The Daily News

The Wahpeton-Breckenridge Housing Study Oversight Committee met Friday to coordinate the community input process and review of the Wahpeton-Breckenridge Housing Demand Analysis of 2010. The analysis will help decision makers and community members develop a meaningful sense of the housing market as well as an understanding of key housing issues.

"It's like the weather," said committee chair Jane Priebe. "It's like we're trying to predict what will happen... The analysts will tell us why (the projections made in the 1996 report) didn't happen."

The committee reviewed proposals from five companies: Hanna-Keelan Associates, P.C. (Lincoln, Neb.), Ondracek & Witwer (Minot), Maxfield Research (Minneapolis), Community Partners Research, Inc. (Faribault, Minn.) and Gill Group Inc. (Dexter, Mo.).

Advertisement

"Your task as ad-hoc committee is to review these, and we'll come to a consensus on which ones we want to interview," said Priebe.

Committee members include Darcie Huwe, Wahpeton finance director, Becky Snyder, State Bank & Trust, Brenda Woytassek, Breckenridge City Council member and Cliff Barth, ex-officio committee member and Breckenridge mayor. Jim Sturdevant, Wahpeton mayor, was unable to attended as he was recovering from knee replacement surgery.

The proposals will be evaluated on a point system, and consider the following criteria: qualifications of the consultant, proposed study methodology, understanding of RFP, adherence to timeline, and cost of services.

The committee elected to interview Ondracek & Witwer, Maxfield Research and Community Partners Research.

Hanna-Keelan was not chosen because the timeline they submitted would take the longest, six months for completion, and exceeded the city's $20,000 budget by several thousand dollars. In contrast, the city quickly dismissed the proposal of Gill Group Inc., which proposed it could complete the project in 30 days for $8,000. While it seemed that Gill must have "a really good team to get it done in 30 days," the committee discerned that their efforts would mostly be Internet-based. They balked at the idea that wouldn't get the "depth and breadth" they would from another company and just having data "chewed up and spit out."

Research by the selected company will determine the demographic and economic characteristics of households in the Twin Towns, current and future incomes, and what the community can expect in terms of economic, employment and population change. It will also determine the nature and extent of short-term housing demand in the community, and explicate the differences between the conclusion of this study against any previously published studies.

The research will regard Primary Market Areas (PMA), consisting of the cities of Wahpeton and Breckenridge, and Secondary Market Areas (SMA), the remainder of Richland and Wilkin counties.

Maxfield emerged as the early favorite of the group. The company satisfactorily completed the last housing study commissioned for the area in 1996. Their proposal would have the project completed in two and a half months for $16,600.

The committee voiced concerns about whether the final product would reflect the census data being collected currently. They wondered when it would be available and what it would take to incorporate that data, as the analysis will be done long before the census data is made available.

"It makes the product better even if it is after the fact," said Priebe. "It will come in very handy for any future decisions."

Another concern was that the analysts would have difficulty beginning their data collecting efforts, gathering community input through focus groups, for example, at a time when the citizens will be making pre-flood preparations.

The committee will interview candidates on Tuesday, March 9. It will offer the contract to its final selection on March 15. The committee expects its selection to have the first draft of its report in for review by June 15, with their final presentation due July 5.

Comments