Acts of defiance and an utter lack of common sense.
That is about the best that the failed leadership of the Fargo Diversion Authority and Clay county commissioner candidate Kevin Campbell can muster in the slow moving train wreck that has become the Fargo Dam and FM Diversion project plus status conflicted OHB ring dike-levee.
For example, Fargo Diversion Authority chairman Darrell Vanyo receives a letter from FEMA stating specifically that floodways and any adjacent floodplain area must be kept free of encroachment.
Willful act or complete incompetence? Instead of respecting FEMA guidance or conveying and insisting that letter content be observed by engineers, the Fargo Diversion Authority defies FEMA warnings regarding encroachment and placed the eastern reach of the new OHB levee directly into the “floodway and adjacent flood plain areas” to accommodate Oxbow golf course features, according Aarron Snyder, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
In an attempt to minimize impacts caused by the levee realignment, engineers momentarily abandoned their higher EOE datum, used to sell the balance of the overall project, and returned to FEMA regulatory flood plain data. Ironically, the private contractor engineers and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers know full well they provided the MN DNR with higher EOE (Expert Opinion Elicitation) data sets, that do not exist outside the scope of the proposed project, and withheld the “teensy little detail” that they ran impact models in the April 2014 OHB technical memorandum on a lower and entirely different benchmark.
It is almost “as if” a concerted effort was made to understate potential impacts to Minnesota using the very FEMA numbers the U.S. Army Corps of Engineer claim are deficient. How credible can their argument be when FEMA data is good enough to prove no impacts exist, yet incapable of supporting their theorized need for a multi-billion dollar taxpayer funded development project disguised as Fargo flood control.
Then there is Fargo Deputy Mayor Tim Mahoney, with his eyes on the mayor-ship by default. Mahoney completely contradicting himself in front of Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton claiming that the Fargo Dam and FM Diversion project alignment was decided by the engineers and the Corps, yet less than 15 minutes later he claims that Fargo’s recent rezoning of flood prone natural flood plain for commercial and residential development is justified because they called “dibs” in their future growth plan, but failed to mention the only reason the Fargo Dam and FM Diversion is needed is a precursor to future natural flood plain encroachment…, which incidentally, impacts over two townships of MN land with a tie back dam reaching nearly 5 miles into Minnesota and area of inundation both inside and outside the controversial staging area.
Tim Mahoney Testimony to MN Gov Mark Dayton
Mike Bice Posed a Valid Question About Fargo Expansion
Tim Mahoney Reply and Contradiction:
How can Fargo residents feel comfortable with their current or future mayor whining about future flood insurance costs when they have not been pounding his fists on the table in meetings to complete Fargo’s internal protection. 5 longs years since 2009, 17 years since the 1997 flood…, and still Fargo sits without completed internal flood protection, which could reduce or remove the sensationalist lament of $4,000 flood insurance caused by past irresponsible flood plain encroachment.
Tim Mahoney has openly admitted that his 4628 Timberline Dr S, Fargo, ND residence was built a mere 3 years after the 1997 flood in a highly inundated flood plain, yet shows no remorse for the water relocated from that flood plain. Mahoney instead, heralds the levees built behind his home that displaces and forces that water onto others. It is this type of irresponsible development practice that increased the Red River crest from 1969 to 2009 by 25.2 inches at the same cfs flow…, because y’know, Fargo “deserves” to grow at the expense of others.
Which brings us to Clay county commissioner candidate Kevin Campbell. Voting nearly 100 percent against Minnesota interests to support Fargo’s future development plains. Questionable at the very least and possibly in violation of state law. However, it’s not Kevin Campbell voting record against Minnesota’s future development that raises concern.
Kevin Campbell Admitting He Doesn’t Trust Common Sense
Kevin Campbell, completely unsolicited, admits that he does not trust common sense. He would rather rely on engineers, who are not in-fallible, that have been tasked with designing a dam and diversion for Fargo’s development area to the south. If one does not trust common sense, does one routinely “use” common sense?
So remind me again, why these and other failed leaders deserve to have their names engraved on a project vanity plaque as their legacy tied to the diversion when they act defiantly, flip flop with the wind, bend the truth to the breaking point, misinform the public, withhold taxpayer funded studies and openly admit they don’t want to use common sense?
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If sense were common, everyone would have it. USACoE told me in 09 there was no need for a down stream impact study as the water would quickly dissipate when it left the diversion.
Really?
When forced to do an impact study they found affects all the way to the Canadian border. These are the experts Campbell and Mcfealy say we should rely on. Admittedly they are the ones who have to do the work, the studies, etc but I think a heavy influence of common sense from locals who know the lay of the land should have been part of this discussion from the start.