At a workshop beginning at 6:30 p.m., the managers, along with Engineer Hanson and Karen Chandler of Barr Engineering, and Attorney Marshall, reviewed the District’s Water Management Plan.

CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order by President Bucheck at 8:37 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS There were no announcements.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES After discussion of the minutes of the March 13, 2003 meeting, motion was made by Scheel, seconded by Borash, to approve the minutes as distributed. Motion carried unanimously.

ADDITIONAL AGENDA ITEMS There were no additional agenda items.

PUBLIC FORUM There was no discussion in the Public Forum segment of the meeting.

SECRETARY’S REPORT Secretary Scheel reported that he had distributed the mail.

INSPECTOR’S REPORT Inspector Roemmich was absent. No report was given.

ATTORNEY’S REPORT Attorney Marshall provided the managers with the Resolution regarding the boundary change petition submitted by the South Washington Watershed District in February. In February the Resolution discussion was tabled until it could be retyped at the Attorney’s office. Motion was made by Scheel and seconded by Borash to move the Resolution discussion back to the table for approval. Motion carried unanimously. President Bucheck and Secretary Scheel signed the Resolution.

TREASURER’S REPORT Treasurer Borash distributed copies of the Administrative and Program Budgets for Fiscal Year 2003 dated March 2003, and the Treasurer’s Report dated March 26, 2003. After discussion, motion was made by Borash and seconded by Scheel to approve the Treasurer’s Report. Motion carried unanimously.

ENGINEER’S REPORT Washington Conservation District Wetland Assistance Fees At the last meeting, Engineer Hanson provided the managers with a letter from the Washington Conservation District (WCD) that explained some budget issues regarding wetland assistance. The managers directed Engineer Hanson to review the types of wetland services the WCD provides the VBWD, and to provide the managers with some options for paying for those services, and to invite WCD representatives to a managers’ meeting to discuss the WCD budget situation with the managers. At this meeting, Louise Smallidge, Chairperson of the WCD, and Jyneen Thatcher, Wetland Technician for the WCD, were present to describe to the managers the technical assistance that has been provided to the VBWD in the past, and the cost for that assistance. Jyneen Thatcher said the WCD wishes to enter into a contract with the VBWD to bill the VBWD for services provided, for an amount not to exceed $5,000 for a one-year period. The $5,000 amount is based on services that were provided to the VBWD in the year 2002.

The managers agreed that the services provided by the WCD are important and are needed by the VBWD. Secretary Scheel suggested that the WCD staff return to a VBWD managers’ meeting after discussing this same issue with the other watershed districts in Washington County.

Louise Smallidge agreed with this, and said that if other Districts will absolutely not agree to the contract, then something else will have to be considered.

President Bucheck said that the VBWD has had a long partnership with the Washington Conservation District, and that the services provided by the Conservation District are really valued. He said that the District certainly wants to continue to work with the Washington Conservation District.

Contract for Water Monitoring Attorney Marshall reported that he approves the contract with Washington Conservation District to place gauges in 10 lakes in the District, as has been done in the past.

Watershed Outlet Monitoring Program (WOMP) Funding Engineer Hanson had sent a memorandum, dated March 11, 2003, to the managers regarding the funding of the Valley Creek WOMP Station The project is funded by VBWD, and the Metropolitan Council.

The Metropolitan Council has funded about 75% of the costs of the project, but the Governor’s budget proposal eliminates this money from the Metropolitan Council’s budget. The Metropolitan Council has the funds to support the WOMP program through 2003. Jim Almendinger, with the Science Museum of Minnesota, was present to ask the managers if they are interested in continuing the collection of data from the WOMP station on Valley Creek, and if so, to take over the funding that the Metropolitan Council has done in the past.

The managers agreed that the data is absolutely necessary to have, and after discussion, motion was made by Scheel and seconded by Borash to support the proposal from Jim Almendinger to fund the WOMP station monitoring at Valley Creek for the two-year period starting July 2003. Motion carried unanimously.

Downs Lake Project Update Engineer Hanson said there hasn’t been much activity at the Downs Lake Project site in the last two weeks, but the plan is to complete the project in the next two weeks.

MANAGERS’ REPORT Next Meeting - April 10, 2003 The managers said they expect to have a quorum.

April 24, 2003 Workshop The managers agreed to meet before the regular meeting, on April 24^th at 6:00 p.m. for a second workshop to discuss the District’s Water Management Plan.

ADJOURNMENT Motion made by Borash and seconded by Scheel at 9:40 p.m. to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried unanimously.

Respectfully Submitted,

Donald Scheel, Secretary