Ada

Ada, Minnesota, was among the first communities to feel the flood's horrors. Ada's homes, businesses, and public buildings were all damaged, and most of the town's residents were evacuated in the first flooding in early April. Seven months after the flood, Ada's recovery was proceeding. But its residents' efforts to resume normal lives had been hampered by a wet summer. And, like most everyone else in the Valley, they worried about what the next winter would bring.

The Ada Public Library lost its entire collection to the flood.
Above photo courtesy of Norman County Index.

Lake Agassiz Regional Library
118 South 5th Street
Moorhead, MN 56560
218-233-3757

TO: Ray Klein, FEMA representative
FROM: Deborah Janzen, Head of Technical Services
DATE: 1 July 1997
RE: Replacement costs for Ada Library materials

The information you request is below. I have attached a copy of the form used for replacing lost or damaged materials from Lake Agassiz Regional Library.

Type of Material Number of Copies Cost Total

Adult hardcover books                     5,863                                    $24.00                  $ 140,712
Adult paperback books                     2,253                                       8.00                      18,024
Children's hardcover books            5,101                                     16.00                     81,616
Children's paperback books             1,072                                        8.00                         8,576
Audiocassettes                                    481                                     10.00                        4,810
Videocassettes                                     29                                      24.00                          696
Reference                                          436                                                                     10,260

TOTAL $ 264,694

The prices for the reference materials were verified in Books in Print.

The variance in the initial replacement costs and the listed here is using specific costs for reference materials, not a standardized cost.

If you have any questions on this information, please call me.

Eventually, the library collection was replaced through Federal grants and hundreds of contributions from around the nation. Above letter courtesy of Lake Agassiz Regional Library.

The Ada High School was too damaged by the flood to be restored. It was torn down during the winter of 1997-98, and a new high school was built on the west side of town. Above photo of high school demolition courtesy of Darel Paulson, Moorhead State University.

State of Minnesota
Department of Corrections
State ICWC Program
Income Contract

This contract is between the Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, Inc., address P.O. Box 607, 102 North Broadway, Crookston, Minnesota 56716, (hereafter "TVOCI") and the STATE OF MINNESOTA, acting through its DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS (hereafter "STATE").

WHEREAS, the TVOCI has determined that it ha a need for an Inmate Community Work Crew (ICWC); and WHEREAS, the STATE operates a ICWC program:

NOW, THEREFORE, it is agreed:

I. DUTIES OF STATE The STATE shall:

       A. Provide crewleader(s) who will supervise up to 10 offender crew members each approximately 40 hours per week.
       B. In coordination with TVOCI representative, train each work crew in safety principles and techniques set forth by the TVOCI representative and applicable federal, state, and local agency requirements. TVOCI agrees that the STATE has the responsibility and authority to refuse selected projects if it considers the projects beyond the skill level of the crew members and/or unsafe to perform.
       C. Provide required personal safety equipment and clothing needed for specific work.
       D. Screen projects to ensure that they meet ICWC guidelines.

II. DUTIES OF TVOCI The TVOCI shall:

       A. TVOCI shall obtain the proper permits, licenses or special authority for TVOCI work projects.
       B. TVOCI Housing Development Specialist, Brian Halos, or another person named by the agency shall assign all work and coordinate materials and projects that must be performed by the STATE.
       C. TVOCI Housing Development Specialist, Brian Halos, or another representative named by the agency shall meet with the STATE as necessary to coordinated training and provide project information needed by the STATE in the performance of their duties.

III. CONSIDERATION AND TERMS OF PAYMENT

     A. Consideration for all services performed and goods or materials supplied by the STATE pursuant to this contract shall be paid by TVOCI as follows:
          1. Pay the STATE an amount not to exceed $60,667.00 during the term of this agreement. Pursuant to this agreement and before any work is done, TVOCI shall pay to the STATE $4,333.33 and pay $4,333.33 on a monthly basis commencing June 1, 1998 through June 1, 1999; and in addition,
          2. Pay the state for actual cost of inmate labor in a manner consistent with the pay plan for this program (Attachment A) which shall not exceed $1.60 per hour per inmate.
      B. Terms of Payment. Payment shall be made by the TVOCI within 30 days of receipt of invoice.

IV. TERM OF CONTRACT. This contract shall be effective on May 1, 1998, or upon the date that the final required signature is obtained by the STATE, pursuant to MN Stat. 16B.06, subd. 2, whichever occurs later, and shall remain in effect until June 30, 1999, or until all obligations set forth in this contract have been satisfactory fulfilled, whichever occurs first.

The Tri-Valley Opportunity Council (TVOCI) negotiated a contract with the Minnesota Department of Corrections to use prisoner labor to rebuild damaged homes in Ada.
Contract courtesy of Tri-Valley Opportunity Council.

Evacuated to other nursing homes during the flood, the residents of the John Wimmer Nursing Home in Ada still wait for the day the Wimmer Home is fully rebuilt.
As of April, 1998, 24 of the 47 residents had passed away.
Photo courtesy of Brenda Wagner and John Wimmer Nursing Home.

EBB TIDE: Recovery From the 1997 Flood

Ada's Ordeal