Dickinson't Press Has A Great Editorial Regarding Recent Man-Camp Debacle -- Bakken, North Dakota, USA

A big "thank you" to CRC for alerting me to this story. I would have missed it.

Link here.

The loss of a 600-person man camp is millions of dollars in the past for the Dickinson area. This includes hundreds of dollars daily from nearly 600 men who would make many purchases of food, gas and any other personal needs, locally. The city also takes a hit on taxes.

Dickinson Planning and Zoning Commission members deserve credit for listening to those who came to a public hearing and voiced their dissatisfaction in the original plan for a location. However, residents need to keep in mind that many people contributing heavily to the number one economy in the nation (North Dakota) need somewhere to go after working long shifts on rigs and doing all that’s necessary to keep the oil flowing.

One commission member was right on when he said, no matter where a man camp is proposed, someone is going to be unhappy.

Dickinson has also turned away people that could become friends and neighbors and take part in this community.

Some of those friends and neighbors would have been the managers of the man-camp. A city does well to create a good feeling between the city residents and the managers of the city. Again, it's easier to police a man-camp inside one's jurisdiction than outside it.

The Dickinson't Press hit every high point; I'm impressed. I especially like the one about increased traffic on the road. All those folks in the Dunn man-camp are going to be driving eight miles down to Dickinson anyway.

I remember a couple of years ago Williston bent over backwards to help out all the workers coming to Williston, including letting them camp out in small one-man tents in local parks. The park board was very forgiving, and looked the other way. Local residents even brougth them homemade dinners.

Now, a completely different story.

Tonight I drove past a number of semis parked side-by-side just a few feet from a local restaurant. It appeared that the men were living in their trucks. Pretty sad. When you see a Weber grill behind a semi, it gives a whole new meaning to tailgate parties.