(A) The Council hereby adopts the provisions of the Act, I.C. 8-1.5-5, as amended, entitled “Storm Water Management Systems”, so as to make the Act and any and all amendments thereto effective and operative in and to the City.
(B) Pursuant to the Act, a Department of Storm Water Management of the City (the “Department”) is hereby created for the purpose of implementing capital improvements and conducting operation and maintenance activities for the Department in fulfilling the storm water requirements of the City and to comply with all federal and State of Indiana laws and regulations regarding storm water to the extent applicable to the City. The Department shall have full power and authority to take any and all actions authorized and provided for in the Act.
(C) There is hereby created, in accordance with the Act, a special taxing district to be known as the City of Lawrence, Indiana Storm Water Special Taxing District (the “Lawrence Storm Water District”) which shall include all of the territory within the corporate limits of the City. The Lawrence Storm Water District is created for the purpose of providing for the collection and disposal of storm water of the Lawrence Storm Water District in a manner that protects the public health and welfare and for the purpose of levying special benefit taxes and/or user fees for purposes of storm water collection and disposal. The Lawrence Storm Water District shall be funded through one or more means available to storm water utilities set forth in the Act.
(D) Board of Directors.
(1) Pursuant to the Act, the Department shall be controlled by a Board of Directors (the “Board”), which shall consist of three directors appointed by the Mayor of the City. Not more than two of the directors may be members of the same political party. The directors appointed to the Board shall be at least 18 years of age and be residents of the Lawrence Storm Water District.
(2) The initial terms of the directors of the Board appointed pursuant to this section shall be staggered in the following manner:
(a) One director shall serve a term consisting of the remainder of 2020 and all of 2021, which term will end of December 31, 2021;
(b) One director shall serve a term consisting of the remainder of 2020 through all of 2022, which term will end as of December 31, 2022; and
(c) One director shall serve a term consisting of the remainder of 2020 through and including all of 2023, which term will end as of December 31, 2023.
(d) After these terms, the terms of all of the directors shall be for a period of three years. A director shall hold over after the expiration of his or her term until his or her successor is appointed by the Mayor.
(3) The Board shall have exclusive jurisdiction over the collection and disposal of storm water within the Lawrence Storm Water District. The Board shall have all the powers and duties prescribed by Indiana law, including the Act and I.C. 8-1.5-3-4(a).
(4) The Mayor may remove a director at any time when, in the judgment of the Mayor, it is in the best interests of the Department.
(5) No director shall be entitled to any salary, per diem allowance or other compensation, except reimbursement for expenses necessarily incurred in the performance of such director’s duties.
(E) The Board shall prepare a budget for the operation of the Department on an annual basis, which budget shall be subject to approval by the Council. Any issuance of bonds or other funding methods for making capital improvements by the Department shall be approved by the Council to the extent required by the Act.
(F) Pursuant to Section 32 of the Act, the Common Council hereby withdraws the City from the Marion County Storm Water Management District and transfers all commensurate responsibility for storm water management within the City to the Board to the fullest extent provided by the Act and applicable law.
(G) The Department of Public Works Division of Municipal Utilities may promulgate rules and regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this section ant Title 5, Chapter 2, Section 6 of this Code. Any fees adopted by the Board shall be subject to Common Council approval as required by I.C. 8-1.5-5-7 or by other provisions of the Act.
(Ord. 13, 2014, passed 9-2-2014; Am. Ord. 12, 2020, passed 10-21-2020)