Minot City Hall
The City of Minot takes another step forward towards a new City Hall with the purchase of the former Wells Fargo Bank building in downtown Minot. The City closed on the purchase of the property on Tuesday, February 23rd. The Minot City Council approved $2,608,000 of National Disaster Resilience (NDR) funds to purchase the building. The negotiated price is well within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requirements. The purchase price means that $5 million of NDR funds remains to use for rehabilitation and retrofitting of the building; any additional funds needed to complete the project will come from City revenue sources. With the purchase of the property completed, City staff will manage rehabilitation activities.
This building’s purchase to relocate City Hall was made possible by a waiver granted to the City of Minot by HUD. The resilience agreement with the federal government is based on the need to relocate city offices and Central Dispatch out of the flood zone. The police department hopes to expand into the vacated space.
Now that the City has taken possession of the building, they will procure a firm to conduct a space analysis study and rehab design services for recommendation to the City Council. A contractor for the required renovations is expected to be procured and on board by the end of the year.
Milton Young Towers
Construction is now underway at Milton Young Towers. NDR funds will be used for resilience improvements that will ensure this housing will support the Minot community for years to come.
Through NDR, the City of Minot is investing $5 million, and the Minot Housing Authority (MHA) is investing an additional $800,000 in the resilient building renovations. Work will include updates to mechanical systems, fire safety, power backup systems, waste stack replacement, and high efficiency plumbing and lighting installation. Contractors will install new energy-efficient and noisereducing windows on the first floor. Renovations will result in 18 additional twobedroom apartments in the building to meet the Minot area’s needs.
Due to the extensive work required to replace the waste stacks throughout the building, residents will be temporarily relocated during the renovation process. Most relocations will be within the building, and MHA is working to make the process as easy as possible for residents. The packing and moving contractor has started packing the first residents who will be relocated. Construction contractors are preparing and moving materials to begin work on the first floor (where there are no residents) and eventually moving on to the waste stack work when all affected residents have been relocated. The construction is expected to occur in 10-12 phases, with each phase scheduled to take ten weeks.
MHA and its contractors are taking extra care to ensure all residents are moved appropriately with proper notice and assistance. Efforts will be made to ensure communication continues to quickly resolve any issues residents may have.