Explosive Growth in Williston Continues

Williston just won’t stop growing!

In mid-February, we mentioned on the Summit Energy Services blog that Forbes had recognized the North Dakota town as the “6th Fastest Growing Small Town.”

We are happy to share with our readers that the impressive growth trend continues with a ton of exciting projects on the books moving forward, including a new retail center, restaurant, dollar store and recreation center.

Below are a few additional details on each of the aforementioned new additions to the Williston community, as well as links to find out more information on each of them. If you know of anything else exciting coming to Williston, please leave the details in the comment section.

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Details Finally Out on Sand Creek Towne Center

The first phase of the development is set to break ground in April and will be fully operational by Fall 2012. At this point the only confirmed businesses are Menards and a movie theater – Sand Creek Cinema 14. A press release from the commercial real estate company handling the sales and leasing for the retail space said additional phases will be completed in 2013.

For more information, visit HERE.

Elks Lodge to be Renovated, Become “The Williston”

The Elks Lodge is heading for a renovation that will turn the Elks Lodge into a boutique hotel, restaurant and bar by June 2012. The restaurant will be an upscale location that features steak and seafood.

According to the Williston Herald, owner Joel Lundeen said the hotel rooms will be 900 square feet each with full kitchens. They will offer a luxury-living that is not currently offered in Williston.

There will also be additional office space for lease in the building.

For more information, visit HERE.

Basin Dollar and More now Open

On February 15, Carol Finkbeiner held a grand opening for her new store – Basin Dollar and More. The store is and independent retail location with items priced from $1 – $3. The store currently features ballons, party supplies, kitchen and bathroom items, tools and cards. Within the next few months the store will carry food items.

For more information, visit HERE.

New Rec Center Approved

Recently the Williston Park Board approved plans for a new 205,491 square foot building that will be more than two times the size of the West River Community Center in Dickinson. The building will cost almost $67 million and will feature a 25,000 square foot waterpark, a 53-meter lap pool, a fitness center, gym space, indoor track and much more.

For more information, visit HERE.

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Welcome to Williston, Welcome to Prosperity

Perhaps only The New York Times could reduce the energy/economic miracle of North Dakota’s oil and natural gas bonanza to something akin to a toothache. Columnist Gail Collins ventures forth from the concrete canyons of Manhattan to discover the hubbub on the high plains and doesn’t avoid raising a skeptical eyebrow.

To her credit, Collins was able to confirm what lots of people already know: Oil and natural gas extracted from the Bakken Shale formation through hydraulic fracturing is practically evaporating unemployment in North Dakota , which has a jobless rate considerably lower than New York:

Collins writes:

"If you did come, however, you would feel really, really wanted. Radio ads urged me to embark on a new career as a bank teller, laborer, railroad conductor or cake decorator. The local Walmart has a big sign up, begging passers-by to consider starting their lives anew in retail sales. The Bakken Region Recruiter lists openings in truck driving, winch operating and canal maintenance work, along with ads for a floral designer, bartender, public defender, loan officer, addiction counselor and sports reporter. All in an area where the big city has a population of around 16,000."

In other words, if you want to work it’s almost guaranteed you can land a job. But there’s a “but.” Collins describes the Bakken boom as filled with traffic, dust, man camps, bursting schools, long lines (as though waiting 30 minutes for a Big Mac is too much to pay for May’s 2.7 percent state unemployment rate) – while suggesting the most ambitious eatery in town probably wouldn’t impress many folks on the Upper West Side.

It’s true that strong economic growth creates many demands, and, as North Dakotan Rob Port regularly notes on his Say Anything Blog, state and local officials and support businesses need to do a better job seizing the opportunities. But Collins loses us – and perhaps credibility – describing the fracking used to extract oil and natural gas as “environmentally suspect.”

Suspect? Not to EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, talking April 27 to Fox News:

“In no case have we made a definitive determination that the fracking process has caused chemical contamination of groundwater.”

…basically repeating what she told Congress in May 2011:

“I’m not aware of any proven case where the fracking process itself has affected water.”

Collins may have turned in her piece before this came in, but on Wednesday the EPA removed suspicions surrounding hydraulic fracturing and well water in Dimock, Pa. – ground zero for those who claim fracking fouls drinking water. Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin:

“The sampling and an evaluation of the particular circumstances at each home did not indicate levels of contaminants that would give EPA reason to take further action. Throughout EPA's work in Dimock, the Agency has used the best available scientific data to provide clarity to Dimock residents and address their concerns about the safety of their drinking water.”

(Also see Kenneth P. Green’s blog post on the Dimock announcement over at AEI, here.)

Earthquakes and fracking? David J. Hayes, Interior Department deputy secretary, in April:

“We also find that there is no evidence to suggest that hydraulic fracturing itself is the cause of the increased rate of earthquakes.”

Bottom line: Collins may have environmental suspicions about shale energy and fracking, but a number of people paid to pay attention to such things don’t share them.

View the original article here