Laserfiche WebLink
Councilmember Haas Steffen stated that no one at the legislature wants to change old <br />ditch law. It does work in the agricultural area. It may help to get enough people to <br />petition for a ditch cleaning but not enough people are even aware of the ditches. We <br />become the ones to do the dirty work - but we need the jurisdiction to do so. <br /> <br />Mr. Norman stated that in the 1980's, districts were formed, however, now they are <br />worthless. Mr. LeFevere recommended we establish storm water utilities. <br /> <br />Mr. Jankowski stated there's a charge for water and sewer and street lights. <br /> <br />Councilmember Haas Steffen suggested it be City-wide as opposed to districts. To <br />establish storm water utilities, the City Council has to go through a process. Then a lot of <br />things can be charged to that - leaf collection, street sweeping, etc. She stated that the <br />County ditches become your storm sewer. <br /> <br />Mr. Norman suggested rather then having to build a storm sewer with big pipes, <br />jurisdiction to use it is there. We make that a part of our storm sewer system. <br /> <br />Councilmember Haas Steffen objected to putting cleaning, etc. for County ditches in the <br />CIP without making sure everything we're doing is legal. <br /> <br />Discussion ensued relating to where to charge this to. Director of Public Works Kapler <br />stated that one of the revenues discussed was new subdivisions - charging a one-time <br />connection fee. <br /> <br />Mr. Jankowski stated that we have that in place fight now but we call it something a little <br />different. He added that Mr. LeFevere will be contacting Jon Olson of the Anoka County <br />Highway Department and the attorney for the City of Coon Rapids to find out their <br />position of working together with regard to ditch jurisdiction Staff will reschedule <br />discussion of this following more information received from Mr. LeFevere. <br /> <br />Councilmember Haas Steffen stated that the storm water management plan was adopted <br />by a previous Council. She suggested we ought to review it and have a presentation. We <br />should talk about phasing and ideas for funding. She did not want to see any guesses - if <br />the plan has to be updated - get it updated. Review it to see if it should cover more of the <br />City. The early plan was done in the 1980's - the 1990's plan looked at the southeast area <br />of the City. We need to think about what we need as a whole before we start putting any <br />money down. <br /> <br />Mr. Jankowski thought we should take that next piece between Ramsey Boulevard and <br />Armstrong Boulevard. <br /> <br />Councilmember Haas Steffen expressed agreement with that. She stated she did not like <br />depending on Anoka's drainage system and added that we may be in competition for the <br />same business and we would be better off to become independent of anyone else. <br /> <br /> Road and Bridge Committee/July 21, 1998 <br /> Page 6 of 8 <br /> <br /> <br />