Contributed/Metro Diversion Authority
FARGO (KFGO) – The Metro Flood Diversion Authority has reached a settlement with the Red River Valley Alliance over claims tied to the FM Area Diversion project.
“This is a positive development for the project as it allows us to move forward with a clean slate to complete this necessary flood protection. The MFDA is doing its part to ensure RRVA meets their proposed schedule,” said Cass County Commissioner Tony Grindberg, the MFDA Board chairman.
The agreement, which the 13-member MFD Board unanimously approved, includes provisions that support the schedule for RRVA and their design construction arm, ASN Constructors, to be on track for substantial completion in 2027. The agreement is expected to be formally approved by the developer and design and construction contractor’s boards.
“With both partners coming under new executive leadership while awaiting guidance on contract disagreements, it presented an opportunity for a collective review of past and present disputes,” said MFDA Executive Director Jason Benson, who stepped into the role in February 2025. “We have reaffirmed our commitment to working together and established additional check-ins and collaborative approaches that are anticipated to reduce the need for formal conflict resolution processes.”
The announcement says by eliminating current claims and agreeing to a specific settlement amount, the MFDA has reduced its risk of the cost of those claims by eliminating the unknown legal costs, time and ongoing delays that would result from litigating the issues in dispute. The settlement amount of $57 million will come out of the MFDA’s comprehensive project contingency budget, leaving the overall project cost unaffected. The lump sum will be made in smaller payments tied to substantial completion of individual components of the project, including $7 million for completion of the Diversion Outlet and Rush River Inlet and $5 million each for the completion of the Maple River Aqueduct and Sheyenne River Aqueduct. Payments of $5 million also will be issued for substantial completion of road and railroad bridges.
Prior to the agreement, claims were waiting to be heard by a Technical Dispute Review Board comprised of independent experts in public-private partnership contracts. The initial claim, regarding the use of epoxy-coated rebar in FM Area Diversion structures, went to the TDRB in May 2024. It was not heard, however, as the TDRB awaited an attorney general’s opinion on open meeting requirements. A new panel of TDRB members was seated in May 2025, but they will no longer be needed to weigh in on the rebar issue since it’s been resolved in the settlement agreement.
ASN Constructors began incorporating epoxy-coated rebar in concrete structures in July of last year. Concrete structures that incorporated uncoated rebar placed prior to that timeframe will be coated with a protective product called Tex-Cote® prior to substantial completion, monitored throughout RRVA’s 30-year operations and maintenance contract for the FM Area Diversion – during which time a second coat will be applied – and receive another Tex-Cote® treatment prior to the components being handed back to the MFDA.
“Through our small leadership team discussions, the parties were able to reach this technical solution, without the need to remove and replace previously completed structures, which helps to keep the project on time and prevents economic waste,” Benson said.
Comments