Committee moves BLM MOU to study session and backs delegating routine administrative signings

Committee members discussed a proposed memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Bureau of Land Management to guide study work for a southern reservoir site. Staff said the southern site has no surface acreage and therefore the parties cannot exchange funds the way they had for earlier sites; the MOU lays out roles and responsibilities for an environmental assessment (EA) or environmental impact statement (EIS).

"We switched to the southern site and because there's no surface acreage, it changes things quite a bit for their process," the staff member said, describing the MOU as a coordination document rather than a funding agreement. Staff asked whether committee members preferred to review each administrative MOU in full council or to delegate authority.

Committee members generally supported delegating authority to the water director (Marshall) for routine nonmonetary agreements and discussed setting a threshold (several members suggested roughly $50,000) for administrative delegations that would still come to council. The committee directed staff to move the BLM MOU to study session and to prepare a resolution or ordinance that would permit the proposed delegation with periodic reporting to council.

Why it matters: the decision would speed administrative coordination on technical agreements while preserving council oversight for higher-cost or politically sensitive arrangements.

Next steps: staff will bring the BLM MOU to study session and draft a delegation ordinance or resolution with recommended dollar thresholds and reporting cadence for the committee's review.