09-17-07 Meeting of Drainage and Flooding Committee

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REsouRCES You CAN USE To COPE WITH RoomNG "The way flooding has been handled in the past has been too costly and repetitive. Money from higher levels of government is going to be less accessible so therefore, we must work together and come up with proactive solutions." — Beverly Anderson, Mayor, Darlington, Wisconsin Your community's flood problems and its other needs are EXISTING OPERATIONS Your present staff may be able unique. Only you can know how much and what kind of to carry out a number of measures including drafting ordi- financial, technical, and personnel support will be needed nance provisions, preparing public information programs, to minimize disruption from flooding and manage your floodplains to meet other community goals. However, whatever you do, it will likely requ (1) allocation or reallocation of local resources, (2) careful administration and continuing public support for their use, (3) outside sources of assistance, and (4) learning from other communities' experience. LOCAL RESOURCES As an elected cial, you have the authority and responsibility to allocate community resources among competing interests and needs for the overall benefit of your constituents. When it comes to dealing with your community's flood problems, this includes identifying sources of local sup- port of all kinds. Assess your resources. Do not overlook unusual sources of expertise or personnel, like volunteer groups, retired citizens, students, and business or profes- sional organizations. and providing advice to floodplain residents. SPECIFIC PROJECTS OR BUDGET ITEMS More exten- ts, such as clearing debris and er obstructions from the community's streams and other water -courses and restoring them to their natural condition, may require a special budget item. Or you may need to ganize a community -wide effort lunteer assistance. rXuuiiivi14rML FUNDING (BOND ISSUE, SPECIAL ASSESSMENT, SPECIAL SERVICE DISTRICT, ETC.) Larger projects, such as establishment or improvement of a local flood warning and response system, may require creating funding arrangements like a special assessment, so that beneficiaries contribute proportionally to the cost. Appropriate resources should be allocated or reallo- cated to carry out selected measures within a designated time frame. It may take several years to accomplish some Among the possibilities are the following. tasks, either because of their complexity or because only page 25