McKenzie County Farmer - Latest News

M.K. French
Farmer Staff Writer

A recent McKenzie County Board of County Commissions meeting saw citizen Jacob Grieger raise a series of pointed questions about county road maintenance, historical agreements, and transparency, leading to a lively discussion with commissioners. Grieger, who has also taken to social media to voice his concerns, presented evidence from his own research into county records, highlighting discrepancies and demanding clearer procedures.

Grieger began by addressing the maintenance of 18th Street, stating, “I spent yesterday digging through… helping the recorder dig through the documents for 18th Street.” He reported finding agreements but noted, “The agreements mentioned in the minutes that have been attempted to be found before, we did not find [them]. We don’t know what they were for either.” Specifically, Grieger questioned the county’s stance on maintaining the road, pointing out, “There’s nothing in the agreement that states Whiting is to maintain the road. It says they have the right to maintain the road, but it’s nothing that says if the road gets bad, call Whiting.”

Commissioners responded by clarifying the county’s road maintenance policies, with one stating, “Even though it’s on a section line and all section lines are public roads, but it doesn’t mean that the county has to maintain such.” They explained that road maintenance agreements with oil companies often don’t specify who is responsible for upkeep due to shared usage.
Grieger also raised concerns about the closure of section lines, asking, “What is McKenzie County’s actual requirements for closing section lines?” He expressed frustration with the lack of clear, publicly available information, stating, “When I do research, this seems like every county has slightly different processes, procedures, and requirements.”

The discussion extended to the now defunct Atmospheric Resource Board, with Grieger questioning its continued listing on the county website. Commissioners clarified that the board’s terms had expired with the recent vote to end the weather modification contract, effectively dissolving it. “Their terms of office would have expired in March… that board essentially doesn’t exist because there’s no current members on that board,” Chairman Howdy Lawlar explained.

Further inquiries focused on wetland mitigation projects and the development of the Amahami Trail. Grieger sought transparency regarding agreements and plans, asking, “Is it possible to actually get more transparency on things like that…perhaps publishing some of these agreements on the county website?”

Commissioners acknowledged the importance of transparency, stating, “We are working on updating that list [of county boards] and we do update that list all the time… as we work through our CIP, we are looking at trails. And we’ll be working through that at different public meetings, different outlets. So you’ll see that. We’ll be able to find more information as time goes on.” However, they also noted that not all agreements are publicly posted, citing the availability of information through meeting packets and requests.

The issue of an alleged agreement with Whiting Petroleum for 18th Street was also hotly contested. Grieger presented the minutes from past meetings that discussed an agreement to be prepared, but that was never fully executed. “The minutes basically state that an agreement was brought to the board for approval and then the board approved it… and that’s the last [action].” Grieger said. Commissioners countered that without a signed agreement, there was no legal obligation, and that no signed agreement existed.

Grieger’s concerns extended beyond the commission meeting, as evidenced by his Facebook post on the McKenzie County “Be in the Know” community page. In it, he alleged retaliation from the county following his inquiries, stating, “My attendance to that meeting has caused retaliation directly to the letter of the small parts of this supposed non-existent ordinance I have found, so apparently it still exists.” He also emphasized the public’s right to information, stating, “My opinion is the county is a legally mandated monopoly and we the people have a right to see exactly what it is mandated to do, in writing, and should not have to call or go to a commission meeting to make the county do its legally mandated job.”
As it occurred over the weekend, the commissioners have not had the opportunity to publicly respond to the allegations made in Grieger’s Facebook post. McKenzie County Commission meetings minutes and records continue to be available to the public.

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