noted that those were established prior to DWSMA and had been grandfathered in.

Gross emphasized the scant water usage by the proposed facility, while Mongeau noted how valuable having linemen stationed in Clay County could be to rural residents during blizzards and power failures in winter. Gross added, “We’ve been trying to get development going in the rural parts of the county for years. We finally have a commercial group that wants to get going. We shouldn’t be holding up progress.”

Ebinger responded, “I don’t see the rush. On the other hand, I do see a good reason to maintain the zoning as it is right now.”

When chairman Kevin Campbell called for the vote, Mongeau and Gross voted in favor of the amendment to the present zoning, while Ebinger, Campbell and Kahly voted no. A yes vote of four of the five would be necessary to enact the change. The members noted that Red River can resubmit its proposal one year from this defeat, an interval after which the updated DWSMA regulations for protecting the aquifer may be available.