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Minnesota Limited sets up operation in Kenmare

Following a special meeting held by the Kenmare City Council March 13th, Minnesota Limited, LLC, officially established their presence in town.

3/20/13 (Wed)

Full yard and offices . . . Minnesota Limited has filled the yard
and the offices at the former site of Gooseneck Implement.  The
pipeline construction company expects to be in Kenmare until
August 1st, or longer, working on the Alliance Pipeline project.

 

By Caroline Downs

Following a special meeting held by the Kenmare City Council March 13th, Minnesota Limited, LLC, officially established their presence in town.

The council approved a special use permit for the pipeline construction and maintenance company, currently contracted under Alliance Pipeline to work on the Tioga Lateral Project.

The permit allows two temporary offices to operate on the former Gooseneck Implement property along U.S. Highway 52 on the north side of Kenmare, now owned by Bob Mau.

Seven 28-foot enclosed trailers are also parked at the site, connected to each other and used as warehouse space for the company.

Kenmare city inspector Don Siebert explained no city water or sewer connections were necessary for the temporary buildings. Chad Wagner, a purchasing agent for Minnesota Limited, also noted the trailers are connected to a separate generator for electricity.

Wagner expected Minnesota Limited to have a presence on the site through at least August 1st. “It depends on Alliance,” he said. “If they stay longer, we’ll stay longer.”

Minnesota Limited crews are handling the pipe installation for the Tioga Lateral Project, a 79.3 mile pipeline that will transport natural gas from a gathering facility near Tioga to the existing Alliance mainline near Sherwood.

“We’re putting pipe in the ground now, and still welding some pipe up,” Wagner said. “We started in Tioga, but as the pipeline moves we move with it. We’re like the circus.”

Approximately 200 crew members are working on the pipeline, with several living in the renovated school building at Carpio and 35 more driving from a motel in Minot. “The rest of us stay in our fifth-wheel campers,” Wagner said. “We’re looking forward to the campground opening here so we can move over.”

Alliance Pipeline first used the yard for storing pipe segments needed for the project. The Minnesota Limited structures parked there now provide storage and serve as the crews’ meeting place each morning, according to Wagner.

Council members had some questions about Minnesota Limited’s request, including about the company’s move into town prior to obtaining the required permit.

“This is the first time we’ve heard about [the permit],” Wagner said. “As soon as it was brought to our attention, we jumped on it.”

He assured the council that appropriate measures would be taken to maintain access for emergency response vehicles on the site, and he agreed to the 25-cent-per-square-foot fee charged by the city.

The fee will amount to $1032 per month in proceeds for the city.

City auditor Barb Wiedmer reported the city’s Planning & Zoning Commission recommended for the council to approve the request. The one-year special use permit was granted on a unanimous roll call vote of council members present.

Minnesota Limited also has an agreement with Mau to use some of the office space in the former implement dealership on a temporary basis.

“For us to have our offices in a normal building for once, it’s nice,” Wagner said. “All the guys seem to like it up here in Kenmare.”