Consideration and Adoption of Resolution No.  2020-57:  Approval of an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) between the City of Flagstaff and Northern Arizona University (NAU) for Applied Natural Resources Research.

Approve the Intergovernmental Agreement with Northern Arizona University for Applied Natural Resources Research, this allows an avenue for the City of Flagstaff’s Water Services Division to procure hydrology, water resources, and civil engineering services from NAU for City projects and programs. The IGA also outlines data sharing and intellectual property concerns of both NAU researchers and students, and City staff.

The NAU staff and student labor rate will be set by individual projects as outlined in the individual scopes of work. This IGA provides only guiding principles. These principles include:

The University shall provide as frequently as monthly, but not less than quarterly, requests for reimbursement. Reimbursements shall be submitted to the City Stormwater Project Manager or appropriate Water Services Manager for approval and processing. The University shall submit a final reimbursement for expenses received and invoiced prior to the end of the termination of this Agreement no more than forty-five (45) days after the end of the Agreement. Requests for reimbursement received later than the forty-five (45) days after the Agreement termination will not be paid. The final reimbursement request as submitted shall be marked FINAL.

Funds for this project are budgeted in individual account numbers in the Water Resources and Stormwater Sections.

Consideration of this IGA will provide procurement opportunities for City of Flagstaff Water Services. Specifically, city staff will be able to procure NAU staff and student time to complete water resources and stormwater applied research projects, and to purchase NAU developed technologies and equipment (e.g. remotely operated camera flood alert gauges). The proposed IGA will allow for fiscally responsible projects that utilize the expertise and labor pool of NAU. The resolution also supports the “Cap to Town” Council initiative, creating an avenue for greater NAU-City of Flagstaff collaborations.
 
The performance of this Agreement is in the best interest of both parties, the undertaking will benefit the public through fiscally responsible projects, real-world learning for NAU students, and enhanced hydrology and civil engineering capacity at the local scale.

Priority Based Budget Key Community Priorities and Objectives
High Performing Governance: Enhance the organization’s fiscal stability and increase efficiency and effectiveness.
 
Environmental Stewardship: Enhance the stewardship of community water resources including aquifer protection, stormwater, and watershed stewardship.
 
Sustainable, Innovative Infrastructure: Enhance the capabilities of the city by providing an opportunity to procure expert applied research on stormwater design, flood alert technologies, and water resources.

None.  This is a new agreement and venture in partnership with NAU.

1. Approve the IGA.
2. Decline the IGA which impacts the capacity of the City of Flagstaff to procure NAU applied natural resources science.

This IGA was first conceived in the summer of 2019 when two potential projects broke down between NAU and the City of Flagstaff due to both a lack of funding mechanisms and a lack of intellectual property contract language. The two projects were both in Water Services, one project related to an aquifer recharge study (Water Resources Section), and another project for installing and maintaining state-of-the-art camera flood gauges in the Museum Fire footprint (Stormwater Section). The need for an overarching Agreement that provided the terms of payment and data/intellectual property protection was evident. There is a continued need for applied natural resources research, especially as the Water Services Division strives to meet Council goals, Priority Based Budgeting priorities, and community expectations of a well functioning resilient utility.

This Agreement shall be for a period of five (5) years effective from the date of the final signature of the Parties. One (1) year extensions will be approved after the initial five-year term up to a total time limit of ten (10) years. This Agreement sets forward the terms of reimbursement and data/intellectual property rights between the Parties and does not provide details for individual projects.

This IGA will allow the City of Flagstaff to procure expert skills and experience from NAU on applied natural resources science. The community may benefit from lower costs (compared to specialized consultants), state-of-the-art methodology on water resource issues, and a great collaboration between the university and the City of Flagstaff.

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