Jan. 9—EAST GRAND FORKS — The East Grand Forks City Council approved a budget amendment to the agreement it has with SRF Consulting for a grant opportunity for the ongoing Red River crossing study.

Council members approved the budget amendment 6-1, with Dale Helms dissenting. The vote came during a special meeting after a work session, at which the council received updates about the study.

The grant, known as a RAISE grant, is a federal grant program for infrastructure planning. If awarded to the study, it would help reimburse costs for the continued planning and environmental documentation required for a new crossing. The application is due at the end of February and awards will be announced in June. Funds for the grant have some considerable lead time for actual allocation, but since Greater Grand Forks qualifies as a rural community, no matching of the funds is required.

“A project of this magnitude, interstate (component), certainly over a river, federal jurisdictions are involved,” said Ken Holte, project manager from SRF Consulting, which is working on the study. “You have to take the funnel effect. You start at the top and pour a bunch of options and ideas in it and as you work your way down the funnel, what drops out the bottom is your preferred solution.”

The scoping portion of the project is nearing completion, leading to the next step, the Planning and Environmental Linkages step, or PEL study. By doing a PEL study, it allows “as much prework to get done before the NEPA timer starts,” Holte said.

The next step, environmental documentation under the National Environmental Policy Act, often known as the NEPA process, has a specific time frame to be completed. Currently, the scope of what the PEL study needs to complete is being reviewed by federal agencies.

Many of the numbers for the cost of a PEL study are unknown since the scope is unknown, but Holte estimated somewhere between $700,000 to $1 million based on previous PEL studies he’s seen. He also noted that federal agencies want to look at the whole corridor and not just a specific location, as many previous crossing studies have done.

“You cannot enter this with a predetermined solution,” Holte said. “It needs to be a data-driven process. You can start broad and whittle down to the final version.”

He also noted that environmental permitted rules have changed in recent years. New interpretations of environmental rules by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resource have meant that the agency doesn’t allow approach fill in 100-year floodplains. This means a proposed bridge would have to be 10-30% longer. The U.S. Army Corp of Engineers has said it doesn’t want a bridge to have detrimental effects on the flood control system.

The approved amendment, allowing SRF consulting to complete the grant, would cost the city $7,101. East Grand Forks, as the lead agency for the study, has also requested Grand Forks, Grand Forks County and Polk County to participate equally for a total $28,404 amendment.

“It would be shortsighted of us not to go after these funds,” Council President Mark Olstad said. “It would be a shame if we didn’t take this opportunity.”

Grand Forks County has approved the funding and Polk County is considering it at the County Commission’s Jan. 16 meeting. Grand Forks received it at the Committee of the Whole meeting Monday but a vote on the plan tied, meaning it sent a recommendation to not fund the grant at its Jan 16 meeting.

“The 25% is $7,101 and to leverage $7,101 for $10 million or more is a no-brainer to me,” East Grand Forks City Council member Clarence Vetter said.

In other news, the council:

* Discussed the approval of a gate being placed across the north-south road that leads to the asphalt plant on the far east side of the city. RJ Zavoral & Sons brought the proposal to the council, citing concerns with liability for both the company and the city about access on the road, especially in the winter.

* Discussed filing plans and specifications for a quiet zone project. The project would deal with the BNSF railroad crossing improvement at Second Avenue Northeast, which is planned to occur this summer.