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Flood Diversion Board of Authority—July 10, 2014 2 <br />Corps of Engineers report <br />Terry Williams provided an update of activities by Corps of Engineers staff including <br />continued work on the Maple River aqueduct physical modeling; continued <br />coordination and information to the Minnesota DNR during their EIS process; participation in weekly meetings on the OHB levee; continued coordination on the in-town levee design; posting of cemetery study on the diversion website and <br />sending letters to impacted and non-impacted sites. <br /> <br />She said an open house and tour of the Maple River aqueduct model will be held on Thursday, July 24th at UMore Park in Rosemount, Minnesota. <br />6. ADMINISTRATIVE/LEGAL UPDATE <br />Lawsuit update <br />Attorney Erik Johnson provided an update regarding lawsuits filed by the Richland-Wilkin Joint Powers Authority. The first lawsuit was filed in Federal Court and last month a second lawsuit was filed in Wilkin County District Court. As a result of the <br />second lawsuit, a motion was filed in Federal Court to make a determination if the <br />case should remain under Federal jurisdiction. A hearing on the motion is scheduled <br />for July 23rd. 7. TECHNICAL UPDATE <br />Design Contracts / Task Orders / Authority Work Directives (AWD) <br />Mr. Glatzmaier reviewed Authority Work Directives as follows: AWD-00038 to <br />provide additional assistance to the Corps of Engineers to complete the Hickson hydrology update at a cost of $20,000 with Houston-Moore Group (HMG); AWD-00039 to provide conceptual non-structural berm designs for 11 impacted <br />cemeteries and survey six rural wells in staging area at a cost of $12,000 with HMG; <br />and AWD-00040 to provide engineering services during the bidding phase of 2014 <br />in-town levee construction projects at a cost of $20,000 with HMG. MOTION, passed Mr. Mahoney moved and Ms. Otto seconded to approve AWD- <br />00038, AWD-00039, and AWD-00040 with HMG for a total cost of <br />$52,000. On roll call vote, the motion carried unanimously. <br /> 8. PUBLIC OUTREACH UPDATE Committee report <br />Mr. Olson discussed numerous outreach activities including work with the Corps to <br />address questions from the public; coordination with the Corps to meet with <br />impacted cemeteries to address each site individually; outreach efforts through presentations to various organizations and service clubs; work on the most recent e-newsletter and updates to the diversion website. <br /> <br />Mr. Olson said Congress included money in the Farm Bill for critical conservation <br />areas, which include funding for projects to help retain water. U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack visited the area recently and said the Red River Valley is considered a critical conservation area. As a result, there is $20 million available <br />annually for retention projects. Also, an additional $50 million will be made <br />available for the Red River Valley over the next five years to use toward retention.