Pawluk’s Pen Perils (part 6)

Part 6 of 7 in response to Ken Pawluk’s letter to the Fargo Forum.

No matter who the Fargo Diversion Authority trots out to put spin on the turd that the Fargo Dam and FM Diversion project has become…, the legacy that will endure will be that of a taxpayer subsidized land grab, preferential buyouts, corrupt tax assessment vote and 100 percent of the impacts placed upon the shoulders of those that did not have a seat and vote at the table.

When the Fargo Dam and FM Diversion project breaks the financial back of the local economy, who will pick up the tab?

The State of North Dakota…?

The federal government…? Doubtful, they are over $18.1 TRILLION in debt.

Comically the Fargo Diversion Authority routinely claims the fed will chip in $800 million, but where is that pot of wealthy welfare going to come from when the coffers are bare?

Seriously! Does anybody really believe that flood insurance will not be required behind the Class 1 High Hazard Dam?

According to the GAO (U.S. Government Accountability Office) as of December 31, 2014 FEMA owed the Treasury $23 billion. (cited source: GAO)

$23,000,000,000.00

In documents obtained from FEMA, as of May 31, 2015 there are 5,201,443 policies in force in the United States, insuring $1.25 trillion in property, reflecting premiums totaling $3,664,668,462.00.  (cited source: FEMA – United States policies)

How will FEMA repay their growing debt without requiring more property owners to anti-up or raise premiums?

Curiously, the report indicates only 12,928 in-force policies in North Dakota, with 5,692 of those in Cass county and 5,267 of those located in the Fargo, ND metro area.

Here’s where the “rub” comes in. Fargo and the USACE have argued a catastrophic loss in Fargo to be upwards of $15 billion, largely to pump up the cost/benefit ratio, YET, Cass County only has in-force FEMA policies protecting $1.5 billion. Ironically, there are less in-force FEMA policies than the initial $1.8 billion price tag for the Fargo Dam and FM Diversion project.

So let’s say Fargo moves forward with their $1.8 billion dollar project and cost over-runs are similar to the Wahpeton-Breckenridge and Roseau, MN USACE projects…, there is a real possibility of Fargo’s project topping $3.6 billion by the time this is all said and done.

Here’s the kicker! The entire state of North Dakota reflects in-force FEMA policies protecting $3.38 billion, with policy premiums topping $8.1 million.  (cited source: FEMA – ND policies)

The Fargo Dam and FM Diversion project is a ZERO-SUM game, with the losers being those that;

FIRST: pay for a multi-billion dollar dam and diversion.
SECOND: end up being stuck with mandatory insurance behind Fargo’s 12+ mile wide Class 1 High Hazard Dam.

So then you have the likes of Cass county commissioner Ken Pawluk, deride Wilkin county commissioner Lyle Hovlan for calling foul on relocating Fargo’s flood waters onto others.

It appears that commissioner Ken Pawluk is the one who is not only “ill-informed”, but willfully ignorant.

“Opponents” of the Fargo Dam and FM Diversion project have no issue with internal flood protection for the city that exists.

However, Pawluk’s moronic platitudes about Wilkin commissioner Hovland’s letter relating to areas of Cass county outside the Fargo Dam and FM Diversion project are intended to provoke and profile.   Interestingly enough, commissioner Hovland never cited Cass county within his letter in response to Clay Dietrich, FM Homebuilders Assoc. president. However, when you consider that the Fargo metro area has 5,267 FEMA policies in-force and the entire remaining area of Cass county only has 425…, that “flooding concerns across Cass County” statement that Pawluk is circulating seems pretty ignorant.

What cannot stand or be dismissed with such rudimentary commentary is the intentional relocation of flood water from the natural flood plain onto areas where it would not naturally occur and the insipid marginalization of any person unwilling to prostrate themselves to the will of Imperial Fargo and Imperial Cass.

Then again, Mr. Pawluks’s closing statement in his letter sums up the true nature of the Fargo Diversion Authority Public Outreach mission…: “…I do not welcome is short-sighted commentary or those looking to blame my constituents for the flooding they face…”.

Mr. Pawluk and his ilk have become so obsessed with the Fargo Dam and FM Diversion project that they cannot comprehend the negligent in-action of completing internal flood protection for the Fargo-Moorhead and metro area that exists right now.

So when commissioner Paluk utter’s these words:

One has to “really” ponder the following…

• There are 706.922 acres of property listed under the last name Pawluk west of the Sheyenne River and north of 32nd ave NW that are registered to the same Fargo, ND mailing address.

• The taxable valuation as of 2014 was $747,000

• This is an area prone to flooding.

• Pawluk land will benefit from project decisions made by Cass county and the Fargo Diversion Authority

• Ken Pawluk is a Cass County commissioner, and has been so since the inception of the diversion project.

• Ken Pawluk is a voting member of the Fargo Diversion Authority and Public Outreach Committee.

• Ken Pawluk had the “opportunity” to exercise his will with greater representation in the DPAC assessment vote, both as a property owner and as a Cass county commissioner on the 706.922 acres registered to his Fargo, ND address.

Here are links to all three letters relating to this matter for your consideration:

2015-06-25 Clay Dietrich Letter

2015-07-07 Lyle Hovland Letter

2015-07-26 Ken Pawluk Letter

For more on the Home Builders Associations role: (Read this Article)

Coming soon: Pawluk’s Pen Perils (part 7)

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