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Forming a Lake Improvement District by Citizen Petition, September 2023 3 <br />course of action for one lake may not work for another. For example, if your lake has a maximum depth of less <br />than 20 feet and is almost entirely vegetated, it will never be an open water recreational paradise for high-speed <br />watercraft. To learn more, talk to your DNR Area Hydrologist, local Soil and Water Conservation District, and/or <br />your local watershed district or watershed management organization (if applicable). The following links will also <br />take you to resources where you can learn more about your lake and how to help it: <br />• The Watershed Health Assessment Framework (WHAF) (Click on “WHAF for Lakes.”)(MN DNR) <br />• Minnesota Climate Trends Resources (MN DNR) <br />• Minnesota Natural Shoreline Resources (MN DNR) <br />• Lakefinder (MN DNR) <br />• Lake and Flood Elevations (LFEO; MN DNR) <br />• MPCA Water Monitoring Resources <br />• Minnesota Lake Water Quality (MPCA) <br />• Understanding Lake Ecology (USEPA) <br />• Water on the Web <br />• Information on Minnesota Watersheds <br />• Minnesota Aquatic Invasive Species Research Center (University of Minnesota) <br />• Streambank and Shoreline Restoration (BWSR) <br />Investing in time talking with your neighbors about the lake and what a LID can do for it and getting their <br />support is critical to its successful establishment and operation. These are the people that you will be petitioning <br />for signatures in support of founding the LID, and if the LID is established, they will be your fellow citizens in it. <br />They will be paying fees, assessments, or levies to fund the LID’s programs, which may be met with opposition if <br />people don’t understand the benefits of the proposed LID’s programs, or if they think that they have been <br />ignored in this process. People who feel ignored or left out may even get a newly established LID terminated by <br />calling for a referendum to vote on its establishment, or they may be less willing to actively participate in the <br />operation of the LID or serve on the Board of Directors. <br />It also pays off to invest a significant amount of time early in the process working with your city or county staff. <br />The city or county will collect fees on the LID’s behalf, provide you with much of the information needed to <br />complete the formation process (such as parcel data), carry out various supervisory and administrative tasks <br />related to the LID’s functioning, and make the decision on whether to establish the LID. This relationship is <br />critical to the success of the LID. <br />After you have completed this preparatory work, you can proceed with assembling the information required by <br />Minnesota statutes and rules for a “Proposal to Form a LID by Citizen Petition.” These items are listed in the <br />Lake Improvement District Submittal Checklist included in this packet. <br />Once you have assembled all the required information into an organized document proposal with section <br />headings and table of contents, it will be submitted to the city or county for signature verification. This submittal <br />begins the official sequence of events that will determine whether the LID is approved and established as <br />provided in Figure 1. A template for assembling a proposal, along with instructions, is included in this packet. <br /> <br />216