President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM.

Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Magnuson, Commissioner Bishop, Commissioner Erickson and Commissioner Gulmon

Others present: City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Deputy Auditor Klein

Rich-Pool elevation at Lake Ashtabula is 1265.85. Releases are at 3,700 cfs, inflows of 6,500 cfs. Warwick is at 993, kind of flat and Cooperstown is doing the same thing at 2,760.  Bald Hill Creek is on the rise at 1,720 and looks like it is ready to flatten out. Valley City is at 17.94 flow right about 5,500 cfs. Local inflow is right around 1,200 cfs. This morning a decision was made to cut about 800 cfs to give some relief to the south. The operating plan for Bald Hill Dam is to maintain the 3,700 cfs discharge and we’ll reevaluate tomorrow. The National Weather Service had come out with an updated forecast looking at Valley City to crest at 18.1, the unofficial crest at 8 am was 18.09. Looking back at the historic crest, that brings 2022 in 5^th place.  Ahead of the 1993 event that was 18.05.

Gwen-We are working with the levee watchers.  We will be going through the night until tomorrow at 8 p.m. We are still looking for volunteers.  After tomorrow night our water levels will be low enough so we won’t need any then. Public Works will go back to the 8-hour shifts.

Clint-We’ve pretty much caught up everywhere, there are a few places of standing water but we’ll get those shortly.  Going back to 8 hour shifts around the clock.

Sue-The county is doing okay.  Dazey has some problems with their lift station being jeopardized.  Their engineer was out yesterday to do some water levels, they thought Hgwy. 1 was causing issues.  Litchville had problems with their lift station dying so Jamestown borrowed them a pump while they work on the other.  BC Highway Superintendent Kerry Johnson closed Highway 21, all the other bridges are still open. Townships still reporting some washed out culverts otherwise things have slowed down.

Scott-The city has worked flawlessly together.  The water is going to go down but the current will still be fast and cold so stay off the levees.

Dave-We will not be meeting at 4 pm so our finance meeting will begin at 4 pm on Tuesday.  Cleanup takes longer so please be patient.  Kudos to everybody that has helped.  One of the most interesting comments over the week was from the Governor.  He said he had been on a lot of emergency tours and this one had been the most relaxing yet because everyone had done such a good job.

Gwen-The flood hotline will still be up and running so you can use that to report any flood related issues.

Adjourn

Meeting was adjourned at 4:14 PM.

President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 4:02 PM.

Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Magnuson, Commissioner Bishop and Commissioner Gulmon

Others present: City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Deputy Auditor Klein, and Administrative Assistant Johnson.

Rich-Pool elevation at Lake Ashtabula is 1265.00. Releases are at 4,030 cfs, inflows of 3,060 cfs. Warwick is at 1,040 cfs and holding, Cooperstown is steady at 1,760 cfs and slow decline and Bald Hill is at 528 cfs. Valley City is at 16.47 and a flow right about 4,550 cfs. Local inflow is right around 500 cfs. Precipitation at Bald Hill Dam was .9 inches of rain measured at 3 p.m. 5,500 somewhere around the 2^nd or 3^rd of May.  Trying to obtain an additional 1 foot of storage at Lake Ashtabula. The crew has been coordinating with Gwen for training and are available for anything that arises.  Levees are up to 20.5 ready for the 18.5 crest on Monday or Tuesday.  The 17.5 south of town may happen earlier.

Gwen-Training tonight at 6 p.m. and tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the fire hall. You are required to go to the training in order to volunteer.  There are 4-hour increments for up to 8 hours.  We are also taking volunteers to answer the hotline during the day.

Clint-Rain isn’t helping us, there is standing water everywhere.  We have more pumps than we’ve ever had running and they’re having trouble keeping up.  We are calling in more pumps and doing what we can with what we have.  If you see standing water you are encouraged to call. 

Sue-Guys were checking the county bridges and got some jams cleaned up.  Hi-Soaring Eagle Ranch has moved to town.  Tomorrow the river might be around 17.1 which will close the bridges to the south probably around mid-morning, an Everbridge notification will go out.

Carl-Looking for volunteers to walk the levees, the hotline is 701-8907848 call to volunteer and to get the facts. Training tonight at 6 p.m. and tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the firehall.

Dave-BEK has continued to broadcast the meetings and CSI 10 and 68-24 hours a day until the next meeting.

Scott-Training sessions in training room if you are going to walk the levees come in the north doors. 

Gwen-refrain from using unnecessary water.  The carwashes and laundromats have been contacted.  The master lift is doing its job but it’s working hard. 

Dave-stay off the levees, they will be slippery, this also means no fishing.  It can be up to a $500 fine.

Brian Yanish-No new updates as far as school, everything that was in place will remain the same.

Dave-Finance agenda next week has one item so we will meet at 4:30 and there will be flood meetings all weekend at 4 p.m.

Sue-Questions on the south bridges call 701-845-8510.  An Everbridge notification will go out.  We cannot give an exact time on anything closing as the water is in control.  If you are not signed up for Everbridge call 845-8181 to get signed up.

Dave-Thanks to those that came today for the training.

Adjourn

Meeting was adjourned at 4:21 PM.

President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM.

Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Erickson, Commissioner Bishop and Commissioner Gulmon

Others present: City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Finance Director Richter, and Administrative Assistant Johnson.

Rich-Pool elevation at Lake Ashtabula is 1265.33. Releases are at 4,060 cfs, inflows of 3,240 cfs. Warwick is at 1,100 cfs and holding, Cooperstown is steady at 1,850 cfs and pretty steady and Bald Hill is at 620 cfs. Valley City is at 16.04 which is about 4,330 cfs. Local inflow is right around 270. National Weather Service forecast is calling for 2.36 inches of moisture for this weekend’s events. NWS did a gamma fleight which checks the moisture in the upper part of the soil.  They downgraded the soil moisture but the forecasted precipitation is up so it comes out as a wash. Showing a crest beginning Tuesday at some time 18.5’.

Magnuson asked if we get a decent rain event if the dam would shut the gates down.  Rich responded that we may not be able to depending on how full the river is.  

Rich-May 1^st up to 5000

Gwen-Levee patrolling will be needed and the Core contacted the National Guard to see how it was handled last time and will come up with a plan. We need to find out how many people we need on at one time and those people will need training. We will need volunteers to help with this.

Rich-the number of levees we need to monitor is less and some don’t have clay because they are high enough.  Where we put clay, you will want a higher frequency of eyes so that segment will be shorter and the levees that don’t’ have clay will be a longer walk. River levels will be from 17 feet we will want monitor them and according to the NWS that may be starting Saturday or Sunday depending on the precipitation.

Clint-Monitoring pumps and watching the flood walls.  Only thing new is staging pumps around town anticipating the rain this weekend so we don’t’ have to scramble.  Started the 8 hour shifts today to help get some rest for the weekend. 

Scott-We will do put the rest of the flood walls up tonight. Rescue drill was last night so we do have some of the water rescue stuff available.  A 180-pound person would go a block in less than a minute.  If you see someone go in do not go in after them-make a phone call.  Stay off the dikes, keep your kids and pets off the dikes, if we get rain this weekend, they will be slippery.

Carl-701-8907848 call to volunteer and to get the facts. This is a 24/7 non-emergency number. Call 911 if there is an emergency.

Adjourn

Meeting was adjourned at 4:22 PM.

President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM.

Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Erickson, Commissioner Bishop, Commissioner Magnuson, and Commissioner Gulmon

Others present: City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Finance Director Richter, and Administrative Assistant Johnson.

Rich-Pool elevation at Lake Ashtabula is 1265.690.  Releases are at 4,200 cfs, inflows of 3,500cfs so now we are releasing more than what is coming in in an effort to gain some storage. This should put the river in Valley at the 16.25-17 ft range. Right now, we’re at about 15.5 ft.  Warwick is at 1,060 cfs, Cooperstown is steady at 2,000 cfs and Bald Hill is at 830 cfs and climbing.  The current weather system that is coming is tracking similar to the last one and could get a pretty consistent ½-1inch of precipitation with some protentional 2-3-inch areas. They are also noticing a similar system that may come in 7-8 day, it’s like we’re in some sort of cycle. The 4200 will be held until we see what the precipitation does.  At the 4200 we’re able to keep the transportation open south of town. Levees are at 99% complete, just buttoning up a few things. Once those are complete other contingencies will take place such as being able to react fast if needed. Riprap was added and repair is complete to the erosion at Mill Dam. Levee height survey verification needs to be complete before water can be added.  That was 84% complete before this report was taken.

Pete Paulson – If the rain doesn’t materialize will we stay at the 4200?

Rich – yes.

Gwen – 4^th St SW and SE work was finished, Swankey and 8^th Ave NE levee are being finished up. There is another erosion area that is being monitored by Gaukler. The clay by the hospital and Rainbow Bridges are the last two bridges that would be closed.  It was either close the bridges now while Strata was in town or just get them ready and if needed our guys could take care of it.

Clint- We plan to keep the two bridges as long as possible, if needed it would take us about an hour to close.  The colder weather has slowed inflows. Two areas in town sluice gates are not working as they should so sandbags will probably be used.

Sue-County end of things have been watching the bridges south of town. If the roads get closed it will start at 35V street and go south to 38^th street.  An Everbridge notification went out to those residents.  The crews have been out and removed a couple of log jams from bridges that way.

Phil-The PD has been getting reports of people on or around the clay dikes, stay away and stay off.  If there is a road closed sign do not go around those.  We are fining and it is a $500 fine.

Carl-The flood question/help non-emergency line is 701-890-7848 and you can check social media or our website for more information.

Dick-Thanks to staff, KLJ, Moore, Tom Moorhouse and Strata and Mr. Johnson and the schools for working with us.

Adjourn

Meeting was adjourned at 4:25 PM.

President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM.

Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Erickson, Commissioner Bishop, Commissioner Magnuson, and Commissioner Gulmon

Others present: City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Finance Director Richter, and Administrative Assistant Johnson.

President Carlsrud introduced Major Steckler

Sue Lloyd-The county is sitting good but we are focusing on the southern part of the county.  There are some townships that are keeping track of their damages.  The main concern is with the Hi Soaring Eagle Ranch.  If the river gets to 17.4 the first bridge will be closed off and just a little bit higher the second one will and then they will be landlocked. We’ll be notifying those households about what may be coming their way.

Rich- Levees are at 78% complete. The majority will be complete by around noon tomorrow.  Strata will stop work around 8 p.m. The pool elevation is at 1266.  We opened this afternoon because the elevation in Valley City was dropping. We’re releasing approximately 3800 cfs which should bring us up to about 16ft. We will hold at 16 ft until the temporary levees are surveyed and then we plan to increase to an elevation of 17ft.  We hope to draw down the reservoir to try to get 1.5-2ft of additional storage. We sent a team member to do some recon in the upper basin.  In the Warwick area there is 80% snow cover which is estimated to be about 1-1.25 inches of snow water equivalent in it.  There is precipitation forecasted for this weekend and the Warwick water takes about 5-7 days to get here so that is why we are doing what we are.

Neil Skarloken questioned why we weren’t using the 5 foot of storage that is there.

Rich responding due to the snow cover in Warwick and the forecasted precipitation we will be going into the storage space.  The City of Valley City has been doing and awesome job getting ready for this and preparing.

Gwen-The cold weather has helped slow some things so we’re grateful for that.  Public Works will continue to monitor 24 hours.  Communication has a chain of command.  We have set up a call center to help with questions.

Carl – Stated the daily meetings are at 4 on CSI, BEK and Zoom.  The recordings will be available the following day on our webpage.  The hotline is ready to go and the number is 701-890-7848. Updates will continue to be posted on Facebook and Instagram.

Gwen – the stoplogs have been installed except for the half wall at the college which is protected at 20.5 ft. We are grateful that the three phases of flood protection had been completed which is the only way we could be as prepared as we are.  While Fire Chief Magnuson was doing some rounds, he saw some erosion which was turned over to Rich and they will riprap the area. The garbage hook truck went down so there will be a collaboration with Jamestown.  We really want to thank the surrounding communities for their help.  Also, a reminder to conserve water when possible and sandbags are available to the city and county residents if needed.

Clint- We are catching up in a lot of the areas where we had standing water.  The lift stations are keeping up but if you can conserve water it would be a great help.  As the river raises and groundwater rises, we get some infiltration so to help alleviate pressure on the lift stations, conserving water would be appreciated.  10^th St SW is down to one lane which is to be used for the schools.

Neil Skarloken requested road closed signs on 5^th.  Clint will have road closed to through traffic signs set there.

Josh Johnson-Brian Yanish of Dietrich’s has made some modifications for the students currently affected by the changes. Washington Elementary has moved the drop off and pick up locations for the safety of the students as well as to not create added congestion on 8^th Ave.  The high school and tech center routes have been changed to 12^th and asked the students to ride the bus to and from the center. Softball practices have been moved up to Hi Line Park and will postpone or alternated our schedule for the next couple of weeks.

Al Lafave-There is only one way to access campus right now so we are running shuttles to help keep the traffic minimal in that area right now.

Gwen-VCSU’s food trucks will be coming down Soenboss Hill to deliver which trucks aren’t supposed to but they will be allowed.

Dave – The organization and operation of all of this, I’m proud to be part of this all.

Dick-Thanks to Rich and the Core for all the direction they are providing and Gwen and our team. Decisions are made strategically with planning and utilizing all the information to give us direction.

Dave-Meeting tomorrow at 4 p.m.

Adjourn

Meeting was adjourned at 4:38 PM.

President Carlsrud called the meeting to order at 4:00 PM.

Members present: President Carlsrud, Commissioner Erickson, Commissioner Bishop via Telephone, Commissioner Magnuson, and Commissioner Gulmon

Others present: City Administrator Crawford, City Attorney Martineck, Finance Director Richter, and Deputy Auditor Klein.

President Carlsrud Introduced Rich Schueneman, Corps of Engineers; General Alan Dorman, Adjutant General ND National Guard; Colonel Karl Jansen, St. Paul District Corps of Engineers.

Colonel Karl Jansen – Purpose for him being there is to make sure the City has what we need from the Corp of Engineers and vice versa.

General Alan Dorman– Been driving around so can see for himself what’s happened compared to prior floods. Will have a liaison on the local level if needed. Help with communication from State, County and City. They are here to assist when needed.

Rich- Pool elevation is at 1265.78, approaching full pool, have 5 feet storage available, releasing 3,200 cfs. River stage is at 15.7. National Weather Service is putting out forecasted crest of 18.5 feet by this next weekend. We have inflows of 5,000 cfs or more right now. Preparing for possible precipitation event this weekend. Awarded a contract to Strata last night and put a plan together for Valley City. Strata is bringing people from all over the State. Protection in place by Wednesday/Thursday. Have 8,500 lineal ft of levies to raise in 5 major areas. Public stay away from those areas, yield to all flood emergency vehicles.

Mike strom – Trucks are moving with a smaller amount of dirt to abide by load restrictions. Trucks are using designated haul routes.

Gwen- Have 3 phases of the flood protection finished. All flood walls sections will be in place today. Sandbags have been installed by VCSU footbridge. Filled sandbags came from Fargo. 15,000 filled sandbags came to VC. Sandbags are available, come to Firehall if needed. US Corp has been contracted out to do the clay levies, our PW crews are working alongside them to fill in where needed. Following Flood Emergency Plan and Chain of Command. Plan for next 24 hours will be posted on Social Media and dedicated flood page on website. Will have designated phone line setup. There will be daily meetings in Commission Chambers. Street closure maps will be on website after this meeting. Thank you to VCSU Athletic Departments for their volunteers.

Clint- Staff is on rotating shifts, lots of help from Valley City Fire Department, in pretty good spot.

Dewey- Keep away from the river. Thank you to VCFD, City staff, and all volunteers.

Dick- Gwen has done a magnificent job and thank you Rich for being here. KLJ has lots of knowledge and doing a great job.

Dave – Fortunate for staff, FD, volunteers from VCSU and community. Kudos to citizens who voted to use City Sales Tax to fund Permanent Flood Protection. Appreciate assistance from Legislature and DWR and their cost shares making this possible.

Adjourn

Meeting was adjourned at 4:28 PM.