West Fargo sewage will be flowing east into Fargo under a 20-year deal city commissioners here agreed to Monday, May 22.

It'll cost West Fargo $3 per 1,000 gallons over the next four years, which at an average flow of 2.5 million gallons a day, over the next four years, it could bring about $5 million to $10 million into Fargo city coffers. Rates can be adjusted after that.

listen live watch live

Fargo City Commissioner Tony Gehrig, who has the utilities portfolio, said it's the biggest regionalization project the city has done so far.

West Fargo city commissioners still need to agree to the final contract, which they are expected to do at their June 5 meeting, said West Fargo Commissioner Duane Hanson.

West Fargo commissioners approved the draft contract on May 15, although Mayor Rich Mattern objected to the deal.

Hanson said West Fargo has long been considering whether to retain its current system of treating wastewater through its 460-acre lagoon system, but last fall city staff began studying other options.

"We wanted to use the resources that are out there and spend taxpayers' money as wisely as possible," he said.

West Fargo officials considered expanding the lagoons, building its own treatment plant or partnering with Fargo, which they soon found would be the cheapest option. After a public meeting for West Fargo residents on May 4, the majority in attendance supported eliminating the lagoon system, which would need to be expanded to keep up with city growth and emits a foul odor each spring.

"I've not received any pushback from the public on this," Hanson said. "There's no reason to put it off any longer."

Fargo, which has extra capacity in its water and sewage plants, has increasingly become the region's utility provider.

The city's plant already treats sewage for Horace, Reile's Acres, Highland Park, North River, Frontier, Prairie Rose, Briarwood, Oxbow and the Southeast Cass Sewer District.

The contract Fargo city leaders agreed to Monday, May 22, noted that Mapleton may want to have its sewage treated here in the future. West Fargo would have a veto because Mapleton would have to connect to West Fargo's sewage lines to get its sewage to Fargo.

Fargo's water treatment plant started service in West Fargo in June, joining Cass County Rural Water District.

The vote among Fargo commissioners was 4-1 with Commissioner John Strand voting "no" because he wanted more time to review changes to the contract.

Gehrig said the contract had minor changes in verbiage that didn't change its substance.

The cost of decommissioning the West Fargo lagoons, which are near 12th Avenue Northwest, could be about $5 million.

"I'm not sure what that'll look like in the future but it will look better than what we have now," Hanson said.