Latest news with #Bochenski
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Mayor Brandon Bochenski outlines 'an extremely exciting time in Grand Forks'
May 8—GRAND FORKS — Burgeoning development along the city's western edge is a Grand Forks highlight, Mayor Brandon Bochenski said during his every-other-year State of the City address Thursday. One amenity that will open soon and two projects that are soon to begin construction will make 42nd Street a destination, the mayor said. And as those projects come online, a street construction project — set to begin next year — will ease congestion in the area. The Career Impact Academy, near the intersection of North 42nd and Gateway Drive, will open this fall and offer technical education classes, both for high school students and adults. The $30.5 million facility was boosted by more than $11 million in local fundraising. A mile or so south of there, work is expected to begin this summer on the $110 million Altru Sports Complex, a public sports and workout facility that will be built just south of the Alerus Center. Along with a $10 million donation from Altru, funding for the project will come from an existing sales tax, which helped build and maintain the Alerus Center and which was extended in a citywide vote in 2023. A ceremonial groundbreaking on the building — which already is coming in millions of dollars under budget — is expected next month. Also near that site, the Grand Forks Children's Museum is planned. A $42 million fundraising campaign is underway, with a goal to break ground later this summer. Almost $30 million has been generated so far, Bochenski said. Work on a new underpass — allowing traffic to freely flow underneath existing railroad tracks at the corner of 42nd and DeMers Avenue — is expected to begin in 2026. "All three projects ... are located on 42nd Street, which is becoming an increasingly important stretch of our community," Bochenski said. Several hundred attended the State of the City, which Bochenski last gave in 2023 and, prior to that, in 2021. As usual, the event — which was followed by a social hour — was held at the Alerus Center. "We've been doing these about every two years and, quite frankly, we have been so busy, with so much going on, that it's hard to find the time," he said. "It's impossible to highlight everything, but I'd rather have too much to talk about than not enough." Bochenski took office in June 2020, earning the seat with a win over longtime incumbent Mike Brown. His five years in office have seen a number of major initiatives and developments, ranging from infrastructure (such as improvements to the city's wastewater system), to air service improvements (such as work to attract another commercial airline) to quality-of-life developments (such as the projects on 42nd Street). And, of course, there are always streets to fix. He said the city continues to perform well from a budgeting standpoint, recently completing its fifth consecutive year with a budget surplus — proof of "prudent and conservative budgeting," he said. Reserve funds have grown, he reported, and "the city continues to cut expenses while making investments that improve our roads, health and quality of life." He thanked members of City Council and city employees for their work on keeping city finances in check. And with money apparently in the city's pot, the mayor's speech inevitably turned to a community flashpoint: potholes. "As an economics major, I get most excited about the numbers and our finances, but probably one of the most visible and often talked-about subjects for any city is the roads and their condition," he said. In 2023, as portions of 32nd Avenue were crumbling after the spring thaw, Bochenski opened that year's State of the City speech with a promise to fix the city's pockmarked streets. Thursday, he called street maintenance in general a "constant battle" and said things must have improved, since he doesn't hear nearly the number of complaints he was fielding two years ago. "Thankfully, with the updates to our roads, we have had minimal pothole issues this spring," he said. "If you can believe this, I haven't had a single caller on KNOX bring up potholes in more than a year. ... I applaud our Streets Department and engineering staff for not giving up the fight and working hard to stay ahead of major problems." About halfway through his speech, Bochenski invited three other elected officials to give updates on their respective boards. Dave Berger, representing the School Board; Kimberly Hagen, representing the Grand Forks County Commission; and Russell Kraft, representing the Park Board, each spoke for a few minutes while seated on the stage. "It is an extremely exciting time in Grand Forks and I am truly grateful to get to be a small part of it," Bochenski said at the conclusion of the hour-long event. "We highlight big projects and exciting developments, but that's not really what makes a city good. What makes a city good is getting the day-to-day tasks done and done well. There's no glory in it and it's not glamorous." Among the other bullet points from the mayor's speech: —He thanked city employees — numbering more than 500 — for their work and handling "the daily tasks to keep our city running smoothly." —The new water treatment plant "continues to perform extremely well," he said, and $100 million in wastewater infrastructure improvements that have been happening in recent years have gone nearly unnoticed. City crews have been working to replace or rebuild a number of the 77 pumps that are dotted throughout the city's map and which are essential to keeping rising water levels at bay. —Planned agribusiness projects are important because, Bochenski said, "no matter how great other industries are doing, the driver of our economy is agriculture." He cited the proposed $450 million Agristo project, which if built as planned will prompt millions of dollars of economic impact and additional ag investment. A large soybean project by Epitome Energy is getting closer to construction too, the mayor noted. —He touched on the work of the police and fire departments, the former of which is under new leadership. Chief Jason Freedman took over earlier this year after the retirement of Mark Nelson. —Noting the new Altru Hospital and two new schools, Bochenski said "I have no doubt we have some of the best teachers, doctors and staff in the nation, and now we have the facilities to match." Along with the hospital project, he said the city is benefiting from an expanded and updated Grand Forks Senior Center, scheduled to be completed in July and largely funded by $2.5 million in Community Development Block Grant funds. —Bochenski lauded the recent Honor Flights that took Grand Forks-area veterans to Washington, D.C., and also noted the growth in mission and importance of Grand Forks Air Force Base. —Near the base, the GrandSky aviation business park "has been key to connecting public and private-sector industry and allows Grand Forks to continue to be on the leading edge of technology, whether it's unmanned aerial systems, data collection or beyond-visual-line-of-sight flying and testing." Similarly, the downtown city-owned HIVE building is fostering business growth, especially in the UAS and tech industries, Bochenski said. —"I could not be more proud of the growth and development that is happening at my alma mater," Bochenski said of UND. He commended President Andy Armacost and mentioned that enrollment is north of 15,000. The city has worked closely with UND on recent projects, including Memorial Village I, which is up and running, and Memorial Village II, which will be open in the fall. —He updated the audience on the Air Service Task Force, which he formed to "to grow local air service and take back market share from Minneapolis, Winnipeg and Fargo." His goal is to bring additional flights to Grand Forks by the end of 2026, hopefully lowering costs and increasing convenience for travelers. —Bocheski acknowledged that with community and business growth, "housing will be a challenge." He said he and others continue to work to increase the inventory in partnership with local builders. One of those partnerships is downtown, at the former city water treatment plant.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
2024 a good year for Grand Forks' sales tax collections -- and the community's hospitality industry
Feb. 22—GRAND FORKS — Last year saw strong sales and lodging tax collections in Grand Forks as the hospitality industry continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. Collections in Grand Forks were up 9% in 2024, much higher than the city's budgeted 3% growth. Mayor Brandon Bochenski said the strong collection reports show the city has moved beyond pandemic recovery and into growth. "I don't think of it as much of a rebound as much as it is just a positive outlook on the future. You're seeing both visitors that are coming to town and going to hotels and having the restaurants being used," Bochenski said. "The biggest thing is it's outpacing inflation." The city collected approximately $2.9 million a month from the sales tax it levies on purchases, for a yearly total of $35.5 million. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation was 3% throughout 2024. Sales tax collections do fluctuate a fair amount month to month and are affected by variables like inflation and how much people are spending. Sales tax revenue goes toward various funds that pay for street and water projects, economic development and event center funding. For most taxable purchases, a consumer pays a 2.25% local sales tax along with the state's 5% rate. That tax is broken down three ways: * 1% is a general sales tax that goes toward the city's general fund, infrastructure and economic development. This tax has been in effect since 1985. * 0.5% is the street and water infrastructure portion that has been in place since 2018. * 0.75% is an event center portion. The tax was originally implemented in 1996 to fund the Alerus Center construction and was amended by voters in 2023 to also pay for the Altru Sports Complex and capital costs at the Alerus Center. Additionally, on restaurant and lodging purchases, an additional 0.25% tax is paid, which also goes toward the Alerus Center. The collection for this tax was up 21% year-to-date, collecting a total of more than $800,000 or nearing an average of $69,000 a month. "It was a good year. It was better than lots of other previous years," said Ashok "Smiley" Thakker, who owns the Ramada, Days Inn and Rodeway Inn in Grand Forks. "(The Zach Bryan Concert) was big and we need more events like that. It was amazing." Bryan, a popular county music singer, performed on back-to-back nights in Grand Forks last summer. It was the Alerus Center's first doubleheader. The concert generated approximately $12 million in economic activity, half of the Alerus Center's average economic impact in two days. This year is looking to be the same if not better than 2024 according to both Thakker and Hal Gershman, president of Harry's Steakhouse. "We had a great year," said Gershman. "We are very happy with it and we think (2025) will be better than 2024 the way she's gone so far." Since a hospitality downturn during the pandemic, 2024 has seen a continued and stabilizing rebound. "We ended 2024 with occupancy rates ending almost the exact same as 2023 for most of the year," Visit Greater Grand Forks Executive Director Julie Rygg said. "All in all, we're ending the year pretty well." Rygg said that 2023 was really a rebound and 2024 was a continuation of that with people "anxious to get back out and do things." Lodging tax collections, from a 3% tax the city levies on hotel and motel room rentals, were up 8.4% in 2024 over 2023 and up 147% since 2020, when the lodging tax hit a low due to the pandemic. The tax generated around $150,000 more than was budgeted. The City Council did have discussions about potentially not putting all the tax proceeds toward Visit Greater Grand Forks, as it typically does. "I would like us to seriously consider using some of those funds to pay for capital improvement instead of only funding Visit Greater Grand Forks," council member Rebecca Osowski said during a Dec. 16, 2024, meeting. The higher sales tax collections also mean the city has more money for street repair projects. According to City Engineer Al Grasser, since the tax was implemented, the city has been able to get more of the city's roads to good repair condition. "Eight years of sales tax collections and you can see pretty dramatic change," Grasser told the council on Feb. 3. Most of the city's roads are in good condition and many fewer miles of roads need complete reconstruction with the sales tax allowing the city to undertake more of those projects.
