DALRYMPLE, STATE OFFICIALS ASSESS EMERGING NEEDS IN WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA
Zent, Jeffrey L.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 1, 2013
Contact: Jeff Zent or Amanda Godfread
DALRYMPLE, STATE OFFICIALS ASSESS EMERGING NEEDS IN WESTERN NORTH DAKOTA
BISMARCK, N.D. – Continued growth and changing dynamics within North Dakota’s oil and gas region are creating additional challenges and demands on local governments that have evolved since the 63rd Legislative Assembly adjourned in May. As a result, Gov. Jack Dalrymple today said he has begun an assessment of the latest needs emerging in North Dakota’s rapidly developing oil and gas region.
A record $2.5 billion funding package appropriated by the Legislature is effectively targeting the impacts of rapid growth identified in the 63rd Legislative Assembly. The funding - more than twice the amount appropriated during the previous biennium - includes assistance for counties, cities, school districts, townships, law enforcement agencies, critical access hospitals, airports, emergency responders and for other public services in western North Dakota. Cities also are accessing state funds to help pay for municipal water improvement projects; to extend streets and sewer lines for residential and commercial development and for other infrastructure upgrades. More than $552 million has been targeted to rapid-growth impacts in western North Dakota in the first three months of the current biennium.
Since the legislative session’s end, however, major shifts in the locations of oil and gas development and increased growth in production as a whole are magnifying existing challenges and creating new ones throughout the state’s oil-production region. In on-going meetings with Dalrymple western North Dakota officials, including mayors and county commissioners, report that other factors also are contributing to the region’s emerging needs, including excessive moisture throughout the summer and fall which have caused greater damage to road systems.
“North Dakota is at the forefront of a national energy resurgence and the challenges created by the rapid development in our energy industry are very dynamic and in a constant state of change,” Dalrymple said. “We must continue to adapt and be responsive to the needs that emerge from this extraordinary and ever-changing growth.”
Dalrymple has begun holding meetings with western North Dakota officials to identify needs above and beyond those anticipated during the legislative session. Dalrymple said he will hold additional meetings and has directed state agencies to work with local officials as well.
“We will work with local leaders in western North Dakota to get a complete picture of the additional needs that are emerging and we will also evaluate the options that exist to accelerate funding,” Dalrymple said.
County and city leaders have reported that state funding programs - including the Energy Impact Grant Fund, the Housing Incentive Fund and state assistance for infrastructure upgrades- are effective in addressing the impacts of rapid growth. Still, the region is outpacing growth projections and the changes within oil and gas development are creating new demands on local governments. One emerging need voiced by some of the region’s city leaders is access to more capital for major public infrastructure projects.
An example of the region’s dynamic challenges can be found in Watford City, which is at the epicenter of oil and gas development. In July, the state Land Board awarded Watford City about $12.3 million in grants to expand its wastewater treatment system. City officials requested the funding to expand the wastewater system for a projected population of about 5,000 residents. City officials said construction on the expansion project hasn’t yet begun, but their grant request is already outdated because an estimated 6,500 area residents are now utilizing the wastewater treatment system.
Other examples of uncharted growth include airplane boardings at Williston Airport. In September, 7,900 passengers traveled through the airport compared to 2,300 in September, 2012. In Dickinson, city officials have permitted $260 million in building projects through September, about $46 million more than the same time last year.
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