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DORS EY & WHITNEY L L P <br /> MINNEAPOLIS PILLSBURY CENTER SOUTH NEW YORK <br /> WASHINGTON.D.C. 220 SOUTH SIXTH STREET DENVER <br /> LONDON MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA 55402-1498 <br /> SEATTLE ' <br /> BRUSSELS TELEPHONE: (612) 340-2600 <br /> FARGO <br /> HONG KONG FAX: (612) 340-2868 <br /> DES MOINES BILLINGS <br /> JEROME P.GILUGAN <br /> ROCHESTER (612)34429M MISSOULA <br /> COSTA MESA \ /' GREAT FALLS <br /> September 8, 1997 <br /> Mr. Michael J. Mornson <br /> City Manager <br /> City of St. Anthony <br /> 3301 Silver Lake Road <br /> St. Anthony, MN 55418 <br /> Re: Flooding Issues <br /> • Dear Mike: <br /> You asked us to summarize our opinion with respect to the possibility <br /> of voluntarily donating City funds to individuals for flood relief or using City funds <br /> to purchase property damaged by the flooding. <br /> To be a legal city'expenditure, an expenditure of City funds must be (i) <br /> for a public purpose and (ii) within the city's statutory.authority. <br /> While it may be desirable or commendable for the City to reimburse <br /> homeowners for flood damage and could be argued that such an expenditure serves <br /> a public purpose, the City still must have statutory authority to make such an <br /> expenditure from public funds. There is no particular Minnesota statute which <br /> authorizes a statutory city such as St. Anthony to make a payment to homeowners <br /> to reimburse them for flood damage. Consequently, the City may not voluntarily <br /> expend public funds to reimburse homeowners for flood damage. <br /> The City does have the authority to purchase property for use for <br /> drainage or ponding purposes. If the City Council were to determine that property <br /> damaged by the flood could be converted to such use, the City could expend public <br /> funds to purchase the property for use as part of the City's storm water system. <br /> • Yours truly, <br /> ero a P. Gilli <br /> JPG:cmn <br />