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Elk REQUEST FOR ACTION <br /> River <br /> TO ITEM NUMBER <br /> Mayor and City Council 6.1 <br /> AGENDA SECTION MEETING DATE PREPARED BY <br /> Work Session October 8, 2012 Rebecca Haug, Environmental <br /> Administrator and Tim Simon, <br /> Finance Director <br /> ITEM DESCRIPTION REVIEWED By <br /> Ditch Agreement Cal Portner, City Administrator <br /> REVIEWED BY <br /> Peter Beck, City Attorney <br /> ACTION REQUESTED <br /> Staff is seeking Council direction on Sherburne County Ditch Agreement. <br /> BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION <br /> The Sherburne County Auditor's office contacted the city questioning why we pay ditch repair costs <br /> when other cities in Sherburne County assess it to the property owners. <br /> Staff researched the question and determined that the City Council completed a study in the early 1990's <br /> regarding charging developers a surface water management fee similar to a park dedication fee. Since <br /> most ditches in Elk River abut and benefit single family residential properties,it appears that the city <br /> chose to utilize funds from surface water management fees instead of a ditch assessment. <br /> As you know,with very little new development,increasing needs for stormwater improvements and <br /> anticipated stormwater management mandates, the Stormwater Management Fund is nearly depleted and <br /> a larger general property tax levy will be needed to pay for the costs of stormwater management. The <br /> Council has discussed a Stormwater Utility, but has not taken action. <br /> Sherburne County Auditor Diane Arnold will be present to discuss how other Sherburne County cities <br /> handle ditch work to determine if the city would like to continue covering all of the costs or assess <br /> property owners for work on ditches affecting their property. <br /> For the discussion, the Council will want to consider the following issues: <br /> 1 J Should the city continue to pay for ongoing ditch maintenance through developer fees and general propery taxes? <br /> 2) Should the coup y assess ongoing ditch maintenance costs to abutting benefitting properties, consistent with other <br /> Sherburne Coun y cities? <br /> 3) Should ongoing ditch maintenance costs bel not be managed as an activiy of the stormwater maintenance <br /> program? <br /> F 0 W I R L 1 0 <br /> N:APublic Bodies\City Council\Council RCA\Agenda Packet\10-08-2012\Ditch Agreement Discussion-final.docx 4A URE <br />