VLAWMO Annual Financial Report 2007

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VLAWMO Annual Report - 2007 Expense. VLAWMO budget supported a variety of project and program implementation such as: ♦ the citizen's lake monitoring program, ♦ Wetland Conservation Act administration ♦ the Lambert Lake project work (CIP). NEW implementation ♦ Approval and implementation of the storm sewer utility, ♦ Adoption of the 3rd generation Water Plan, ♦ first Annual Water Summit with a focus on local citizens & staff working with water ♦ Final Clean Water Partnership stream bank restoration & flume replacement VLAWMO now employs two full time staff and a summer intern to work on a variety of programs. A Program Coordinator started work in April of 2008 and is working with the monitoring programs, the sustainable lake management plan, the GIS system and other efforts. Several contracted consultants, as well assistance from the St. Paul Regional Water Service, Ramsey County and Ramsey Conservation District enabled these efforts. All actual expenses, except for Legal and bookkeeping were at or less than the budgeted amount. The Legal budget had increased slightly, however there were a variety of questions related to the state approval of the water plan and the amendment to the Joint Powers Agreement allowing the Storm Sewer Utility. It was decided that hiring a bookkeeping service to come in once a month was more efficient use of staff time. More time could then be spent on water resource related work. 2007 WORK PLAN ASSESSMENT Five main goal areas were identified by the VLAWMO Board for 2007: ♦ Implement the new governance structure with a Board of Directors and a Technical Commission. Adopt a Policy Manual to start defining the operations of the watershed. ♦ Finalize the 3rd Generation Water Plan and submit it for Board of Water Soil Resources approval. Complete adoption by the VLAWMO Board by the end of the year. ♦ Establish the feasibility of the a Storm Sewer Utility with the option of amending the JPA and implementing Utility. ♦ Hire a new technical staff person. ♦ Support all on -going VLAWMO programs such as: o Wetland Conservation Act administration, o Citizen's Lake Monitoring program, o Lambert Lake project IMPLEMENT THE NEW GOVERNANCE STRUCTURE The 2007 Joint Powers Agreement established a dual board governance structure. The Board of Directors in responsible for policy and the budget, must meet at least quarterly and has elected officials from each member municipality. They met for the first time in February 2007. This -6-