Cass County Commission approves road expansion for Applied Digital, new finance director

FARGO — A spokesperson for Applied Digital spoke at a special Cass County Commission meeting to get approval for proposed changes to expand some county roads near the site for the proposed datacenter.

With the approved expansion, there will be the addition of bypass, right turn lanes, and two access
approaches on Cass Highway 22 at the intersection of 45th St N, and on Cass County Highway 81 approximately 2,100 feet north of 64th Ave N.

Applied Digital is set to cover all design, construction, and inspection costs of the proposed initial improvements, and the county would have to pay for maintenance and upkeep.

The Cass County Highway department worked with Applied Digital in making the proposal.

One caveat the commission required before voting to approve the project was to ask Cass County Sheriff’s Office to do a safety study on the impact increased traffic will have on safety in the area.

The county says they did not conduct a traffic study on the area, citing a need to work fast to complete the data center.

“They want to start construction now, basically, so we want to make sure that that improvement is in before the end of the year, so we didn’t have time to do our normal traffic study. We had to just either go with it or don’t and we decided to go with it,” said Cass County Engineer Kyle Litchy.

Harwood Mayor Blake Hankey testified at the meeting, voicing his approval for the project.

Along with approving the road expansion, the commission also voted to name Sarah Heinle as finance director for Cass County. She previously worked in the county finance department as the accounting manager.