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Clay County board directs staff to submit 2025 bonding requests for flood mitigation, juvenile nonsecure center
Summary
The Clay County Board of Commissioners voted to submit bonding applications for flood mitigation projects and a PRTF/nonsecure juvenile center before the Minnesota Management and Budget deadline of June 13, with a plan to refine applications by October if needed.
The Clay County Board of Commissioners on June 3 directed staff to submit 2025 capital bonding applications that will include flood mitigation projects and a proposed PRTF (Psychiatric Residential Treatment Facility) nonsecure juvenile center.
County staff said applications to the Minnesota Management and Budget (MMB) bonding tour are due June 13, with a final-edit window through Oct. 17, and asked the board for guidance on which projects to include.
"I don't think it's any surprise what our priorities will continue to be with those three projects that you highlighted," Commissioner Mongeau said during the discussion. "We'll make the applications and if for some reason the legislature comes through [with a large package], we can always change it." Steve, county staff coordinating the submissions, told the board the state typically funds roughly 50% of a project's cost and that applicants should consider parceling large requests into smaller, self-contained asks that the legislature can more readily fund.
Board members discussed whether the County should include the parts of the Buffalo Red River Watershed projects located in Clay County in the county's application or leave them to other jurisdictions. Commissioner Mongeau, referencing prior practice, said the county should support the multi‑county West Central Regional Water Project but noted that last submission cycles had involved other counties and cities making separate asks.
Commissioners called out a set of program and funding clarifications the applications must reflect: that Moorhead would likely submit its own separate $16 million ask for projects inside the city limits; that the diversion authority has already spent tens of millions on land acquisition; and that any remaining land‑acquisition costs in Clay County should be listed as a potential line item so the county can update amounts in October as invoices and titles change.
Steve told commissioners he will coordinate with Jacobs and representatives of the diversion authority to get updated project and land‑acquisition figures before a planned review on June 10. "We have until again, June 13 to fill out this documentation," he said. "We have done it in the past previously mid‑cycle, but ... it gets to be fairly challenging to get funding when the rubber meets the road unless you've been on the bonding tour."
Commissioner Kranoff moved to direct staff to include flood mitigation and the PRTF/nonsecure juvenile center projects as the county's bonding priorities; Commissioner Mogio seconded. On a voice vote the motion carried.
The board gave staff direction to prepare a preliminary application including diversion funds, the PRTF/nonsecure project and a land acquisition line item for county projects, and to return with updated numbers prior to final submission. The board's action was a voice vote and the motion carried.
