In the second story from Brandon in today’s news feed, you can read about a level of community engagement we do not commonly see in Minot. The City of Brandon proposed spending ~$30 million on new lift stations. The public showed up in force, and they weren’t shy with their opinions. They didn’t like the idea of a project where infrastructure costs would be shouldered by the citizens, but the benefit would be taken by the developers.
Why does it matter in Minot? These infrastructure investment scenarios play out in place after place. In Minot, we recently handed the first phase of a $14.5 million TIF tax incentive for a developer in an area in which the public had already paid for the infrastructure. But the public hearing didn’t deliver a single objector. Do you think that’s because Minot citizens think differently about these types of investments or some other reason?
In Brandon, the citizens showed up, and the City Council heard the message.
