City Council Meeting Date: June 5, 2018
To: Mayor and City Council
City Administrator
From: Monte Nelson, Chief of Police
Title
Approve New Joint Funding Agreement for River Gages between the U.S. Geological Survey and the City of Northfield
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council approves the attached Joint Funding Agreement and authorizes the Mayor, City Clerk, and Chief of Police to sign the agreement.
Summary Report:
After the 2010 Flood in the Northfield-Rice County area, local, state, and federal authorities recognized the need for improved monitoring of the Cannon River. As a result, the U.S. Department of the Interior, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) installed and improved river gages in various locations along the Cannon River and the related drainage.
In 2013, the many parties impacted by the flooding issues entered into a 5-year joint funding agreement to maintain the river gages. According to the agreement, Northfield agreed to pay $8,352 over the 5-year period, 2013-2017, to cover costs related to the river gage at County Road 29 between Faribault and Northfield. This gage has become very useful when monitoring changing river levels; both public safety staff and local business owners have learned to check the gage readings during potential flood events. The annual payments were deducted from the Emergency Preparedness line in the Police budget. The agreement expired in October 2017.
In December 2017, representatives from the various parties of the original agreements met to discuss funding options and a new agreement. James Fallon of the USGS organized the meetings, discussions, and funding scenarios. The meetings included representatives from USGS, Dakota County, Rice County, Faribault, Dundas, Northfield, Cannon Falls, Goodhue County, Carleton College, Minnesota Pollution Control, MN-DOT, National Weather Service and others.
Fallon explained new funding distribution was necessary due to changes in USGS funding and requests fro...
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