Agenda - Council - 07/27/1999 - Laserfiche WebLink

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CHARTerED 470 Pillsbury Center 200 South Sixth Street Minneapolis MN 55402 (612) 337-9300 telephone (612) 337-9310 fax http://,a~,w, kennedy-graven.co m -, i TO: FROM: DATE: RE: CHARLES L. LEFEVERE Attorney at Law Direct Dial (612) 337-9215 emaih cie fevere~kennedy-graven.com MEMORANDUM All .~-- - _'. _ '~,_--~ i · Commissioners and City Managers Administrators of Member Cities ' July 6, 1999 On June 17, 1999 I attended a meeting of metropolitan area watershed management organizations, watershed districts, and several state agencies, including BWSR. One of the topics of that meeting was the new law which prohibits the appointment of city staff members to serve as commissioners on watershed management organizations after December 31, 1999. A copy of that law is attached. Mr. Ron Harnack, the Executive Director of BWSR, handed out a letter relating to that law in which he gives the interpretation that all city staff commissioners must be replaced by the beginning of the year 2000. A copy of that letter is also attached. During his presentation to the meeting, Mr. Harnack also made it quite clear that it was his position that the Iimitation on appointments was a good idea for watershed management. Needless to say, this sparked a fair amount of controversy. I do not know whether Mr. Hamack's position is shared by other staff members or the extent to which it is shared by members of the BWSR board. In any case, we are left with only a few months in which to respond to and prepare for the effective date of the new law. You may wish to discuss the issues relating to this new law at your city; among the issues which I believe the cities should address are the following: Initial Step: Interpretation of New Law. As noted above, BWSR has taken the position that the law requires replacement of all city staff members by January 1, 2000 and not simply commissioners whose appointments occur after that date. I do not interpret the law to mean that commissioners whose terms have not expired must be prematurely replaced. My opinion is shared by Mr. Roger Knutson of the firm of Campbell Knutson which represents a number of CLL-165416 . SI4_220.1 I ! I I I I I I I