Williston, ND Active Issues

Tesla · Veteran Member

RE: The future of Williston....

Tesla · Veteran Member

I'm under the mindset that you should never trust a municiple water supply.

Filter everything under the tap,

first learned this in D.C.

;)

vko · Senior Member

I just don't know. But, hearing from a Watford City customer, Watford will be using Williston water. Pipeline from Williston. Thing's are moving a little fast. Watford's water is apparently not good drinking water.

carndt · Member

Unfortunately I can tell you. Starting right next to Hagan School in the Pheasant run area and going west....heading straight for where I live in the country. Moved out there to get out of town but it looks like town is now going to come to us. But I guess there's not much I can do about it and I am excited to see Williston grow as long as it is a sustainable growth. I don't want to see them build all of these houses out by me and probably annex me into the city and then 10 years from now most of them be empty because of a bust but I'm still stuck in city limits. I don't think this will happen and hoping not but hopefully they don't build to much to fast like North Dakota has done in the past.

-- Edited by carndt on Friday 4th of February 2011 12:29:04 PM

NDGirl · Veteran Member

I think the growth is good for our community. We will be able to sustain ourselves when the oil drops out. There will still be businesses here for people to work at. I think the city does need to take a step back and get a plan before putting all of these businesses in residental areas. They also need to look at putting in more housing before they build more big box stores. Does anyone know exactly where they are going out west of town? I cant think of an area that would be this large that is still empty other than out by lindsey impliment.

Sigma · Veteran Member

It is pretty exciting, really. The growth of Williston and the potential to turn into a larger town excites me. Not everyone shares that excitement, or my optimism, and that's too bad. To each their own, i suppose.

Steve Powell · Guru

Can you imagine what Williston is going to be like in the next couple of years?

Read this and you might get a better idea.

From article located here.

Granite Peak Unveils Major Residential and Commercial Developments in Williston

Williston Economic Development

By Barb Peterson

Granite Peak Development, LLC (Granite Peak) has built commercial, industrial, retail and residential developments throughout oil country in Wyoming. And now the organization is bringing its expertise to western North Dakota.

Last year, city leaders travelled to Casper, Wyoming, to view first-hand some of Granite Peak’s projects. “If they do in Williston what they did in Casper, Williston has a very bright future,” says Williston City Commissioner Tate Cymbaluk.

In August, Granite Peak broke ground on its first major development in Williston - a 40-acre subdivision in northwest Williston. It will provide housing for 250 families. The subdivision will feature 84 single-family homes, 84 twin homes and a 100+ unit apartment complex.

But that venture is just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

According to Terry Metzler, ND Operations Manager, Granite Peak is planning a 550-acre Industrial Park, a 160-acre location for Big Box and Junior Box retailers, a 280-acre area for residential and retail businesses as well as an area devoted to retail and restaurants.

Metzler says the energy companies have been the key motivation for these projects. “People would not believe how much these oil companies care about their employees,” he said. “They come to us and say we need housing, schools, restaurants and retail businesses. The people they are trying to recruit to this area already have all of those services in the city that they currently live in,” he explains. “Right now, Williston’s restaurants, schools and medical facilities are stretched.” And that doesn’t help recruitment for oil companies – or any other business for that matter.

“Williston is going to get there. We will have more restaurants, retail and big box stores,” Metzler says. But before they will come – there needs to be more rooftops. “What it comes down to is rooftops. They don’t come here because it feels good. They come here because the numbers they study show them that they will be profitable here.”

Housing projects are certainly in full swing throughout Williston. As mentioned earlier, Granite Peak broke ground on a subdivision earlier this year, but they have a much larger project in the planning stages. Harvest Hills will be a 280-acre development that will be located west of Hagan Elementary School. Metzler says it will provide housing and what he calls “neighborhood retail” – smaller restaurants, professional offices, condos, townhomes and possibly a school. Granite Peak’s website says some of these buildings will be available in early summer 2011.

Meanwhile, Metzler says an effort to attract Big and Junior Box stores to Williston is moving ahead. The 160-acre Town Center will be located west of Williston. “That is getting closer and closer to reality and we are hoping to break ground on that this summer,” he says.

Granite Peak is also gearing up for an Industrial Park that will be located three miles north of Williston (between the two mancamps located on 56^th and 57^th Streets.) The 550-acre property will house energy service companies and a variety of other businesses yet to be disclosed.

Finally, Metzler says the potential Dakota Crossings retail park is still in the planning stages. The property would accommodate restaurants, boutiques, a bank, general office space and more.

Obviously, the Casper, Wyoming business is committed to helping Williston grow. “We love this community. It feels like our own backyard. We are from oil country and we’ve grown (Casper currently has a population of 70,000) and we feel like Williston can grow too,” Metzler says.

Metzler adds that a big motivation for Granite Peak has been the people that they have worked with in Williston. “We love the people up here. What gives us our drive is when we can see the drive of everyone around here. We get caught up in it.”

Cymbaluk says Granite Peak is a tremendous asset to the community. “They are good people. They shed light on so many positive avenues. If we do things right and work together as a team there will be a lot of good things that will happen here.”

While the planning for most of these projects is over – there is still one hurdle that stands in the way. Many of the city’s new ventures lie outside of the city’s original infrastructure. Granite Peak and others are waiting to see if the North Dakota Legislature will help fund water and sewer lines to potential new developments. The funding has been requested to help support the needs of the growing energy industry. “We can take care of our infrastructure within our subdivision,” says Metzler. Getting it there is another issue that is still in the works. “They have been very willing to work through some of the frustrations of infrastructure,” says Cymbaluk.

When it’s all said and done, Granite Peak hopes that it can help make a stronger and healthier community for the men and women in the energy industry and every other business in Williston. “The oil companies want to see the familes come along because that makes for happier employees.” Indeed.