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Home My WebLink About20090316 - VI-12 MEMO To:Honorable Mayor and City Council From:Tom Montgomery Date:March 10, 2009 Re:Adopt Resolutions to Dissolve Lower St. Croix Watershed Management Organization and to Petition from Washington County to Expand the South Washington Watershed District to include the former LSCWMO The Lower St. Croix Watershed Management Organization (LSCWMO) has voted to disband and become incorporated into the South Washington Watershed District. Hastings is tangentially involved as the City agreed to join the LSCWMO and allow the small portion of the City that is north of the Mississippi River to be governed by the LSCWMO. The LSCWMO member communities has requested the Hastings City Council to adopt two resolutions; a resolution of member communities to dissolve the LSCWMO, and a resolution supporting the petition from Washington County to the Board of Soil and Water Resources to incorporate the LSCWMO into the South Washington Watershed District. CAR OUNCIL CTIONEQUESTED Council is request to adopt the enclosed two resolutions support the dissolution of the LSCWMO and incorporation into the South Washington Watershed District. CITY OF HASTINGS WASHINGTON COUNTY, MINNESOTA RESOLUTION NO. 2009 - ____ A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF HASTINGS CONCERNING THE DISSOLUTION OF THE LOWER ST. CROIX WATERSHED MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION. WHEREAS, the City of Afton, the City of Cottage Grove, the Town of Denmark, and the City of Hastings (the “Parties”) jointly exercise common authority through a Joint Powers Agreement pursuant to Minn. Stat. 471.59 establishing the Lower St. Croix Watershed Management Organization (the “Lower St. Croix WMO”); and WHEREAS, all or part of each party’s municipal boundaries lies within the geographical area referenced to as the Lower St. Croix WMO; and WHEREAS, each party is desirous of expressing its approval as to the dissolution of the Lower St. Croix WMO in favor of having its rights, responsibilities, and undertakings assumed by an organization resulting from the merger of the Lower St. Croix WMO and South Washington Watershed District and Valley Branch Watershed District in accordance with the Enlargement Order of the South Washington Watershed District and Valley Branch Watershed District as filed by the Minnesota Board of Water & Soil Resources. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council does ratify the recommendation from the Lower St. Croix board of managers to dissolve the Lower St. Croix WMO. TH ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF HASTINGS, MINNESOTA, THIS 16 DAY OF MARCH, 2009. Ayes: Nays: Paul J. Hicks, Mayor ATTEST: Melanie Mesko Lee, City Clerk (Seal) CITY OF HASTINGS WASHINGTON COUNTY, MINNESOTA RESOLUTION NO. 2009 - ____ A RESOLUTION SUPPORTING THE PETITION FROM WASHINGTON COUNTY TO THE BOARD OF WATER AND SOIL RESOURCES, REQUESTING APPROVAL OF THE EXPANSION OF THE SOUTH WASHINGTON WATERSHED DISTRICT AND VALLEY BRANCH WATERSHED DISTRICT BY THE ADDITION OF LANDS CURRENTLY COVERED BY THE LOWER ST. CROIX WATER MANAGEMENT ORGANIZATION (LOWER ST. CROIX WMO). _____________________________________________________ WHEREAS, the managers of the South Washington Watershed District, Valley Branch Watershed District, and the Lower St. Croix WMO, along with representatives from their associated cities and townships, and staff at Washington County, have created a plan to combine the geographic areas of each organization into expanded watershed districts; and WHEREAS, the four communities that are a party to the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) of the Lower St. Croix WMO, namely City of Afton, City of Cottage Grove, Denmark Township, and City of Hastings, have adopted resolutions that disband the WMO, and WHEREAS, the petition, attached hereto as Exhibit A, embodies such watershed expansion plan. NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Hastings City Council does approve the attached petition, and encourages Washington County to send said petition to the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources, asking for the expansion of the South Washington Watershed District and Valley Branch Watershed District as described. TH ADOPTED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF HASTINGS, MINNESOTA, THIS 16 DAY OF MARCH, 2009. Ayes: Nays: Paul J. Hicks, Mayor ATTEST: Melanie Mesko Lee, City Clerk (Seal) STATE OF MINNESOTA BOARD OF WATER AND SOIL RESOURCES 520 Lafayette Road North St. Paul, MN 55155 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - In the Matter of the Petition of ENLARGEMENT PETITION Washington County for the enlargement of the South Washington Watershed District - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - TO: Board of Water and Soil Resources, 520 Lafayette Road North, St. Paul, MN 55155 Petitioner, Washington County, a body politic and corporate, pursuant to Washington County Board Resolution No. 2009-____ does hereby petition the Board of Water and Soil Resources to enlarge the South Washington Watershed District pursuant to Minnesota Statute 103D.261 for the following reasons: 1.The South Washington Watershed District is an existing watershed district located entirely within the metropolitan area. 2.The areas proposed to be added to the existing South Washington Watershed District are contiguous to the South Washington Watershed District and are also located entirely within the metropolitan area. The areas proposed to be added are described on the map attached hereto as Exhibit A. The proposed watershed district consists of a total of {xxxx} square miles, of which XX square miles are located within the City of Afton XX square miles are located within the City of Cottage Grove XX square miles are located within Denmark Township XX square miles are located within Grey Cloud Island Township XX square miles are located within the City of Hastings XX square miles are located within the City of Lake Elmo 1 XX square miles are located within the City of Newport XX square miles are located within the City of Oakdale XX square miles are located within the City of St. Paul Park XX square miles are located within the City of Woodbury 3.The 2009 Washington County Assessor’s determination of taxable market value for the property located within the proposed enlarged South Washington Watershed District is $XXXXX. 4.The areas proposed to be added to the existing South Washington Watershed District includes portions of the Lower St. Croix Watershed Management Organization. The Lower St. Croix Watershed Management Organization member communities recently passed resolutions to dissolve their Joint Powers Agreement pursuant to Minnesota Statute 103B.211. 5.The former joint powers watershed management organization whose territory is to be included in the proposed enlargement of the South Washington Watershed District will be free of financial liabilities at the time of enlargement. 6.The following are supporting arguments for addition of the area described on Exhibit A to the existing South Washington Watershed District. The addition would be conducive to the public health and public welfare and for the purposes of Chapter 103D. In May 1998, the Washington County Board of Commissioners authorized a Water Governance Study to identify and evaluate the best governance structure for water management for the county. In April 2002, the county developed a plan defining the expectations of watershed management organizations for actively managing the water resources of the county. The following are goals from the 2 Revised Implementation Plan for Water Governance: a. To create a water management structure that will provide long term protection for surface and groundwater resources. b. To create local water management units with the fiscal capacity and authority to govern efficiently and effectively. c. To identify financing mechanisms that are fair and adequate to meet the needs of the county. d. To coordinate surface water, groundwater, land use, and natural resources management to provide for a more comprehensive approach to resource management. e. To adopt a proactive rather than a reactive approach to countywide water resources. f. To increase the accountability of the water management structure. 7.Washington County has worked with representatives of each of the water management units to develop recommendations for key issues related to the enlargement of the South Washington Watershed District, such as financing policies, coordination of water management plans, and board representation. Recommendations developed by the water management unit representatives and approved by the county include the following: a. The enlarged watershed district will be guided and managed consistent with a watershed management plan as prepared, adopted, and implemented in accordance with requirements in Minnesota Statute 103B.205-.255. 3 b. The Board of Water and Soil Resources may stipulate that the watershed district incorporate the new area in a management plan amendment within a year of the enlargement. c. Administrative services and related general services that are provided throughout the enlarged watershed district shall be funded using a district-wide ad valorem tax, collected by Washington County as a part of property tax collection. d. The full range of funding options available to the enlarged watershed district under Minnesota Statute Chapter 103D and 103B should be considered to fund water quality and water quantity projects, or other services that are not provided on a district-wide basis. Funding should be determined on a project-by-project basis, based on project benefits, costs (including administrative costs of the financing options), and equity. e. Currently the South Washington Watershed District Board consists of five (5) managers. Due to the complex nature of managing water resources in the southern portion of Washington County, the county is requesting the establishment of a six (6) member board of managers. The addition of one manager position would ensure adequate oversight of the water-related natural resources and provide representation from the sub-watershed areas proposed to be added to the district. Managers shall be appointed to fairly represent the various hydrological areas within the enlarged watershed district. The county will establish a plan to shift representation throughout 4 the entire enlarged watershed through the appointment of a new manager. f. The merged organization will consider requesting a loan from Washington County and will seek voluntary contributions from the local units of government associated with the disbanded joint powers water management organization to fund operations until levy authority is established over the entire area of the enlarged district. At the time of dissolution, any positive account fund balances from Lower St. Croix Water Management Organization will be returned to the member communities in accordance with the JPAWMO. THEREFORE , Washington County requests that the Board of Water and Soil Resources, after setting a time and location for a hearing on the Petition and giving notice as required by law and conducting a hearing as required by law, issue its order granting the following relief. 1. That the boundaries of the South Washington Watershed District be enlarged to include the area set forth on the map attached hereto as Exhibit A. 2.The number of managers of the enlarged watershed district shall be increased to six members on the Board of Managers, as proposed herein. 3. That the area proposed to be added shall be guided and managed consistent with the current management plan of the watershed management organizations in accordance with Minnesota Statute 103B.205 – 103B.255. For the purpose of collecting revenues and paying the costs of projects the Lower St. 4. Croix sub-watershed is established as a water management district pursuant to Minnesota Statute 103D.729 (Exhibit B); and the South Washington Watershed 5 District shall amend the watershed management plan to include the Lower St. Croix Watershed as a water management district for the purpose of collecting revenues and paying the costs of projects initiated under section 103B.231; and Washington County is directed to file the map of the water management district with the County Auditor and County Recorder of Washington County. Date: ___________________ DOUG JOHNSON, COUNTY ATTORNEY By _____________________________ WASHINGTON COUNTY, MINNESOTA Linda C. Krafthefer Assistant Washington County Attorney Washington County Government Center nd 14949 62 Street North Stillwater, Minnesota 55082 (651) 430-6116 Attorney Registration No. ___________ 6