Crookston Council weighs buyouts, grants and levy impacts to address Houston Avenue erosion

City staff told the Crookston City Council on Monday that a proposed multi-phase project to address severe riverbank erosion on Houston Avenue will likely require buyouts of at-risk homes, demolition, and a separate riverbank stabilization phase that will require outside funding.

Darren (staff member) said the high-level scope remains buyout, demolition and stabilization, and estimated buyouts at about $1,200,000, demolition at roughly $500,000–$800,000, and stabilization between about $1.07 million and $2.2 million depending on final engineering. He said Crookston already has a topo/erosion baseline and a steering committee in place but that the project is not yet "shovel ready," which is a typical requirement for state bonding or FEMA BRIC grant applications.

"The BRIC grant is a FEMA hazard mitigation grant, which funds projects such as flood and stormwater management or infrastructure resilience," Darren said, adding that BRIC typically requires a 25% local match while a state bonding award often requires a 50% match. He told the council the application process will need surveys, technical memoranda, and a conceptual design and estimated initial readiness costs could be roughly $25,000 for an application and up to $100,000–$150,000 for full project preparation and final design.

Homeowner representative Gail, who addressed the council from the podium, said the residents facing buyout are prepared to accept tax-assessed market values rather than retail market prices. "The homeowners are not asking for the retail market value of their homes. They're willing to take that tax assessed market value," she said, urging action because of safety risks and historic slides in the area.

Council members pressed staff for clearer cost scenarios that show the levy impact on an individual homeowner under different assumptions (no external funding; partial grant support; state bond with a 50% match). Councilmember Joseph asked for an "option A/option B" set of figures showing what the city and individual taxpayers would pay in each scenario, and several members said they were reluctant to commit large city dollars before seeing the per-household levy effect.

Council members and staff also discussed alternatives such as relocating homes (staff said only four of the eight homes were structurally movable with bids exceeding $200,000 per home), whether homeowners would be able to find replacement homes, and how moving homes would trigger code upgrades and title/closing procedures.

Darren said the city has roughly $3.44 million in a special service district fund designated for levee and flood-related uses and that the DNR indicated this project could fall within that fund's allowable uses. He cautioned, however, that using those funds would reduce reserves the city keeps for future levee inspections and emergency repairs. "If we did move forward with these and apply for them without identifying those funding sources on the match, certainly your likelihood of ever getting them again is pretty slim," Darren said of grant applications.

Council did not vote to commit funds at the meeting. Instead, members asked staff to return with: (1) scenarios that show the annual levy impact to a typical homeowner under multiple funding options, (2) a clearer estimate of application and design costs to make the project shovel ready, and (3) an updated erosion/technical memorandum that compares current rates to prior surveys. Several members expressed support for pursuing the BRIC application if the city can reasonably identify matching funds and meet the application requirements.

Next steps: staff will provide the requested levy scenarios and cost breakdowns and return to council before any formal funding commitment or grant application is finalized.