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City Council Regular Meeting Minutes July 23, 2013 Page 3 1 committed to sending out the crime prevention message and the officers are constantly in the 2 City's neighborhoods getting to know residents and business owners. 3 4 Councilmember Jenson expressed thanks and appreciation to Sergeant Mangseth and the Police 5 Department for all their work in initiating programs that improve the quality of life for everyone. 6 7 B. Resolution 13-056; a Resolution Petitioning Rice Creek Watershed District for a Basic 8 Waters Management Proiect to Address Storm Water Management and Flooding within 9 the Cities of New Brighton and Saint Anthony.Minnesota Todd Hubmer, City 10 Engineer. presenting, 11 12 City Engineer Hubmer presented the petition to Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD) to 13 prepare a basic waters management. project to address storm water management and flooding 14 issues in St. Anthony and New Brighton and explained that following the 2011 storm events, St. 15 Anthony and New Brighton approached RCWD after preparing a feasibility report looking at 16 drainage issues resulting from the storm events and RCWD indicated it currently did not have 17 available funding and that this would require a petition to authorize funding. He explained the 18 City Council is being asked to authorize Phase 1 that includes scoping of the project, review of 19 regulatory issues and potential solutions, and coming back to St. Anthony and New Brighton 20 with a phased approach on implementing projects in the future. He noted the cities of St. 21 Anthony and New Brighton expressed a strong desire for input and participation throughout the 22 process. He stated the cities of St. Anthony and New Brighton also expressed concern about 23 expenses and explained that the State rules governing the petition indicate if no improvements 24 are made as part of the petition then a community is responsible for expenses incurred to date, 25 however, staff feels this risk is minimal because even if one improvement is made as part of this 26 process, those expenses do not revert to cities and staff believes this is the correct method for 27 moving forward to address the flooding issues. He explained that the Ramsey County ditch 28 system is under capacity and does not have the capacity to carry water away from the 29 communities to prevent flood damage and RCWD is the appropriate authority to take charge on 30 this matter. He indicated reports will be provided in the future and representatives from RCWD 31 may be asked to speak to the City Councils as the project moves forward, adding there will be a 32 large public component to make sure residents are kept informed of the project. 33 34 Councilmember Stille asked if the City could receive reimbursement for the backflow preventer. 35 He also asked if RCWD has the funding capacity to handle this project. 36 37 City Engineer Hubmer stated the City is not eligible to receive reimbursement for the backflow 38 preventer because any expenses incurred prior to the petition are not refundable to a community. 39 He also stated RCWD has sufficient funding capacity for this project and the petition will allow 40 RCWD to avail itself of a number of financing mechanisms and all financing decisions will be 41 made through a public process. 42 43 Councilmember Jenson asked if WSB & Associates is representing New Brighton. He also 44 asked about the timeline for review of the petition by RCWD. 45 46 City Engineer Hubmer replied that WSB completed the flood damage study for St. Anthony and 47 New Brighton and that report is the basis for the petition. He noted if the system capacity is