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CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) Valley City officials are getting closer to approving a preliminary plan for a permanent flood protection project. Commissioner Matt Pedersen says support from the Governor and the State Water Commission has been positive in the city’s efforts to secure funds for the project. He says there is also a push to reduce the city’s total cost share ratio below the normal 25 percent.

But Valley City resident Gary Schlagel and others are concerned about the direction of the project, referring to the cost of buyouts and constructing flood walls. He says we need to know how much the taxpayers of Valley City will be paying for this project.

Valley City officials are planning to submit a plan for the entire city this May to the State Water Commission and Governor Dalrymple. Commissioner Pedersen says the estimated cost for the entire city is at $60 million dollars with the city’s cost share at 25 percent or lower.

Pedersen says another option under discussion is a plan to ask city voters to extend the half-cent city sales tax used to finance the Hi Liner Activity Center which is set to expire in 2017. He says the $400,000 collected annually from that sales tax could be used to pay for the project through a long term low interest loan.

The cost of the first phase of the project surrounding Valley City State University is estimated at $14.5 million dollars according to KLJ engineer Chad Petersen.