1. Upper Maple River Dam ballot question

UPPER MAPLE FLOOD PROTECTION DISTRICT NO. 1 PROJECT NOTICE OF HEARING The Maple-Steele Joint Water Resource District(the"Maple-Steele District")and the Barnes County Water Resource District("Barnes")have jointly determined it is necessary for the Maple- Steele District to construct a floodwater detention project in Carpenter Township, Steele County, North Dakota,a project that would provide flood damage reduction benefits in portions of Carpenter Township in Steele County;Ellsbury Township in Barnes County;and Rochester,Lake,Cornell,and Tower Townships in Cass County,and could provide benefits even further downstream. The Maple- Steele District and Barnes commonly refer to the project as the Upper Maple River Dam, and officially refer to the project and the corresponding assessment district proposed as the UPPER MAPLE FLOOD PROTECTION DISTRICT No. 1 PROJECT (the "Project"). The following is a more detailed description of the Project: The Project will include the construction of a floodwater detention facility in Carpenter Township in Steele County,North Dakota,to detain floodwaters from the Maple River, and to limit the damages to downstream properties and infrastructure that frequently experience flooding along the Maple River. The Project will include the construction of an earthen embankment dam with concrete principal and secondary spillways; installation of riprap for erosion control;construction of a road raise;construction of a tie-back levee;breaching an existing earthen dam;purchasing right-of-way to accommodate construction, operation, and maintenance of the Project;wetland mitigation;and other related improvements. The dam embankment will be 35 feet in height and 4,500 feet in length. The Project will provide approximately 5,000 acre-feet of floodwater storage at the secondary spillway elevation and 10,000 acre-feet of storage at top-of-dam elevation. The floodwater pool behind the dam will inundate approximately 600 acres at the secondary spillway elevation and 900 acres at top-of-dam elevation. The Project will provide flood damage reduction benefits for portions of Carpenter Township in Steele County; Ellsbury Township in Barnes County; and Rochester, Lake, Cornell, and Tower Townships in Cass County. The Maple-Steele District and Barnes have determined what benefits the Project would provide to individual properties,and the two Boards have developed a proposed assessment district for purposes of financing and funding construction of the Project. The Maple-Steele District and Barnes have determined the benefits to each lot, piece, or parcel of land within the proposed assessment district,and have prepared a preliminary assessment list regarding special assessments to finance construction of the Project. Enclosed is a map of the proposed assessment district for the UPPER MAPLE FLOOD PROTECTION DISTRICT NO. 1 PROJECT, along with a copy of the preliminary assessment list for the Project. The assessment list identifies the proposed total assessment to your individual property;for your information,if the assessment district vote is successful,the Boards will issue bonds to fund and finance the construction of the Project,payable over 15 or 20 years. With that in mind, you may either pre-pay your total assessment at any time, or you can pay your assessments over the 15 or 20 year repayment period;your annual payment would include a portion of your assessment principal plus interest.