Failed flood bill included $3M for Turtle Creek

Published 8:22 am Tuesday, May 24, 2011

The Minnesota House defeated $47 million in state bonding for projects to control flooding in the Red River Valley and other parts of the state, including Austin.

The House voted 76-57 early Saturday for borrowing for flood control projects, but bonding bills require a super-majority of 81 votes to pass.

The biggest chunks of money would have been allocated to the cities of Moorhead, Roseau and the small community of Georgetown, which is north of Moorhead. City Engineer Jon Erichson said the City of Austin had placed a request for $3 million for the Turtle Creek flood mitigation project.

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Since the legislature typically passes a bonding bill every other year, with this being an off-year, Erichson said he’s hoping the funding will be included in next year’s bill.

“This was almost a supplemental bonding dollar request,” Erichson said. “We would anticipate it would be part of the 2012 bonding bill submittal in the normal cycle.”

“They brought this (bill) up due to the fact there’s been so many floods,” he added.

Several House Democrats complained that majority Republicans were unwilling to approve more bonding for other construction projects. Gov. Mark Dayton had proposed $1 billion in bonding projects he touted as a job creation bill, but Republicans showed little interest.

Most of the chamber’s Democrats voted against the bill along with a handful of Republicans.

Erichson said the bill’s failure won’t deter the city from finding funds for the Turtle Creek project.

“It’s one of our long-term flood mitigation projects, so we’ll continue seeking funding for it,” he said.

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.