Mandan City Administrator Jim Neubauer says a number of challenges will face the community in 2005 as it continues to deal with residential growth.

Perhaps the most significant development will be the clean up of fuel contamination in the soil of the northern downtown plume. Last year's settlement with Burlington Northern Sante Fe Railroad provides Mandan with $24 million for the clean-up, which begins in earnest this spring. The total settlement was $30.25 million - $29 million in cash and $1.25 million in property transferred to the city, including property south of Main Street from First Street N.E. through Sixth Avenue N.W. That land includes the Mandan Public Library, Burlington Northern Park, Mandan Depot and Beanery Depot.

Leggett, Brashearst, Graham Inc. was selected to handle the clean up project and has been collecting data.

"They've been on the job a month now," Neubauer said. "Surveys have been sent out to those property owners in the contaminated area. We don't want to be popping holes in the ground without some information to work with."

Plans are to remove the product from the soil in the next three years and complete soil remediation in seven years. According to Neubauer, LBG will sink wells into the ground, consisting of pipe 6 inches in width, anywhere from 16 to 25 feet in the ground to pump out pockets of the free product. There also will be some horizontal drilling in an attempt to pool some of the pockets of free product for removal.

Actually, the dry cycle the area has been experiencing likely will aid removal operations as it keeps the ground water low. One of the biggest concerns, Neubauer said, is for wet conditions to return, which could raise the water table and begin mixing with the free product, making it more difficult to remove.

Hand-in-hand with the remediation goes redevelopment. According to Neubauer, a survey was sent out in an effort to see what interest there is in projects, such as restoration or putting up new buildings in the proposed Mandan renaissance zone. Applicants will be provided incentives, such as tax breaks on accepted projects.

A public meeting at City Hall at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday is planned to bring the public up to date on what's happening with the project.

The city is still working to bring a new company into the community that promises 150 jobs, with the possibility of expanding that to 250 jobs. Verifications Inc., a background-check company, is interested in opening an operation in Mandan, Neubauer said. The company does background checks on top Fortune 500 companies.

"Verifications Inc. is rated one of the top three companies in the United States doing background checks," Neubauer said. "They saw a 54 percent increase in business in 2004."

Current plans are to build a 20,000-square-foot structure, expandable to 30,000 square feet on 10 acres located on the corner of 19th Street and Highway 1806. The property was purchased by the city, which will in turn sell it to Bismarck Industries, which will lease it to Verifications Inc.

"Right now we're dealing with archaeological issues," Neubauer said. "We expect to see them here in the third or fourth quarter of 2005. They are committed to this site."

Mandan is in the early process of building a new combination fire-state public works facility just off Memorial Highway near Centennial Park. Currently there is just a concept of building the facility on six-plus acres owned by the city.

Verifications is headquartered in Minneapolis, but also owns Bismarck's Live Response substance-abuse testing firm and has locations in South Dakota at Aberdeen and Watertown.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@bismarcktribune.com.)