County OKs application for compatible‑use study around Grand Forks Air Force Base

The Grand Forks County Commission voted unanimously to approve submitting a federal grant application to fund a compatible‑use study of the area surrounding Grand Forks Air Force Base.

County staff said the proposed study would examine land, air, space and electromagnetic‑frequency compatibility and produce policy recommendations for the county, townships and city. The county will ask a federal agency to invite a full application; if invited, staff said they would return to the commission before accepting any award.

The study budget discussed at the meeting was roughly $700,000, with about 90% expected from the federal grant and a 10% local match. County staff said local match would be met with in‑kind county staff time (estimated at about $32,000), travel ($11,000), and up to $50,000 pledged by the Grand Forks / East Grand Forks Chamber of Commerce from its base retention grant funds. Staff said they did not expect the county to need to appropriate cash from the commission for the match, and that some chamber dollars might not be expended depending on final budget calculations.

Commissioners asked about the timeline and whether the county’s existing moratorium on certain wind and solar development would need extension. County staff said the federal agency might invite full applications in July or August, with a potential grant agreement by late summer; staff planned for an 18‑month project timeline with a final product expected in about 12 months. Commissioners instructed staff to check the moratorium expiration and prepare any needed extension.

The commission approved a motion to submit the grant application and asked that, if invited to submit a full application, staff bring the final grant agreement back to the board for acceptance.