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Clay County commissioners approve submitting flood mitigation and juvenile facility bonding requests
Summary
The Clay County Board of Commissioners voted to submit bonding applications for flood mitigation projects and a PRTF/non-secure juvenile center by the Minnesota Management and Budget June 13 deadline, directing staff to prepare preliminary materials and coordinate with regional partners.
The Clay County Board of Commissioners voted June 3 to submit bonding applications that list flood mitigation projects and a PRTF/non-secure juvenile center as the county’s priorities for the 2025 Minnesota capital bonding process, and directed staff to prepare preliminary application materials before the June 13 filing deadline.
County staff noted the county missed an earlier deadline for the Minnesota Management and Budget bonding-tour process and emphasized the compressed schedule. “We missed the deadline for the Minnesota management and budget bonding tour process. That happens every 2 years, and those applications are due by June thirteenth of this year with final edits due by October 17,” County staff member Steve said during the discussion.
The action puts the county’s flood diversion/diversion-related projects and the PRTF/non-secure juvenile center on the list to be considered for a seat on the state bonding tour. Commissioners discussed whether to include Moorhead’s $16,000,000 request within Clay County’s submission; the board agreed Moorhead will submit its own application while Clay County’s application will cover projects outside Moorhead city limits, including Buffalo Red River Watershed District components.
Commissioners and staff discussed the practical limits of the program: the county can typically expect the state to fund up to 50% of an approved project. “They’ll only fund up to 50% of the entire ask. So then it makes more sense to maybe have smaller asks that they can just start chipping away at projects,” Steve said. Board members also asked staff to include remaining land-acquisition needs in the preliminary application because those costs are still outstanding for some diversion-related parcels and may influence the state’s evaluation.
On a motion by Commissioner Kranoff, seconded by Commissioner Mongeau, the board approved submitting the flood mitigation and the PRTF/non-secure juvenile center projects as Clay County’s bonding priorities. The motion passed on an affirmative voice vote.
The board directed county staff to coordinate updated figures with Jacobs and representatives from the diversion authority, prepare a preliminary application to review at the next county meeting (June 10), and attend the Minnesota Management and Budget training session on the updated application process. Staff said final edits can be made through October 17 if the board wishes to adjust priorities later in the year.
The discussion referenced multi-jurisdictional coordination on some projects — including the West Central Regional Water Project and work previously submitted through Norman County — and the county’s JPA obligations to support city and diversion-authority lobbying as required by existing joint-powers agreements.
