MAUMEE RIVER BASIN COMMISSION
ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE

The Maumee River Basin Commission was established by State Law (I.C. 36-7-6.1) to assist communities in the Indiana portion of the Maumee Basin to reduce flood losses by exercising sound watershed management. Critical to the success of reducing flooding is implementation of comprehensive structural and non-structural flood control measures basin wide.

To accomplish this, the Commission is composed of representatives from five counties. Each County is represented by the three (3) County Commissioners (or their official designee), County Surveyor and a member of the Soil and Water Conservation District Board (or their official designee). These members play a critical role in the formulation of policy and program recommendations. The Commission also works closely with communities providing assistance and guidance on a number of flood mitigation projects.

The MRBC staff provide assistance in the areas of flood control project planning and administration, flood mitigation assistance grant writing, 319 water quality improvement grant writing, erosion and sediment control, flood insurance, floodplain ordinances, inventories of flood prone properties, storm water and erosion control ordinances, soil and water conservation, and public information programs.

MRBC Sub-Committees

The Maumee River Basin Commission is served by four sub-committees that were formed to assist the Commission in its Flood-mitigation efforts: 1) Finance Committee; 2) Legislative Committee; 3) Masterplan Implementation Committee and 4) Technical Committee. These four committees serve as liaisons to the Full Board. Each committee's membership, function and objectives are listed below:

Legislative Sub-Committee

The MRBC Legislative Committee is comprised of Al Frisinger, Allen Co. Surveyor, Steve Baumann, Adams Co. Commissioner, Duane Kiess, Adams Co. SWCD Rep., Larry Gilbert, Steuben Co. Surveyor, and Greg Lake, Allen Co. SWCD Rep. The Legislative Committee assists with legislative matters affecting the Commission. The Committee reviews the Biennium Budget Request submitted by the Commission to the State Budget Agency, and legislation affecting the Commission. Legislative Committee met on February 18, 1999 for the purpose of reviewing MRBC's budget request. The Legislative Committee recommended that the Commission trim areas of its budget request in hopes of gaining additional support from the area legislators.

Finance Sub-Committee

The Finance Committee of the Maumee River Basin Commission (MRBC), formed in 1997 to comply with requirements of the State Board of Accounts, is comprised of the Full Maumee River Basin Commission Board. The Finance Committee oversees the Board's investment practices, and assists in determining the institutions the Commission conducts business with.

Masterplan Implementation Sub-Committee

The Masterplan Implementation Committee, formed in 1996, consists of ten members including: a representative from each of the five counties, a Surveyor rep., SWCD rep., Masterplan Consultant, IDNR representative and MRBC Executive Director. The Implementation Committee is responsible for reviewing, evaluating and prioritizing requests and making recommendations to the Full Board regarding the implementation of all projects associated with the Commission's Flood Control Masterplan. The Masterplan Implementation Committee serves as a liaison to the Full Commission.

Masterplan Implementation Committee Members are: Siavash Beik, Al Frisinger, Dale Gick, Larry Gilbert, Pat Jarboe, Greg Lake, Brian Miller, Paul Norr, Brad Stump, Hal Stump, and Rod Renkenberger.

Technical Sub-Committee

The MRBC Technical Committee is comprised of the (5) five County Surveyors, (Al Frisinger, Larry Gilbert, Paul Norr, Mark Strong, Scott Zeigler); (3) representatives of IDNR's Division of Water staff, (Dale Gick, Pat Jarboe, Dave Knipe); Hydrologic/Hydraulic Engineering Consultants; Cole Associates and Christopher B. Burke Engineering, Ltd. and the Executive Director of MRBC. The Technical Committee is responsible for reviewing all technical work of the Commission, proposed ordinances, and forwarding recommendations to the Full Board. The Technical Committee has met on a number of occasions in an attempt to facilitate the completion of the Commission's HEC I and HEC I I River Modeling Project which began in the spring of 1992. Recent activity has involved performing additional Flood Insurance Studies and performing Floodplain Re-delineation in areas where more accurate topographical data is available