MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF

THE MINNEHAHA CREEK WATERSHED DISTRICT

BOARD OF MANAGERS

January 6, 2011

CALL TO ORDER

The regular meeting of the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District Board of Managers was called to order by President James Calkins at 6:53 p.m. at the District offices, 18202 Minnetonka Boulevard, Deephaven, Minnesota. 

MANAGERS PRESENT

James Calkins, Richard Miller, Brian Shekleton, Lee Keeley, Pamela Blixt, Jeffrey Casale, William Olson.

MANAGERS ABSENT

None.

OTHERS PRESENT

Eric Evenson, District Administrator; David Mandt, District Operations Manager; Michael Panzer, District Consulting Engineer; Michael Welch, Assistant District Counsel.

MATTERS FROM THE FLOOR

None.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA

Mr. Evenson stated that he has several updates to add to the agenda. Manager Casale moved, seconded by Manager Shekleton, to approve the agenda as amended.  Upon vote, the motion carried.

BOARD COMMITTEE AND TASK FORCE REPORTS

Updates

Mr. Evenson reminded the managers of the District retreat at the Nicollet Island Inn Saturday, January 8.  He said the retreat will begin at 10 a.m. with a tour of the St. Anthony Falls Lab. 

Mr. Evenson reported that he had received a communication from Jim Haertel at the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR), indicating that the District’s aquatic invasive species program requires a major plan amendment.  Mr. Evenson said the voluntary portions of the proposed program are triggering the requirement, but that the District could start a rulemaking process right away.  Mr. Evenson said counsel recommends following through with the plan amendment even if the District intends to establish a regulatory program.

Mr. Evenson and Manager Keeley reported on their recent meeting with representatives of the City of Plymouth.  Mr. Evenson said that at the December 14 city council meeting, several councilmembers made some disturbing comments about the District.  In response to a question from Manager Miller, Mr. Evenson indicated that the issues with the city are related to the Lowe’s wetland and Chelsea Woods project, continuing lack of compliance by the city with the Mooney Lake agreement, the District’s proposed plan amendment addressing local water management plan review, and the District’s recent letter regarding a possible city culvert violation.  Manager Keeley stated that after the recently improved relations with Plymouth, she was flabbergasted to hear the comments from the councilmembers. But she believes District staff and she are moving toward resolution of the matters with the city.

Mr. Evenson reported that weather is not helping facilitate the Minnehaha Glen project.  Flow in the creek remains high, creating a challenge for dewatering in the area where work needs to be conducted.  Mr. Panzer added that he will be discussing a change in the dewatering plan and possibly the dewatering subcontractor with the District’s contractor. 

Mr. Evenson reported that at next weeks meeting there will be a public hearing on the Districts proposed Local Water Management Plan Amendment.  Mr. Evenson reported that some of the comments that have been received from the cities, many of which appear to have drafted by the same consultant working for a number of the cities, object to what they perceive to be the confrontational quality of the tone of the amendment.  Mr. Evenson reported that Plymouth in particular seems to feel that the District is constantly demanding additional reporting and compliance with additional requirements.  After further discussion of the situation in Plymouth with the managers, Mr. Evenson indicated that he will draft a formal response to the comments made at the city council meeting for Board review.  Manager Blixt stated that she feels it is important for the District to present on the council’s agenda – not to merely send its letter through staff.  The managers agreed that the District needs to directly engage councilmembers and staff to work toward a resolution of the issues and the misperception and miscommunication that underlie the conflict with the city. 

Task Force Reports

Manager Calkins reported that the Rulemaking Task Force met on January 5 and James Wisker reviewed the revisions to the stormwater rule with the small group of attendees.  Manager Calkins reported that the task force had a good discussion but did not recommend any further changes.  The Technical Advisory Committee met and discussed the stormwater rule as well and staff reports that the meeting went well.  Manager Calkins noted that the current plan is for the final version of the rules to go out for public comment on January 27, allowing them to go into force in early April. 

Mr. Evenson scheduled a meeting of the Personnel Committee to conduct the last round of interviews with the communications candidates on January 12. The Information Technology Committee will review a presentation from NCompass on January 25. 

Organizational Planning

Manager Shekleton, as chair of the Personnel Committee, previewed the presentation of the organizational analysis conducted by Sarah Noah on behalf of the District.  Manager Shekleton stated that Ms. Noah interviewed managers and staff program managers, compiled a great deal of data and synthesized it into what the Personnel Committee views to be a very valuable presentation.  Manager Shekleton turned over the floor to Ms. Noah.

Ms. Noah handed out a summary of her analysis of the interviews she had conducted.  Ms. Noah reviewed the results, stating that the interviews produced several high-level organizational suggestions for consideration by the Board, which she reviewed.  She said the Board should determine whether it is a strategic, policymaking body or a tactical, hands-on management entity.  She noted the need for the Board to consider more effectively prioritizing District projects, and noted the need to be more disciplined in focusing on the District’s mission. 

Ms. Noah said some of the recurring themes from the interviews related to long hours, night meetings and multiple meetings.  The District must determine whether the District’s increasing workload requires additional staff or consultants.  She also noted an issue raised by the interviews related to whether District staff has adequate skills and adequate skill-development capacity, especially with regard to supervisory capacity. Finally, Ms. Noah said the administrator needs to evolve into a more strategic and externally focused position, as opposed to an operational position. 

The managers discussed the analysis.  The managers discussed whether District staff need to better prioritize work to address Board goals or if additional staff are needed.  Interviews indicated that staff considers the connection of day-to-day work to the plan to be at the core of their functions.  Ms. Noah said that if there is a disconnect between staff’s efforts and the plan, that disconnect needs to be addressed.

Manager Calkins said staff members must determine how frequently the Board needs to be updated on progress toward meeting the goals in the plan.  Manager Blixt stated that the Board needs an assessment of the District’s plan implementation status.  Manager Calkins stated his view that the Board members or managers should look at the plan for themselves and make an assessment of priorities.  He agreed that additional program staff are not needed every time a new program is added.  Mr. Evenson said staff members use the annual work plans that are reviewed by the Board as their means to implement and achieve the plan, and staff does reprioritize its work regularly. But staff has difficulty with constantly shifting priorities. Manager Casale suggested that a one-year retrospective review of accomplishments and progress toward goals and priorities in one particular program area could be helpful to the Board.  Manager Shekleton expressed the view that the managers do not reorganize priorities but rather just add priorities and workload for staff.  Manager Calkins stated that the staff needs to provide feedback to the Board on the workload impacts of its decisions.  He noted that the Board has approved every new hire that has been requested. 

The Board further discussed how to assess progress toward implementing the plan, and Manager Miller expressed his view that there is no need to change from established practice.  He noted the improvements in the organization of the District’s work and specifically in the Board meetings now being implemented. 

Manager Calkins commented that the District’s plan is a very good body of work.  He said that in its oversight role, the Board would benefit from having an annual review of the plan goals and progress toward them.  Mr. Evenson stated that the annual work plans prepared by program staff do tie the work to the goals in the plan.   

Manager Casale left at this time, 9:45 p.m.

Manager Blixt stated that among the issues raised by Ms. Noah’s analysis, the Board still needs to resolve the question of whether it intends to be an internal or organizationally focused board verses an external, policy-oriented board. 

Manager Calkins stated that it is also important to determine whether or not the District needs all the committees that have been established.  The managers reviewed the existing committees, noting that the Violations Committee is an important one and probably should meet more often than it does.  The managers suggested a timeline whereby if a particular matter drags on after say a month, a violation issue should automatically come before the committee.  The managers noted that the Information Technology Committee will phase out in the next couple of months as that work is completed, but otherwise the managers agreed that all the existing committees are needed.  The managers discussed the Land Conservation Program working group, which has involved meetings of Manager Casale and Manager Miller with District staff and consultants on an ad hoc basis.  The managers serve as liaisons from the Board, on hand to listen to the planning and project development as it proceeds and to provide clarification of Board policy.  The managers noted the possibility of melding the Hydrodata Committee and Water Quality Committee and including aquatic invasive species under its purview. 

Manager Calkins stated his view that much of what emerges in Ms. Noah’s report has been rectified by some of the restructuring that the District has undertaken in recent months.  The managers agreed that it will be appropriate to discuss the internal/external focus question at an upcoming workshop.  The managers agreed that no items need to be sent back to the Personnel Committee.

Several managers expressed the view that it is not useful to discuss a ban on the growth of staff.

ADJOURNMENT

There being no further business, the regular meeting of the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District Board of Managers was adjourned at 10:47 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Lee Keeley, Secretary