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• <br />• <br />• <br />WS — Item 2 <br />WORK SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />Work Session Item 2 <br />Date: Council Work Session, June 7, 2010 <br />To: City Council <br />From: Michael Grochala <br />Re: Anoka County Ditch 10 -22 -32 Consolidation <br />Background <br />Anoka County Ditch (ACD) 10 -22 -32 is located in the NW corner of Lino Lakes with a <br />small portion in Columbus Township. A series of separate and new ditch improvements <br />has occurred over the years, since the first ACD 10 ditch was constructed in 1890. Each <br />new recorded ditch segment added to ACD 10 overlapped the previous ditch section. <br />Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD), the ditch authority for 10- 22 -32, intends to <br />consolidate these ditch segments into one legal ditch branch. <br />Under state law the Rice Creek Watershed District may undertake proceedings related to <br />the drainage system in accordance with the Watershed Law (Minnesota Statute Chapter <br />103D) rather than the Drainage Code (Minnesota Statutes Chapter 103E) subject to <br />concurrence by the city council where the system is located. The RCWD is requesting <br />City consideration of a resolution consenting to their proposal to conduct proceedings for <br />Anoka County Ditch 10 -22 -32 under Minnesota Statutes Chapter 103D. <br />This request has been prompted by the district's efforts to systematically inspect and <br />repair the legal drainage systems in the district (approximately 100 miles) as necessary. <br />In Lino Lakes this includes Anoka County Ditch (ACD) 10- 22 -32, ACD 25, ACD 72 and <br />ACD 53. The RCWD is currently in the process of preparing a repair report for the <br />drainage system. The report will provide review of the ditch system and recommend a <br />repair option that balances the drainage function of the system with ecological concerns <br />in the watershed. Use of the authorities granted under the Watershed Law will facilitate <br />flexibility in financing the recommended repair option which is important to the RCWD <br />for the following reasons: <br />1. If they stay under the narrow confines of the ditch law, the district would have to <br />do a re- determination of benefits and damages which would add unnecessary <br />costs to any project. <br />2. The Watershed Law would allow them to set up a stormwater charge system <br />which is more equitable since the land use is no longer just agricultural. <br />1 <br />