Chagrin River Watershed Partners Inc.

“The corporation shall have one class of voting members who shall be designated regular members and shall be entitled to one vote on each matter submitted to a vote of the membership. Regular members shall be such governmental units and publicly supported charitable organizations designated in article iii or determined by the board of trustees to be eligible for membership because of their interests in accomplishing the purposes of this corporation which are qualified under section 509(a)(1)a, (2)a and (3) of the internal revenue code and agree to become regular members.”

“The management and control of the affairs, finances and property of the corporation shall be vested in the board of trustees who shall be elected annually by the regular members. Each regular member, who has paid its dues and met the other membership requirements established by the board of trustees, shall be entitled to elect one regular trustee and to designate an alternate for its regular trustee. The regular trustees elected by the regular members shall be empowered to elect up to one-half of the number of regular members as at large trustees by a majority vote of the regular trustees. All trustees shall have equal status. Trustees shall serve until their successors are duly elected and qualified.”

“See response to line 7a above.”

“Prior to filing, the form 990 is presented to the executive committee, finance staff, and the executive director for review and approval. The executive committee is delegated authority by the board to approve the 990 for filing. The board president signs the 990.”

“Upon election to the board, the board members are asked to review the organization's conflict of interest policy. Among other things, the policy makes clear that all decisions of the board, officers, and employees of the organization are made solely on the basis of a desire to promote the best interest of the organization and the public good. The conflict of interest statement requests board members to identify to the best of their knowledge affiliations with organizations that may be potentially related to the financials or other substantive operations of the organization. They are also asked to identify circumstances involving either themselves, or a member of their extended family, that may be construed as a conflict of interest. At the staff level, the organization's personnel also ensure that there are no conflicts of interest when considering the engagement of a new vendor. If a potential conflict is identified, appropriate steps are taken to both assess the nature of the potential conflict and, subsequently, to ensure that the possibility of an actual conflict is mitigated. Such mitigation is managed and the letter and spirit of the conflicts policy are upheld.”

“The executive committee annually evaluates the performance of the executive director. Compensation is based on performance and compared to other area mission-comparable organizations of similar size. The board has adopted the irs-written "rebuttable presumption" checklist which is completed contemporaneous with the performance review. Compensation for staff within the organization is determined by the executive director. The level of compensation is set based on performance and in relation to other area mission-comparable organizations of similar size. This compensation is a component of the budget, which is reviewed and approved by the finance committee and also by the board as a whole.”

“The organization's governing documents, form 990 conflict of interest policy and financial statements are made available to the public upon request. The form 990 can also be found on several publically-accessible websites.”

“Chagrin river watershed partners, inc. Strives to preserve and enhance the scenic and environmental quality of the ecosystem of the chagrin river and its watershed in a manner that assures a sustainable future for people, plants and animals.”

“Crwp is a collaboration of 34 cities, villages, townships, counties, and park districts working on innovative solutions to flooding, erosion, and water quality problems to minimize the impacts of development and limit local infrastructure costs. Crwp's founding principles are: - natural systems provide flood control, erosion control, and water quality protection services that should be maintained as land is developed. - it is more cost effective for local governments to take planning and development steps to maintain these services than to pay for costly, and generally less effective, remedial solutions. Crwp responds directly to the needs of member communities, elected officials, engineers, planners, law directors, and other professional advisors by helping them update comprehensive plans, zoning regulations, and other programs guiding land use. Crwp has assisted communities by introducing innovative practices that maintain natural resource functions and prevent or minimize flooding, erosion, and water quality problems. These practices include crwp's recommended watershed management tools for planning, riparian and wetland setbacks, conservation development, improved erosion and sediment control, and comprehensive storm water management. In 2018, chagrin river watershed partners worked with its members and partners to leverage 51 for every dollar of dues and implement projects for healthy streams, wetlands and natural areas totaling 14.8 million. Our accomplishments include: "assisted the village of hunting valley in to completing a river restoration project on the chagrin river using a large woody debris approach. This project is estimated to prevent 207 tons of sediment, 423 pounds of nitrogen, and 207 pounds of phosphorous from entering the chagrin river annually. "assisted ashtabula county metroparks with obtaining a 198,612 clean ohio fund grant to protect 52 acres of riparian forest and wetlands along conneaut creek, a state designated wild and scenic river. Crwp also assisted them in receiving a funding nomination through the ohio epa's water resources restoration sponsor program to preserve 30 acres of high- quality riparian forest, floodplains, and wetlands along smokey run, a coldwater tributary to conneaut creek. "helped 21 communities adopt or implement riparian and wetland setback codes. We presented to community officials and staff, shared tailored resources such as draft riparian setback maps and impact analysis data, and identified priority conservation areas. We also reviewed setback variance requests and development plans for communities that adopted these codes to ensure that setbacks are considered early during development planning. "developed and shared a model stream restoration assessment checklist, assessment results, case studies of successful projects, common challenges, and lessons learned with natural resource professionals and other restoration practitioners at two half-day trainings in may of 2018. "assisted cleveland metroparks, lake metroparks, and holden arboretum manage forests near coldwater streams to increase resiliency to climate change. "watershed partners secured funding for and began developing twelve watershed plans for the chagrin river, grand river, cuyahoga river and coastal lake erie tributaries. "conducted 10 focus groups with residents and community leaders to gauge interest in installing stormwater control measures and participating in incentive programs. "engaged people and communities to take care of streams and lake erie. We helped 180 landowners address stormwater and flooding concerns and assisted 32 with completing their stormwater fee credit applications. "targeted areas where parking is underutilized and developed recommendations for how many parking spaces could be removed and provided calculations of the stormwater fee savings from removing unneeded parking spaces. We included the recommendations in an update to our model off- street parking code that communities can”