Jill Schramm/MDN Jason Sorenson, utilities director for the City of Minot, third from right, explains how a clarifier works at the Minot Water Treatment Plant during a public tour in May 2023. The city is cooperating on a regional storage project to ensure a reliable supply of carbon dioxide for water treatment and avoid the water restrictions associated with it.
Among the actions taken by the Minot City Council on Monday were investments in the airport terminal and municipal water treatment.
The terminal building, built in 2016, experienced a fire alarm malfunction. Since audible alarms are no longer sounding, the fire alarm system must be replaced. According to airport director Jennifer Eckman, the terminal building currently no longer meets ADA regulations for people with disabilities and must be fire rated at all times when in use.
A state grant will cover $53,551 of the $146,814 repair cost.
The council also approved paying $60,000 as the city’s share of the planning costs for a regional carbon dioxide storage facility in Bismarck. Carbon dioxide is used in water treatment, and a storage facility will alleviate the problem of shortages when the supplier is offline.
Jason Sorenson, city utilities director, said the CO2 shortage has led to water restrictions in Minot twice in the past three years.
He said if the city were to build its own storage facility, the work would have to be integrated into the next wastewater treatment plant expansion as part of the Northwest Area Water Supply project to remain affordable, in which case completion would not occur for about two and a half years, he said.
The planned cost of the Bismarck facility is estimated at $4.2 million. The state is providing a grant to cover 60 percent of the cost. Although this depends on the number of municipalities involved in the project, Minot’s share of the construction cost is estimated at $590,000.
