About $1.9 million in federal funding was approved for the Fessenden wastewater lagoon but rescinded with the cancellation of FEMA’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities program. (Photo provided by Wells County Emergency Management)
By: Michael Achterling
WASHBURN, N.D. (North Dakota Monitor) – The Federal Emergency Management Agency canceled more than $20 million in grants that were headed to North Dakota for various infrastructure projects.
The funding comes from the agency’s Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program, designed to help state and local governments with projects that reduce risks to hazards.
Some projects impacted in North Dakota are a $7.1 million for a water intake project in Washburn; $7.8 million for a regional wastewater treatment project in Lincoln; and $1.9 million for a wastewater lagoon project in Fessenden.
“This is devastating for our community. Two million dollars to a little community of 450 people is huge,” said Tammy Roehrich, emergency manager for Wells County.
North Dakota has 10 projects that were authorized for the federal funding but those dollars will be rescinded, the North Dakota Department of Emergency Services said Tuesday. Additional projects are going through a re-review process and could potentially lose funding as well.
In an April 4 statement, a FEMA spokesperson said: “The BRIC program was yet another example of a wasteful and ineffective FEMA program. It was more concerned with political agendas than helping Americans affected by natural disasters.”
In Wells County, the grant was going to help prevent erosion in Fessenden’s lagoon, which is over 100 years old.
“We were going to open bids May 1,” Roehrich said. “We were shovel ready.”
Planning for the project began in 2020 and the county was awaiting the final grant paperwork from FEMA after the agency toured the project site in June 2024.
Funding the project locally would require increasing property taxes by $6,000 on each Wells County homeowner, Roehrich said.
Gov. Kelly Armstrong has directed state agencies to work with local communities to explore other funding solutions, according to a Tuesday news release.
Other funding options for Fessenden could include a $1 million loan the community could pay back over 30 years, Roehrich said.
“For every dollar of mitigation spent in North Dakota, we’re saving six to seven dollars,” Roehrich said. “It’s a huge savings so the cost-benefit is there.”
Sen. Jerry Klein, R-Fessenden, said FEMA was dragging its feet on finalizing the Fessenden grant award and now it feels like the rug was pulled out from under them. He added additional service fees were added to the utility bills of local residents in recent months to help with the project.
“I’ve been out to the lagoon. I know it’s in dire need,” Klein said. “It’s unfortunate. Some of these projects, there was a promise and now that promise is being kind of like, ‘Here it is, but we really didn’t mean it.’”
Klein said it will be hard for the state to fill the funding gaps left by the loss of federal grants.
Sen. Brad Bekkedahl, R-Williston, chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, said lawmakers would be able to look into funding options while the Legislature is still in session, but they can’t plan for cuts that haven’t happened yet, or haven’t come to light.
“Anything that comes now that is going to impact appropriations that are necessary for public safety, we’ll obviously look at that,” Bekkedahl said. “I can’t guarantee that it’ll be funded and I can’t guarantee where we’ll find the funding because we’re still overspent at this point, but I think as long as we’re here, we’ll have those discussions.”
Bekkedahl said local subdivisions should contact the governor’s office to make sure their federal funding losses are cataloged.
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