The Daily News

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-ND, visited Wahpeton Tuesday morning to discuss flood control and water infrastructure. He secured $5 million to fund the Wahpeton-Breckenridge area flood mitigation projects. He hopes each will be finished by late 2010 or early 2011.

"I think we're gonna have first-rate flood control here," Dorgan said.

He also had a hand in passing the Recovery Act, which provides $10.1 million to the Southeast Water Users District to have clean and reliable water. This is a part of the Economic Recovery Plan.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., visits with Richland County Commissioner Perry Miller shortly before a meeting at the North Dakota State College of Science Tuesday morning. Dorgan visited with city, county and business leaders about flood control, water issues and business in the Wahpeton-Breckenridge area. photo by Anna Jauhola Advertisement

"This funding has accelerated the ability to solve that problem in the southeast by two years," Dorgan said.

The funding for it is also part of the Garrison Diversion Project, which was originally meant to help provide fresh, clean water throughout the state of North Dakota. Many rural water systems were not up to par before the funding came through, Dorgan said.

City, county and business leaders attended the meeting and voiced opinions, concerns and thanks to Dorgan. Breckenridge Mayor Cliff Barth said he appreciated Dorgan's support in getting the city's flood project done, but expressed concern over the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) willingness to buy out property and then prevent building on that site.

Dorgan's North Dakota State Director Pam Gulleson said FEMA will clear out properties and then prevent construction of any kind, including levees, because they are flood-prone.

Wahpeton City Attorney Steve Lies said he contacted Dorgan's office and Justin Kitsch, aide, is working on the issue.

"I challenged FEMA back in '98 because they told us we couldn't [build] because it was against the rules... They said it was an unwritten policy," Lies said.

Dorgan also complimented Wahpeton on its new business base in ComDel Innovation and recently added Bobcat in the former Imation buildings. Since ComDel's beginning, the company has added 150 jobs to the area, said CEO Jim Albrecht. Bobcat will now add about 60 jobs to the area.

"We have the legacy of the 3M and Imation workforce and technology... and we've marketed that to other companies around the region," Albrecht said. "We've really expanded to other markets."

Some companies ComDel has contracted with include Goodrich, Honeywell and Boeing. Through these contracts, ComDel has helped bring work back from overseas from countries like China and Mexico. They have also prevented some outsourcing to India.

"We're hoping that trend continues as the economy recovers," he said.

Dorgan also addressed healthcare and stimulus funding. He said prescription drug prices are ridiculous and the big drug companies are spending more money on ad campaigns than on research and development.

Wahpeton Finance Director Darcie Huwe asked if any more stimulus funding will be granted for infrastructure. Dorgan said he didn't think it would, though the money that has been doled out has helped create jobs. He said there's less money going into the highway trust fund because people are driving less and driving better cars, thus saving on gas.

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