Lawmakers Take Oil Tour - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Oil related issues, whether they're dealing with the benefits of oil production or the impacts, will dominate the next legislative session.

That's why a group of North Dakota House leaders are doing their homework.

That means heading to oil country.

Donnell Preskey followed them on their 650 mile trip through the oil patch.

Tonight we begin with what locals are telling lawmakers.

Stanley Supt. Kent Hjelmstad says, "Welcome to the land of the golden goose."

Hjelmstad is talking about Stanley, North Dakota... The home of the Bluejays -- is also the home to many others these days.

Hjelmstad says, "Oil patch schools are in a state of emergency"

Hjelmstad says 3,000 kids are expected to move into oil country next year.

Schools are frantically trying to figure out where to put students and how to hire more teachers when housing is expensive and tight.

"You can read about it, you can hear about it, but you can't really understand it until you are really immersed," says Hjelmstad.

That's the point of this trip. North Dakota lawmakers on their own dime and time want to see and hear what's really going on in western North Dakota.

What they hear are pleas for help from every effected city..

Williston Mayor Ward Koeser says, "Willing to bear the blunt of this, but we need help".

In 2007 -- 12,500 people lived in Williston. Then they hit oil. Mayor Ward Koeser says there are 20,000 people living here now. In three years he's expecting another 10,000.

Koeser says, "Want to make sure keep this town something to be proud of."

Mercy Hospital is one of the fastest growing in the nation.

By next year the ER will triple in size, Surgery and OB will double in capacity and they are building a cancer center.

Mercy Hospital Administrator Matt Grimshaw adds, "Expecting population in region of 100,000 in three years."

Small town hospitals are also seeing spikes they weren't expecting.

The Tioga medical center saw 600 ER visits a year pre-oil -- now it's over 2,000.

The trend crosses over to ambulance and fire calls as well.

Tioga Medical Center Administrator Randy Peterson says, "In 2011, 280 patient contacts, over 300 first 5 months - of those runs 70-75% are transfers to higher care."

Peterson says it's getting more difficult to recruit volunteers because the calls that are becoming constant.

Oil impact grants have helped schools and fire and ambulance services in western North Dakota expand, buy equipment and even fund positions.

However adding staff to meet the demands is not an easy answer.

Few employees can afford the homes that are available.

Watford City Mayor Brent Sanford says, "No matter what you think of oil impact, it's good. A town like this would've had a hard time surviving with five kids in a class."

Watford City mayor Brent Sanford says "before oil" western North Dakota towns were dealing with out migration

Sandford says he'll take this challenge.

"How do you grow a town five times? Daunting task. This map colored by growth potential for city. While part is where we are, existing city limits."

Whether it's dealing with today's demands or planning for the future, city leaders say a larger chunk of oil revenues need to return to oil country.

Tomorrow, hear from lawmakers take on what they saw and heard during the oil patch tour.