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Plan now for the 2023 grazing season Page 3 Walhalla planning 175th Anniversary celebration Page 5 Festival of Trees returns to St. Alphonsus School Page 5 North Border All-Region and AllState football awards Page 7 Auto Drive: a young band with old soul Page 8 From the Pastor’s Desk: When thankfulness and joy don’t come easily Page 9 Views from the Borderland Page 14
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SUBSCRIBE TO THE BORDERLAND PRESS Trade Area: Cavalier County, Walhalla, and Edmore - $49 per year North Dakota - $53 per year Out of State - $63 per year The Borderland Press P.O. Box 230 Langdon, ND 58249 701-256-5311
Volume 1, Number 46
Talk about HISTORIC PRESERVATION
In this Issue:
Cavalier County Health District changes COVID vaccine clinics Page 2
Friday, November 25, 2022
By Melanie Thornberg One of Walhalla's most historic and most beautiful buildings - the Walhalla Mountaineer newspaper building - received a fabulous facelift this summer. Built in 1898, the building was home to the Walhalla Mountaineer newspaper that actually started as a semi-weekly publication back in 1896. Due to a number of reasons common to small-town newspapers, the last publisher of the paper, Rodney Huffman, had to cease publication of the paper back on February 24, 2020, ending its 124-year-run covering the news in Walhalla and the nearby Pembina Gorge (hence the name, Mountaineer). Huffman was the last publisher/owner of the building, having bought it back in 1978. Then in February of 2022, Huffman sold the building to Rodney Bjornstad, an entrepreneur who was raised in Walhalla, who now wants to preserve the building for future generations to enjoy. With a keen eye for the future, Bjornstad hired Stephen Frank and Colleen Kittelson of Frank's Painting and Drywall of Walhalla for this huge restoration project. They spent several months this past summer thoroughly cleaning, pressure washing, and vigorously scraping the building before applying three coats of paint along with one of their assistants, Derick Radway. Their first coat of paint was a special, extra-heavy, Marine-bonding coat of white Sherwin-Williams paint followed up by not just one - but two coats of finishing paint "Emerald," which is the highest quality of finishing paint also made by Sherwin-Williams. The work done prior to the actual painting and then the three coats of high-quality paint "will insure that the paint will last for at least a decade" according to Frank. The team then
worked hard to also clean, scrape and paint the blue trim around the building's unique and stylish architectural features from the late 1800s that give the building an added flare. Finally, the team also restored and repainted the Mountaineer Printing sign that once again hangs proudly outside the front window, with help from Pete Danielson who assisted in hanging the sign from its usual lofty perch outside the front windows. Historic preservationists and architectural aficionados were sure delighted when this important building was brought back to life this summer by the team of Bjornstad, Frank, Kittleson and Radway! Bjornstad said that he was inspired by the restoration and repainting of a number of Walhalla's historic buildings that have also received modern facelifts, especially the Standard Oil Station on Walhalla's Main Street. The restoration projects are part of a quasi-master plan being implemented by a number of agencies and entities to help revitalize Walhalla - especially its downtown Main Street area - including the Walhalla Area Chamber of Commerce,
The Walhalla Mountaineer newspaper building received a facelift over the summer. Photo by Melanie Thornberg.
the City of Walhalla, the Red River Regional Council, the Rendezvous Region Tourism Council, and a number of individual business owners and residents, too. If you haven't seen this recently-restored, pressed metal building with its classically-designed nineteenth-century amenities, now would be a good time to check it out on Walhalla's Main Street! At the time of this writ-
ing, Bjornstad was weighing his options as far as what to do with the interior of the building, keeping in mind that he will be keeping that large printing press and the original copies of the Mountaineer housed there for future generations. Stay tuned for further building updates as the interior restoration work continues, too! This historic gem on the prairie will play a prominent role in Walhalla's revitalization efforts!
Public meeting held to discuss future of Langdon city streets, underground infrastructure By Sarah Hinnenkamp About 40 people gathered in the meeting room at the NDSU Langdon Research Extension Center on Monday, Nov. 21 for an informational meeting about the need for updates to city streets and underground infrastructure in the city of Langdon. In 2020, the city commissioned a survey to judge the severity and the level of need for improvements. Of the 26 miles of city streets in Langdon, Moore Engineering estimates 80-90% of the streets need some level of work due to cracking, rutting, potholes, and valley gutter improvements. Commissioners were on schedule to have a public meeting when COVID brought everything to a halt. The discussions picked up again in the spring of 2022, and Moore Engineering prepared an evaluation of the city streets, a cost estimate, as well as a water and sewer project estimate for the oldest part of town. “We’re here to talk about the needs that are out there,” said Andrew Aakre, project manager for Moore Engineering. “At the end, I’ll put a plug in for you to talk to your commissioners and give them your feedback.” When it comes to what’s underground, Aakre recommended replacing the clay tile pipe type for sanitary sewer and cast iron pipe types for water distribution. “The original cast iron in the city of Langdon is reaching its life expectancy – it starts to break down faster and becomes more prone to leaks and breaks,” Aakre said. “There’s a fair amount - especially in the older part of Langdon.” Aakre outlined some of the street improvements that have been made, including patching, overlay, and a seal coat in 2000, downtown concrete updates in 2005, 15th Avenue concrete updates in 2009, 7th street improve-
ments in 2018, and 21 blocks of water/sewer replacements from 2018 to 2021. Since 2000, there haven’t been major street improvements. “For the most part, we are dealing with streets that are more than 22 years old,” Aakre said. “You’ve probably noticed a lot of them are showing wear and tear at this point.” In 2017, a video and cleaning project helped identify problem areas in the city’s sanitary sewer system showing that much of the piping is clay tile, which showed signs of cracking, misalignment, and root intrusion. Cracking and misaligned clay tile pipe could allow groundwater to come into the pipe or allow the sewer to leak into the surrounding ground.
eligible for up to 45% in grant dollars through this federal program. Grants are available up to $5M, so the plan would be to break the project into phases to maximize the opportunity for grant funds. Payment for the projects Typical repayment on a water and sewer project is done through a city’s utility bill. For the water and sewer project being proposed, it would cost each property $13 per month on its utility bill for a period of 20 years for each $5M.
Aakre said street projects don’t typically receive grant funding unless a water/sewer project is tied into the project. He recommended the city go through the Bank of North Dakota’s Infrastructure Revolving Loan Fund and receive a 2% interest rate.
the $15M project option, pay back would be $108 per front foot of frontage, which adds up to $10,800 for a 100-foot lot, again, likely paid over 15 years. If a property owner has a corner lot, they would be assessed for one side of the lot, not two sides.
For property owners, the improvements would be paid back on a front foot of frontage assessment. For the $21.1M project option, pay back would be $151 per front foot of frontage, which adds up to $15,100 for a 100-foot lot. This likely would be paid over a period of 15 years. For
If you live on a street that is scheduled for major construction or a simple improvement, the project area is treated the same as far as the assessment goes. The total street project is totaled and then divided, so even if you’re getting a different treatment in front of your house compared to the cont’d. on page 6
Scope of project improvements Moore Engineering prepared a citywide street improvement project map based on the current state of what the streets looked like in the summer of 2022. The map shows possible levels of improvements so residents can see what their street may need. For the water/sewer/storm sewer project, the problem area has been identified in the oldest part of Langdon. That would include the borders of 8th street on the west side, 2nd Avenue on the south side, 12th Avenue on the north side, and Hwy. 1 on the east side. Within that area is where water and sewer has been identified to be in the toughest shape. Cost estimates The cost estimate for the city-wide street project is $21.1M. The cost estimate for the city-wide street project with a water/sewer/storm sewer component is $31.2M: $15M for the citywide street areas and $16.2 for the water/sewer/storm sewer areas. Grants funds are available for water/ sewer projects through USDA Rural Development. Langdon is currently
Map prepared by Moore Engineering in the middle of summer 2022, which was based on the state of the streets at the time.