Private meetings on controversial Little Missouri River bridge broke North Dakota law, attorney general says

BISMARCK — Billings County commissioners broke the regulation when

they didn’t notify the general public about assembly

with a state transportation chief a few

controversial bridge

within the Badlands, North Dakota Lawyer Basic Drew Wrigley has decided.

Lester Iverson, Dean Rodne and Mike Kasian met individually on Sept. 28, 2021, with then-North Dakota Division of Transportation Director William Panos to debate the Little Missouri River Bridge challenge that might have related highways 16 and 85 roughly 20 miles north of Medora. The three commissioners on the time mentioned potential paths ahead for the stalled bridge, together with the potential for the state to assist with the endeavor.

The one-on-one conferences with Panos have been personal and never publicized, a transfer that Wrigley mentioned violated open assembly legal guidelines.

“The fee expressed no intent to bypass the open conferences legal guidelines,” Wrigley mentioned in an announcement. “Nonetheless, intent shouldn’t be a requirement. The fee did purposefully meet, collectively involving a quorum, with a purpose to focus on public enterprise.”

The person conferences have been meant to permit the commissioners to have a free trade with Panos, Billings County State’s Lawyer Pat Weir beforehand advised The Discussion board. Weir additionally advised the Lawyer Basic’s Workplace that commissioners had “each authorized proper to hunt out info from no matter supply,” in line with Wrigley’s opinion.

The county has seven days to draft minutes from the conferences. Iverson, Rodne and County Auditor Marcia Lamb didn’t return cellphone messages left by The Discussion board on Friday, Dec. 23.

Kasian misplaced his seat to Steven Klym on this yr’s common election and is now not a commissioner.

Panos resigned Sept. 9, 2022. The transportation division didn’t reply to The Discussion board’s emails.

County leaders have mentioned constructing a bridge over the Little Missouri River close to Medora for many years. Advocates mentioned it might assist native emergency responders get to rural areas extra shortly. Emergency medical groups and firefighters who reply to calls from the Medora station should drive 70 miles north earlier than they will cross the river.

Based on leaders, it additionally may gain advantage vacationers who would come to the Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in Medora and the historic Elk Horn Ranch, which was owned by the previous president and is about 35 miles north of the town.

The county deliberate to make use of eminent area to construct the bridge on land the place former

U.S. Rep. Don Quick

lived on a ranch that was began within the early 1900s. Nobody lives on the land, however his household nonetheless owns it.

Quick’s descendants fought

the county’s try to seize the land.

Activists even have expressed considerations about preserving the world. Badlands Conservation Alliance Government Director Elizabeth Loos claimed mud from car visitors may affect animals and vegetation.

In a 2-1 vote, the County Fee

voted in July 2021 to nix constructing the bridge

on the Quick household’s land. Nonetheless, the September 2021 conferences confirmed county commissioners and the state transportation division nonetheless had some curiosity in shifting the challenge ahead.

Panos advised the fee in December 2021 that the

state didn’t have the authorized authority to “take the lead”

on the challenge. The transportation division must search permission from the North Dakota Legislature to take action, Panos mentioned.

The fee has mentioned the challenge over the past yr, indicating the challenge that’s anticipated to price roughly $20 million continues to be within the works.