Grand Forks set to take over 25 rural water customers as part of annexation proceedings
Nov. 10—GRAND FORKS — The city of Grand Forks will give the Agassiz Water Users District $61,958.32 to compensate for the loss of customers due to city annexation.
When the city annexed areas along Highway 81 north of the city, it triggered compensation payments under an agreement entered in 2000 by the city and Agassiz. The land annexation was finalized in June 2022 and 25 Agassiz customers were annexed into the city. The process of connecting them to the city's water system will occur over the next two to three years. Payment will be due 60 days after the first customer is connected to Grand Forks municipal water.
Grand Forks will start connecting customers to the city water supply this fall and continue the process likely through 2025. Customers will continue to pay Agassiz for the water until the city connects them to the city's supply, but buyouts happen all at one time.
Under the agreement, the payment is calculated in two parts. The first is based on Agassiz's outstanding debt per customer, a total of $21,039.88. The second is two years of net revenues from the customers Agassiz will be losing. The calculation is based on customer water usage and Agassiz water rates for a total of $40,918.44. This makes the total payment from the city to Agassiz $61,958.32.
Grand Forks City Administrator Todd Feland said the time frame between the 2022 annexation and the 2023 water buyouts was partly due to the time it took to determine costs and how many customers were affected.
"Right now, the city will just be installing potable water lines, but there are plans for sanitary sewer," said Feland. "The agreement will also fix some right-of-way issues related to the annexation and change in service areas."
Agassiz provides water services to around 1,400 customers in northern Grand Forks County and southern Walsh County, including towns like Gilby and Manvel. Rural water districts were originally created to provide rural residents with cleaner and safer water across North Dakota.
Over the next several years, contingent on a developer's agreement between Grand Forks and
Epitome Energy,
the city will expand municipal water services toward the far northern end of the city to connect Epitome's proposed soybean crushing plant. The plant is expected to begin construction in 2024 and will use treated wastewater from the city to process soybeans into meal, oil and hulls.
