State and local taxpayers recently purchased $50,000,000.00 worth of upscale properties in Oxbow, ND, a small town 15 mile south of Fargo. The tax payer cost for these properties, more than 40 residences, averaged over one million dollars apiece (see buyout list below). Owners of the private golf course club house building, which had an…
City Commissioner Says Attorney General Should Investigate "Unethical And Possibly Criminal" Behavior In Diversion Buyouts
Last week I published a guest post from anti-Fargo Flood Diversion activist Trana Rogne who questioned the difference in buyouts between two properties. Noting that one well-connected property owner got a buyout worth 488 percent of the property’s tax assessed value, while a less-connected property owner got a 165 percent buyout, Rogne asked readers to…
Trana Rogne: Fargo Flood Diversion Buyout Or Buyoff? You Decide
Two homes bordering the City of Oxbow were recently bought out by the Cass County Joint Water Resource District (CCJWRD) as part of the FM Diversion. The properties are similar in that both are upscale residences on the Red River; both adjoin the City of Oxbow; both are outside the proposed ring dike and neither…
Oxbow Mayor Needs To Do More Than Fire Shots At "Barstool Engineers"
The Mayor of Oxbow, Jim Nyhof, has a letter to the editor of the Fargo Forum today in which he defends his position on the controversial Fargo flood diversion project. That position has evolved over the year, as his community has received the promise of a new country club and property buyouts averaging double the assessed…
Why Is The Mayor Of Oxbow Getting Almost 200 Percent Of His Property Value For A Flood Diversion Buyout?
Recently Rich Mattern, the Mayor of West Fargo, vented some spleen at Governor Jack Dalrymple and the Legislature over their priorities on water projects. Mattern pointed out that while his constituents are facing higher water bills because the state wouldn’t make money available for a new water plant, the City of Oxbow is getting a…
Marcus Larson: Fargo Forum Insults MN Gov. Mark Dayton
In yet another goading Fargo Forum editorial, the Fool’em didn’t miss a chance to be discourteous and denigrate Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton with overtones and direct insults against Minnesota Representatives and state agencies. Here is the editorial with commentary: Forum editorial: Dayton should get here Posted on Aug 20, 2014 at 11:43 p.m. If…
Governor Dalrymple Got It Right on Fargo Diversion
Governor Jack Dalrymple got it right when he said “we will match state dollars with federal and local cost shares.” The governor was speaking of what the state was willing to do to support the proposed Fargo Diversion project. Dalrymple was pulled into the most recent fray between the Diversion Authority (DA) and the State…