Stark County considering camp for oil workers

DICKINSON, N.D. (AP) — Stark County officials on Monday will discuss whether to approve a 100- to 400-unit man camp to help house an influx of oil workers to the region.

Stark County tax director Diane Brines said Shannon Weflen is requesting a conditional use permit for the proposed project, which would be on his land about 7 miles southwest of Dickinson.

"A conditional use permit would allow them to do that and then . . . we could monitor it more if they're not following the conditions that we thought they should be," Brines told the Dickinson Press. "The county zoning board can pull that permit at any time."

There are no man camps in Stark County, but oil activity in the area has caused a housing crunch and campgrounds hold high concentrations of workers from the oil industry.

Dan Caylor, a rig welder working in the Mandaree area, said area residents are talking about the need for more housing.

"The trouble is they don't know how long the boom's going to last," he said. "I've heard other people talking and they're afraid to invest in something really big because then who knows — the next day the boom might end and then they're stuck with that investment."

Caylor said he has worked with a person who commuted from Dickinson and another who lived in a Killdeer motel.

"He got laid off about a month ago," Caylor said of the man who lived in a motel. "He's been paying for his room the whole time so he can keep it when he comes back. That's how bad it is. It's expensive, too."

The proposed project would have a central area for recreation and eating and the units would be fenced.

Zoning Board and County Commission member Russ Hoff says he'll keep an open mind when listening to the proposal at a meeting Monday afternoon.

"I'm open to their ideas because there is definitely a situation out there where there's nowhere for anybody to live," Hoff said. "We're going to have to try figuring something out. I guess it depends on what they have to say."

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