Cooperation Between Districts and Other Public Agencies

Subdivision 1. Cooperation with other agencies. (a) The district boards of two or more districts may cooperate with one another or with appropriate agencies to exercise powers conferred in this chapter or sections 103F.401 to 103F.455. (b) The district board may make contracts or other arrangements with: (1) the federal government; (2) persons or public or private corporations; and (3) the government of this state or other states. (c) A soil and water conservation district may join or cooperate by agreement as provided in section 471.59 with another soil and water conservation district or a watershed district, or a governmental unit defined in section 471.59, or with a combination of them in an operation or project in which the soil and water conservation district and the other party have a common interest. For the purposes of this section, soil and water conservation districts and watershed districts are governmental units under section 471.59. Subd. 2. Cooperation among districts. (a) If the improvement work unit covers two districts, a joint board made up of three supervisors from each of the district boards shall preside. If the improvement work unit covers three or more districts, a joint board made up of two supervisors from each district board shall preside. The individual boards shall appoint the supervisors to represent them on the joint board. (b) The joint board shall accept and approve initial requests for improvement work units, direct the preparation of preliminary surveys and studies, establish improvement work units, and, at the direction of the county boards, adopt programs and reports, award contracts, supervise construction, and accept completed construction work.