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Commission approves $330,000 contract with HKGI for West Fargo growth-area master plan
Summary
The commission approved a contract with consulting firm HKGI and a cost-share agreement with the West Fargo Park District to fund a growth-area master plan; project budget not to exceed $330,000 and will run from early 2025 to mid-2026 with multiple public engagement phases.
The West Fargo City Commission approved a contract with consulting firm HKGI to lead a West Fargo Growth Area Master Plan and accepted a $30,000 cost-share from the West Fargo Park District, establishing a project budget not to exceed $330,000.
Aaron Nelson, the city’s director of planning, told commissioners the plan will prepare the city for anticipated growth once the FM diversion project removes about 100 acres from the existing floodplain. The planning effort will build on the city’s comprehensive plan and focus on tools and a decision-making framework to guide fiscally sustainable development across the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction and some areas inside the city.
Nelson said HKGI was selected via an RFP and consultant-selection committee that reviewed five proposals. The firm’s work plan, attached to the contract, includes Task 2 for public and stakeholder engagement with three main online engagement periods: an initial listening phase, a midpoint scenario-testing phase, and a late-stage review of draft materials. The project timeline runs a little over a year, from early 2025 into mid-2026, and staff said milestone presentations to the City Commission, Planning and Zoning Commission and the Park District are included in the work plan.
Commissioner Anderson moved to approve the contract; Commissioner Olson seconded. The commission carried the motion.
Funding of $300,000 for the plan was budgeted in the city’s 2024 Capital Improvement Plan for 2025; the Park District approved an additional $30,000, yielding a total not-to-exceed budget of $330,000. Nelson said staff and HKGI will create a project website and use city communications channels and social media to promote engagement opportunities; the Planning and Zoning Commission recommended the contract on Jan. 14, 2025.
Staff described the engagement approach as including outreach to partner stakeholders such as the West Fargo Public School District, the park district and landowners. Nelson said HKGI is based in the Minneapolis region and has done similar projects in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin.
