FMDA in “Petulant” Meltdown Over Permit Denial

Watching the apoplectic fit being displayed by the FMDA (Fargo Moorhead Diversion Authority) and its agents has been rather entertaining since the June 24, 2019 BRRWD (Buffalo Red River Watershed District) 4-2 permit denial and continuance of the contested case.

Despite Mary Scherling’s (Cass County commissioner and chairwoman of the diversion board) dubious claim in the Twin Cities Pioneer Press (read more…):

The FMDA and its agents have always done exactly the opposite. FMDA representatives have been pressuring BRRWD board members and neighboring counties to compel their respective watershed board members to change their votes to favor the project despite negative impacts to Minnesota property owners.

What most people are not aware of is that the FMDA was given an opportunity to provide input and amend portions (view edits…) of the wimpish 10 conditions that contain ambiguities that the FMDA would most certainly exploit in the future.

How is it conceivable for the FMDA to create impacts and then expect those impacted to pay for and maintain the protection(s) that were not needed under current existing conditions?

However, it goes much deeper than the unsubstantial conditions and lack of protections to impacted properties that a few naive watershed managers aligned with the FMDA project feel would “reign in” the greedy beast that has historically viewed the BRRWD as an irrelevant nuisance.

Clay county commissioners Kevin Campbell and Grant Weyland were visibly upset during the June 25, 2019 Clay County Commission meeting postulating that the official board action and denial by the BRRWD was unfair because a smaller stakeholder was holding up the project of a larger entity. Intimating that the sum of the parts (that are FMDA proponents) of the BWWRD is greater than the whole of the board – because Clay county has greater tax valuation.

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Kevin Campbell, seething with his usual arrogance, had the temerity to bemoan that holding up a project that the FMDA had been working on for 9 years is not fair. Campbell and other FMDA proponents often misrepresent widespread for support from Clay county constituents that have never been presented a ballot measure to ratify of deny support of the FMDA project that Campbell refers to.

These empty suits are behaving like petulant silver spoon sped brats that didn’t get their way.

Not one Clay County taxpayer has legitimately granted their support of the FMDA project which is tied to the per diem gravy train that Kevin and Grant have been riding for years in their committee involvements in pursuit of their agenda and proposed FMDA project, however, BRRWD chairman Jay Leitch stated that public comments received by the 5:00 PM, Friday, May 10, 2019 deadline were 5 to 1 against the proposed FMDA project.

The head-scratcher in all of this is that Campbell and Weyland (FMDA) helped foster the very mess they are bitching about by willfully filing for a BRRWD permit application 10 days after the BRRWD voted to file a contested case, arguably to exploit BRRWD rules in an attempt to end run the permitting process. Did the FMDA truly believe that playing the “go ask your mom, go ask your dad” game would really fly?

Despite the FMDA’s refusal to concede there is no permit (read more…) from the MN DNR under Minnesota Statutes Section 103G.311 upon the filing of a contested case, the FMDA had no business applying for a BRRWD permit – given that there is no lawful project to permit (read more…) under Minnesota law.

The latest FMDA threats to appeal the BRRWD permit decision are a complete waste of taxpayer dollars because the MN Attorney General cites specific Minnesota Law that renders the Dec 2018 MN DNR conditional permit “NO LONGER VALID” and any appeal would be null and void because the contested case voided (read more…) the conditional MN DNR permit until the conclusion of the contested case which is set for June 8, 2020. What would the FMDA achieve…, other than the placation of the imperial ego’s?

The BRRWD chose wisely in denying the FMDA permit application ensuring that Minnesota citizens are adequately protected (read more…).  This will allow the BRRWD, Comstock, Wolverton and the Richland Wilkin JPA the opportunity to see the entire record(s) of the MN DNR to determine where and why over 200 concerns in the initial MN DNR permit denial became an awkward permit with 54 conditions as former MN Governor Mark Dayton left office. The MN DNR permit became void upon the filing of a contested case by the BRRWD, Comstock and Wolverton MN and intervenor Richland Wilkin JPA.

Think about that last line. The MN DNR permit became void upon the filing of a contested case (read more…) – so the theatrics over the BRRWD permit are a big nothing-burger, however, the very same FMDA is threatening to drive costs up with litigation while simultaneously disseminating misinformation that delays will cost $70 million per year.

Isn’t it amazing that “delays” would cost $22 million more than the $48 million in potential collected annual sales taxes that Fargo Mayor Tim Mahoney testified to before the ND House Appropriations committee in March 2019. Mahoney also falsely claimed they had a permit, are moving forward and would have to resort to “assessments” if sales tax falls short.  How is it possible for Mahoney to have a permit that Minneosta law clearly states is not valid upon the filing of a contested case?  Was he just trying to pull a fast one on state lawmaker to get funding for Fargo’s development project?

The FMDA and MN DNR  tripled their efforts to try and prevent a contested case because they know the entire record of discovery will illustrate where the MN DNR deviated from policy and law and that the FMDA massaged impacts and economics to advance Fargo’s $4 to $5 billion dollar development plan disguised as flood control.

How could any PPA (Project Partnership Agreement) or P3 (Public Private Partnership) entity consciously involve themselves in the debt cesspool that the FM Metro area is currently mired in when the project is not currently permitted and is facing years of legal challenges?

At some point, one would think that, the state of North Dakota and FM metro taxpayers would order their elected officials to get off their high horse, stop lying, stop trying to steal land via eminent domain threat and just protect the city that exists. It would the quickest and most cost effective way to ensure that the population being used as an the example would actual receive the protection that taxpayers already paid for…, something that Minnesota did years ago for Moorhead.

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