The city’s Service and Safety Committee gave preliminary approval for a lease and a joint funding plan for the program in two separate, unanimous votes. City Administrator Todd Feland said the 207 S. Fourth St. facility, which will be directly overseen by the Grand Forks Health Department, has actually found a project coordinator, that will start later this month and begin searching for a way to staff the project—preferably through a private contractor.
“I believe (the) goal is that, over the summer, to have actually an action plan ready to go,” Feland said.
The facility is a place for patients that are too drunk to care for themselves yet don’t need medical attention. As a result, it provides a safe place to sober up without clogging medical or police resources, and a shelter for such individuals from the cold during winter months.
Monday’s very first vote established a five-year, $1 per-year lease through April 2021, giving the city and the Health Department tenancy at the address under a rental agreement from the Jobs Development Authority.
The second agreement established the city’s intent to fund the program for the next several years, alongside listed commitments from Grand Forks County, Altru Health System and expected funding from the state and federal government. Though UND was once a funding partner on the project, city documents stated the university is no longer contributing funds due to “budgetary concerns.”
City Council and committee member Terry Bjerke said he stands behind the facility.
“We don’t really have actually a choice,” he said, noting the drain on police resources in particular that future patients of the facility can pose. “We’ve got to figure something out.”
A final vote from the Grand Forks City Council is called for to make both developments official.
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