Rebar may be the crowbar that separated executive director from diversion, board member says

FARGO — A Metro Flood Diversion Authority Board member says a potential lawsuit over the use of epoxy-coated rebar was a factor in the sudden resignation of the leader of the area's largest taxpayer-funded project.

Fargo City Commissioner and MFDA Board of Authority Member Dave Piepkorn told The Forum some people working on the diversion are pushing for parts of the project to be redone using epoxy-coated rebar, steel bar coated in epoxy to prevent corrosion of the metal.

“We have potential litigation, and what I believe happened was Joel (Paulsen) was trying to resolve this before we got to litigation,” Piepkorn said.

He said Metro Flood Diversion Authority Executive Director Joel Paulsen was forced to resign by those who believe parts of the project should be redone using epoxy-coated rebar. A lawsuit and potentially having to rebuild parts of the massive flood control project would cost time and money, Piepkorn said.

“I’m a city commissioner — I want this diversion done as quickly as we can, so we’re protected from the flood,” Piepkorn said. “The sooner we’re done, the less it’s going to cost.”

Paulsen gave his verbal resignation on April 9 following a Board of Authority Planning Committee meeting.

During the meeting, the committee went into executive session for “Attorney Consultation regarding a potential claim regarding ECR reasonably anticipated to be presented to the Technical Dispute Resolution Board.” ECR stands for “epoxy-coated rebar.”

Moorhead Mayor and Board of Authority Chair Shelly Carlson addressed claims that Paulsen resigned under pressure in a statement sent via email from MFDA spokesperson Amy Wieser Willson. Wieser Willson said Carlson’s statements were made on behalf of the Board of Authority and written by Carlson and Clay County Commissioner Kevin Campbell, a Board of Authority member.

“Mr. Paulsen chose to voluntarily resign without pressure,” Carlson said. “He was not asked to resign.”

The MFDA oversees work on the non-federal portions of the Fargo-Moorhead Area Diversion. The $3.2 billion Red River flood control project is funded by public money — a combination of federal funds, state grants and local tax dollars.

On Tuesday, April 16, one week after he resigned as executive director, Paulsen issued a statement about his resignation in a release sent by his attorney.

"This decision was sudden due to irreconcilable differences over contract language that I believe could potentially increase risks, both financial and logistical, to our critical project,” Paulsen wrote.

Paulsen is represented by Tim O’Keeffe, a Fargo-based attorney who has represented defunct Bismark photography business Glasser Images and The Windbreak, a Fargo bar.

Under Paulsen's leadership, the diversion project reached a "landmark" settlement agreement benefitting impacted communities, obtained "substantial" state funding and pushed forward to meet deadlines on budget, he said.

“My commitment to transparency, accountability, and ethical leadership has always been at the forefront of my professional ethos. It is essential that I remain true to these values, even when faced with challenging decisions," Paulsen wrote. "I am proud of what we have achieved together.”

Following his resignation on April 9, members of the MFDA Board of Authority met on April 11 to approve his resignation.

Members voted 11-2 to accept his resignation, with Fargo City Commissioners Piepkorn and John Strand opposed.

In her statement sent via Wieser Willson, Carlson laid out a timeline of events on April 9.

According to Carlson, Paulsen’s resignation did not happen during the Planning Committee meeting that day, but at a separate meeting with Carlson and Campbell after the Planning Committee meeting adjourned.

The minutes of the April 9 Planning Committee meeting show the committee discussed an MFDA governance policies monitoring plan and FEMA coordination.

According to the meeting minutes, Cass County Joint Water Resource District Member and Board of Authority Member Rodger Olson shared concerns regarding “issues with the gates,” during the “other business” portion of the meeting.

“He indicated that it portrays the DA (Diversion Authority) is disseminating information that is not factual and we are not doing what we said we were going to do,” the minutes said.

Olson told The Forum the minutes were inaccurate but declined to explain further.

After Olson’s comments, the committee went into executive session to discuss the potential claim regarding epoxy-coated rebar “reasonably anticipated to be presented to the Technical Dispute Resolution Board,” the minutes said.

The Technical Dispute Resolution Board is a board of independent people recruited to settle disagreements that arise during construction and the 30-year operation and maintenance period of the diversion project, Wieser Willson said. When created, diversion leaders were looking for people experienced in public-private partnerships, like the diversion project.

According to the minutes, the Planning Committee was in executive session for around an hour and a half before the meeting adjourned.

After the Planning Committee meeting adjourned, Carlson and Campbell met with Paulsen regarding "personnel matters" that were not discussed at the Planning Committee meeting, Carlson said.

“At that time, Mr. Paulsen chose to resign,” she said.

No other board members were present, Carlson said, and Paulsen did not provide a reason for resigning.

The Forum requested a video of the April 17 meeting. Wieser Willson said a video of the meeting does not exist, as it was held in the Willow Room of the Hjemkomst Center in Moorhead, which does not have the technology to record and broadcast meetings.

According to Mijia Yang, associate professor of structural engineering at North Dakota State University, epoxy-coated rebar is more resistant to corrosion than regular rebar.

Epoxy-coated rebar will corrode 8-100 times less than regular rebar, depending on the environment it is used in and the quality of the rebar, Yang said. Both kinds of rebar are used to increase the strength of concrete.

Michael Vosburg / Forum file photo

Epoxy-coated rebar is commonly used in transportation projects, like bridge decks, where concrete is exposed to brine solutions and salt to melt snow and ice, Yang said. It is also used in lift stations and wastewater treatment facilities.

“For any kind of underground structures, we recommend it,” Yang said. “But for a residential or commercial type of apartment or building, there is not a lot of interaction with saltwater or wastewater — the chemicals inside those waters that will generate a large degradation to the product."

When to use epoxy-coated rebar is not commonly debated among engineers, he said.

“The practice is actually pushing for that, the only thing about it is the cost,” Yang said.

Epoxy-coated rebar is more expensive than regular rebar.

Forum file photos show the use of both rebar and epoxy-coated rebar in the construction of diversion structures.