City Council OKs Altru Sports Complex traffic study, discusses possible Children's Museum location change
May 20—GRAND FORKS — The City Council on Monday approved an agreement to begin a traffic master plan for the new Altru Indoor Sports and Aquatics Complex, but also discussed a possible switch of locations for the planned Grand Forks Children's Museum.
The council, during its regular meeting Monday evening, approved the agreement with Bolton and Menk for $93,000. The master plan will also include planning for the Grand Forks Children's Museum, if it
chooses a location near the Altru Sports Complex.
The agreement was approved 5-2, with council members Rebecca Osowski and Kyle Kvamme dissenting; they feel the children's museum should not go there.
The current proposed site for the museum is on South Washington Street near Choice Health and Fitness. The South Washington Street location
was donated to the museum by Altru Health in 2022.
"I think making it too accessible is actually something that we shouldn't consider," Kvamme said. "I know that there's a lot of moving pieces, but it feels like a lot of things are just coming really quickly and there's been so much work on that current site."
The mock-ups for the Altru Sports Complex site show there will likely be some additional space not occupied by the complex itself.
"Both teams felt like it had enough merit we should bring it to City Council for consideration so we don't miss a really great opportunity," Grand Forks City Administrator Todd Feland
said to the council last week.
Some of those benefits, according to Feland, are sharing infrastructure, like parking lots and water facilities, and concentrating venues and amenities along the 42nd Street corridor. Being closer to the Alerus Center and Interstate 29 could also help mitigate traffic concerns in the largely residential neighborhood near the Washington Street location. Regardless, adding the museum to the master plan also gives the city better knowledge of traffic impacts for any development that will also be located on the site.
"I don't think there's a perfect answer one way or another," Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski said. "I think this is good to at least take a look at it (and) see if it makes sense."
Since both the Altru Indoor Sports Complex and the Children's Museum are still in a conceptual stage, there are a lot of unknowns. The museum wants to keep as many options open as possible. The traffic master plan will likely be completed sometime in July or August and at that time a decision on the Children's Museum's final location will be determined.
The council also approved an agreement with the Children's Museum about allocation of the $10 million in capital funding the city is providing. The funds are to be received as a reimbursement and the museum has to meet certain criteria to receive those funds.
In other news, the council:
* Received updates and approved changes to the city's retirement plans. The state
will be ending enrollment into the state's pension plan
and switching to a 401(k)-style retirement plan for employees who begin employment after Jan. 1, 2025. The council approved joining the North Dakota Public Employees Retirement System 457 plan. Human Resources Director Tangee Bouvette said it helps the city be more competitive with benefits.
* Received updates from City Attorney Dan Gaustad about the
Beacon by EPIC agreement.
According to Fargo news station
KVRR, there have been reports about layoffs and the inability to pay contractors.
To date, Grand Forks has not given any funds to EPIC, since it has not met the qualifications to receive those funds. EPIC's attorney has not answered Gaustad's messages.
* Approved setting a public hearing for property tax exemptions for Ideal Aerosmith. The hearing will be June 17.
