MOORHEAD (KFGO-AM) Area lawmakers are surprised and disappointed Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton didn't include money for Moorhead flood protection in his nearly $1 billion dollar 2014 bonding bill for building projects statewide. Moorhead is seeking $7.2 million for flood mitigation in the upcoming session.
In response to questions from KFGO News, Dayton said while Moorhead's project is important, "in the interest of fairness", he needed to include projects that had been passed over for funding before.
Representative Paul Marquart of Dilworth is still fairly confident the project will get the green light from the legislature.
Representative Ben Lien of Moorhead says his top legislative priority is securing funding for Moorhead flood protection. He says nothing's a given and predicts there could a fight for the money. Lien has also authored a bill to provide $5.6 million for flood mitigation work in Oakport Township north of Moorhead.