Agenda - Council - 06/27/1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

CASE # APPROVAL OF JOINT POWERS AGREEMENT TO ' THE LOWER RUM RIVER WATER SHED MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION By: Steven Jankowski, City Engineer Background: In 1982, the State mandated that all watersheds within the Seven County Metropolitan Area must be governed by a watershed management organization. Requirements of this law have been codified into sections 103b.201 through 103b.251 of the Minnesota State Statutes. In 1985, the Cities of Andover, �noka, Coon Rapids and Ramsey entered into a joint powers agreement creating the Lower Rum River Watershed Management Organization ( LRRWMO) in response to this mandate. At the 1 1 . me, all four cities expressed a desire to enter into a joint powers agreement to establish a water Management organization (WMO). The alternative would require Anoka County to petition fo the estab 's nt of a watershed district. It was the belief of these four cities that a joint powers agreement v m i MAre efficient planning and an opportunity for more local control than would i water ed district which would be created by the County and operated through special distri4t levy. The four cities have worked cooperatively since that time to prepare a plan and manage surfhce and groundwater concerns within the watershed. Over the years the Minnesota Legislature has adopted many new laws mandating the organization to perform additional duties. In 1990, it adopted a major change in legislation known as the Metropolitan Surface [Water Management Act. The new state rules which became effective August 1, 1992, direct that all joint powers water management organizations amend their joint powers agreement (JPA) to Pe consistent with the new state laws and the Board of Water and Soil Resources rules. Simce the summer of 1993, the WMO has worked toward an agreement acceptable to all foulf, member cities and in compliance with the mandated requirements of the agreement. In May 1994, a draft c f an updated JPA was brought before the City Council for consideration for adoption. One of the ost significant changes from the existing JPA to the proposed is the manner in which capital imp vement projects are to be implemented and financed. Under the existing JPA, each member ci may decide at its sole discretion as to whether they wish to participate in a capital improvement roject. The new legislation requires these discretionary options be replaced with mandatory parti pation if the improvement project is determined to be necessary to implement the goals of the watershed plan. At the May 10, 1994 meeting, the Council expressed concerns over the fairness of these mandatory requirements in view, of the fact that Ramsey contributes 42% of the organization's operating budget. Mayor Hardie, Attorney Goodrich, and I have met on several occasions to review the JPA and prepared suggestled wording changes to safeguard the City of Ramsey's interests. I have discussed these chan es with representatives of other member cities, as well as the LRRWMO attorney who drafted ie original and proposed updated agreement. At this point, I believ ' that the draft has been revised to the satisfaction of both the WMO attorney and our own City Att ey. The main point of contention centers around the method which would be used to finance a apital improvement project which may be found to be necessary by the WMO. The attached draft illustrates the proposed final wording relative to the latest draft approved by the three other WMO members. The proposed Iangualge modification changes the manner in which project costs would be distributed among they project beneficiaries if the members could not agree to the distribution through negotiation. I# this event, the parties would agree to submit the matter to arbitration.