More than 75 Minnesota city councils pass resolutions supporting street improvement funding tool
 

League of Minnesota Cities-backed street improvement district legislation that would allow cities to collect fees from property owners to fund municipal street maintenance, construction, and reconstruction has received the endorsement of more than 75 city councils from all regions of the state that have passed resolutions of support over the past several weeks

 

 

If enacted, the bill—Senate File (SF) 607/House File (HF) 745—would provide cities in Minnesota with an additional tool to build and maintain city streets. The bill has bi-partisan support in both the House and Senate, with Republicans and Democrats signing-on as legislative co-authors. One version of the initiative has been included as a provision in the House’s omnibus tax bill, and another will be considered as part of the Senate’s omnibus transportation finance bill.

 

 

Supporters say that passage of the bill would allow property owners to fund expensive projects by paying relatively small fees over time, and provide for a reliable dedicated funding source other than the current volatile property tax system. Additionally, the tool could be used to minimize or eliminate the need for special assessments, which are often burdensome for property owners and difficult to implement for some cities.

 

 

City councils supporting the legislation have been asked by the League to approve and sign resolutions indicating that support. HF 745/SF 607 is also supported by the Association of Metropolitan Municipalities, Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities, Minnesota Association of Small Cities, North Metro Mayors, Minnesota Transportation Alliance, City Engineers Association of Minnesota, and the Minnesota Chapter of the American Public Works Association.

Minnesota House subcommittee to consider e-mail address disclosure bill

At stake: Protecting the privacy of city residents

When most Minnesota residents contact city officials by e-mail, they typically don’t know or expect that their e-mail address could be requested by, and given to, another organization or person, for any reason.  Under current state law, though, when a citizen submits contact information to a city or government agency in order to receive newsletters or crime alerts, or to register a complaint, the citizen’s e-mail address and phone number become public data.  Any third party can request the e-mail address or phone number and use it for any purpose, and the city is required by law to comply with the request.

Later this week, the Minnesota House Data Practices Subcommittee will hear testimony on legislation that would change all of that. The House version of the bill, HF 20/SF 60, is authored by Representative Mike Freiberg (DFL-Golden Valley), and would make citizen e-mail addresses and phone numbers private data under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act.

 The e-mail privacy bill is supported by the League of Minnesota Cities, a municipal association that represents more than 830 city governments in the state. According to League lobbyist Patrick Hynes, “The new bill does not make content private; just the contact information of citizens. It strikes the right balance between government transparency and protecting citizen privacy.”

Over the past few months, several cities received requests for all citizen email addresses maintained by the city.  This has often resulted in unexpected email solicitations.  For example, during a previous legislative hearing on the bill, Assistant City Manager Chuck Ahl of Maplewood testified that his city was recently forced to turn over 6,000 email addresses of Maplewood citizens to a third party.  The email addresses had been collected to help implement Maplewood’s new trash collection system. 

 The House Data PracticesSubcommittee is scheduled to hear the bill on Wednesday, February 27 at 4 p.m.  The Subcommittee will hear a number of data practices bills, and consider which to include in a larger, omnibus bill.  The email privacy bill has received one hearing in the Senate Judiciary Committee, and the Senate bill author Bev Scalze (DFL-Little Canada) expects a second hearing to be scheduled in the coming weeks.

TPT to rebroadcast arts documentary on February 23rd

 “Building Community: It’s an Art,” a co-production of Twin Cities Public Television (TPT) and the League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) is scheduled for rebroadcast on TPT at four different times on Saturday, February 23. The 30-minute documentary explores the connection between the arts and community vitality, and uses a mix of interviews, history, and commentary to explore how a community can be strengthened and improved by having art in its many forms as part of daily life. “Building Community: It’s An Art” was first aired in the summer of 2012 features LMC member cities Rochester, Chatfield, New York Mills, St. Paul, Lanesboro, and St. Louis Park.

League of Minnesota Cities statement on officer shooting

The League and all of the city community were saddened to learn of the death of Cold Spring police officer Tom Decker, who was killed in the line of duty on Nov. 29. Our sincere condolences go out to officer Decker's family, friends, and co-workers.

Clean water, libraries, police and fire lead the way among city bean counters
For the third year in a row, Minnesota State Fair attendees visiting the "Cities Matter" booth administered by the League of Minnesota Cities  had opportunities to be a “city bean counter.” Each person was given a six-bean budget with a goal of deciding how to “spend” their beans among eight different city services. They were permitted to allocate all of their beans to a single service, or to divide them any way they wished. Through playing the game, visitors quickly got a better understanding of the tough budgeting decisions that city officials are required to make. They also received "Mayor for the Day" buttons.  Here are the results from the 2012 State Fair.

Clean Water: 6,186
Libraries: 5,480
Police: 5,184
Fire: 4,768
Parks & Rec: 4,473
Streets & Sidewalks: 4,438
Senior Services: 4,159
Sewers & Garbage: 4,065

Visit the Cities Matter facebook page to see images from the Cities Matter booth.

Metro area cities must now allow the public to use gun ranges for safety training
by Anne Finn and Rob Boe, League of Minnesota Cities

A small provision in the Minnesota State Legislature's recent omnibus game and fish bill may cause headaches for some metro area cities. Chapter 277 (HF 2171) requires shooting ranges in the seven-county metro area that are owned or operated by a public entity to allow public access four times per year, twice in spring, twice in fall, for Department of Natural Resources firearm safety training.

The law provides two exceptions: Minneapolis and St. Paul are exempt, as are facilities that are on the same premises as a correctional or detention facility that holds or incarcerates offenders. The range operator may charge a fee to cover any costs directly incurred from use required under this section, but may not charge a fee to offset costs for general maintenance and operation of the facility.
Initially, the bill applied to all publicly funded ranges, even those in corrections facilities.

Police chiefs and the League of Minnesota Cities oppose the shooting range mandate, but made clear the objection is not to firearm safety training. Simply stated, many facilities were not built with the intent to make them open to the public. Many that are conducive to public use are already offering it.

While the new law was passed without an effective date, it is a policy provision. The default effective date for policy provisions was Aug. 1, 2012.

Cities and Others Highlight Agriculture Impacts on Water Quality

by Craig Johnson, League of Minnesota Cities

On May 29, the League of Minnesota Cities joined conservation groups and farm and business representatives in calling upon the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to hold farm operators accountable for cleaning up their share of run-off pollution flowing into the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers.

Standing in front of the MPCA offices in downtown St. Paul, the group dumped gallons of run-off sediment onto tarps to demonstrate the disproportionate 1 to 13 ratio of run-off pollution coming from urban landscapes compared to agricultural run-off that ultimately pollutes Lake Pepin and other downstream rivers and lakes.

Members of the League, Friends of the Mississippi River, Minnesota Environmental Partnership, Minnesota Cities Stormwater Coalition (MCSC), and Minnesota Center for Environmental Advocacy stood with a Red Wing businessman and Northfield area farmer to ask for the MPCA board to hold farm operators accountable for reducing field run-off pollution. The event occurred on the last day for public comment on the MPCA plans for cleaning up of the South Metro Mississippi and Minnesota rivers.

“Minnesotans value clean water,” said Steve Morse of Minnesota Environmental Partnership, citing a 2012 statewide poll showing that 84 percent of Minnesotans are concerned about pollution of the Mississippi River.

Cities near the rivers are required to devise systems and build infrastructure to effectively reduce pollution from wastewater and stormwater, said Dan Ness, mayor of the City of Alexandria and president of the League of Minnesota Cities. “Under the proposed MPCA clean-up plans, Minnesota city property taxpayers will be required to pay for more than $1 billion in initiatives to reduce pollution headed for our rivers while people with businesses and homes outside cities can choose whether they want to do more.”
“The MPCA goals for cleaning up our rivers are based on years of research and sound science,” added Whitney Clark of the Friends of the Mississippi River. “However, we all need to do our part to clean up our state’s rivers. City taxpayers are paying for their share. Yet there is no requirement for Minnesota farm operators to take action—and voluntary ag pollution control practices haven’t moved the needle.”
“The cities’ efforts will address just over 1 percent of the sediments flowing into the rivers,” said Randy Neprash of the Minnesota Cities Stormwater Coalition. ”The difference in water quality will be almost undetectable. The ag side of the problem really needs to be addressed in order to end up with cleaner water.”

Mike McKay of the Lake Pepin Legacy Alliance and general manager of St. James Hotel in Red Wing, stressed that pollution in Minnesota’s rivers threatens local businesses, tourism, and the recreation economy. “No one wants to play in or around dirty water, and downstream hospitality and recreational businesses shouldn’t have to suffer because the MPCA won’t hold agriculture accountable for their share of the pollution,” McKay said.
Northfield area farmer Dave Legvold, who practices soil and water conservation methods on his land, said, “It’s time for agriculture to step up and take responsibility. But voluntary programs aren’t enough. Unless you make ag pollution reduction mandatory, we won’t make progress. Right now farmers who adopt conservation practices are put at a competitive disadvantage. We need to level the playing field. The MPCA should seize this opportunity to require ag operators to reduce farm runoff pollution.”

In addition to the event at MPCA headquarters, representatives for the cities, conservation groups, and affected businesses submitted written comments urging the MPCA to use its existing authority to require farm operators to reduce pollution and regularly report pollution reductions. The League and MCSC filed joint comments and also requested that the reports go before an administrative law judge through a contested case hearing process to resolve factual deficiencies and contradictions.