Research Q of the Week: How to Amend an Ordinance (8/28/15)

Question: We just passed an ordinance not that long ago, and now it needs to be amended.  How does the city amend an ordinance?

Answer: You actually already know how to do it! The council must follow the same procedures for amending an ordinance as it does for passing the ordinance in the first place. That means the change in an ordinance can’t be done by resolution, but must be passed as an amending ordinance.

After the amendment is passed by a majority of the council, the ordinance must be attested to, published, and included in the ordinance book.

A common question is how should the amendment look? The form of the amendment should be like new ordinances with respect to title, enacting clause, body, closing, and signatures.

If the ordinance is short or if the changes are numerous, the council will usually re-pass the entire ordinance in its amended form, repealing the old ordinance in a separate section. Another option would be to title the new ordinance as an amendment, and then recite the entire ordinance as it would read after amendment.

If the ordinance to be amended is so long that the cost of publishing it in its entirety would be costly, the council can pass an amending ordinance that only includes the sections that will change. The council can include several amendments to the same ordinance in different sections of the same amending ordinance.

For more information, see the chapter on Meetings, Motions, Resolutions and Ordinances found in the Handbook for Minnesota Cities. 

Written by Irene Kao, research attorney with the League of Minnesota Cities. Contact: ikao@lmc.org or (651) 281-1224

This blog post conveys general information. It’s not legal advice. Please check with your city attorney before acting on this information.

The Cities Matter Game Show is Back at the State Fair

Do you know which Minnesota city is the lutefisk capital? Or how many Minnesota mayors are women?

If you're going to the State Fair this year (Aug. 27-Sept. 7) you can find out! Step right up and test your Minnesota city knowledge at the Cities Matter booth located in the Education Building--we'll be there the full run of the fair with the interactive Cities Matter Game Show. Everyone who plays has a chance to win a prize!

Minnesota students entering grades 4-6 will also have the chance to compete in the League's annual Mayor For A Day essay contest. Pick up an entry form at the booth, or print one from the League's website. The deadline to submit an essay is Oct. 23.

So don't forget to add the Cities Matter Game Show booth to your route at this year's State Fair and see how many questions you can answer!

Cities Matter is a project of the League of Minnesota Cities. Find out more at www.citiesmatter.org.

Video: Getting to Know 'The New Guy' Dave Unmacht

Well there's a new face at the League of Minnesota Cities—David Unmacht recently took the helm as executive director. He brought his coffee cup and desk tchotchkes into the office on Aug. 3.

Dave has a background in both city and county government, and most recently worked for Springsted as a strategic planning consultant.

You may have received a letter of introduction from Dave recently—isn't it great to get mail? Because letters can feel a little formal, Dave sat down with a few LMC staffers and a video camera to share a bit about himself and to answer some not-so-serious questions too.

If you have your own ice breakers for Dave, he'll be attending each Regional Meeting scheduled this fall in a city near you, and now has his own official LMC email address for connecting with members. Welcome, Dave!

More Resources and Training Available for City Employees

Since you’re reading this, you’ve successfully found one of the League of Minnesota Cities’ (LMC’s) blogs—but did you know there are two others created expressly for municipal employees?

The On the Line blog (found at http://lmcontheline.blogspot.com/) is written for Minnesota’s public safety professionals. Rob Boe—who worked for nearly 40 years in public safety as a peace officer with the Prior Lake Police Department, as chief deputy with the Scott County Sheriff’s Office, and as a firefighter with both the Burnsville Department of Public Safety and the Bloomington rescue squad—posts regularly to this blog in his role as the public safety project coordinator with the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust (LMCIT).

The work that firefighters, medics, and cops do is dynamic, rapidly changing, and unpredictable—and unfortunately this often leads to injury on the job. LMCIT wants to keep first responders safe and also help cities reduce costly claims.

So on the On the Line blog, you’ll find topics ranging from body armor on the shooting range to lessons from a live burn, from stretch-and-bend to reduce injuries to what public safety departments can learn from NASA on how to promote a strong safety culture.

The Pipeline blog (found at http://lmcpipeline.blogspot.com/) is geared toward Minnesota’s public works professionals. Several of LMCIT’s field consultants—who focus on helping municipalities with loss control issues—consistently write about timely topics for this industry.

The goal of the Pipeline is to give city public works departments the tools needed to do their jobs safely while faced with budget constraints, fewer hands to help, and rising city service demands.

You’ll find timely and topical posts on the Pipeline like making sure your outdoors workers take preventive measures for tick-borne diseases, proper safety techniques when on skid steers, how to prevent frozen pipelines, and public works apps for your smartphones.

Two of the latest posts from each blog focus on the upcoming Safety & Loss Control Workshops, happening this fall. On the Line gives an overview of the police report-writing workshop, and the Pipeline discusses the all-new safety committees workshop.

Hope to see you at one of these trainings in September or October—and in the meantime, check out the League’s blogs!

Research Q of the Week: Posting Lost Dog Info on Facebook (8/14/15)

Question: Is it appropriate for the city to post pictures on social media of dogs we have found and are impounded at our kennel? It might help us located their owners faster.

Answer: If the city thinks it would be helpful, that is certainly a permissible use of social media.

Activity intended to find the owners of lost pets has become popular on social media sites like Facebook. By reuniting wayward furballs and their families the city could see a savings in boarding costs and staff time devoted to taking care of the animals.

Your city will want to consider potential pitfalls too. Staff time for posting and removing photos as well as how you would handle multiple people trying to claim the same animal are things to consider in advance.

The city should have a policy that describes the general types of information it will share on social media regardless of whether you have animal control facilities or not. Other common examples of content shared on social media include notices about city meetings, community events, public works projects, job openings, and pictures from happenings around the city.

For more information on this topic, including sample policies, check out the League’s memo on Computer and Network Loss Control.

Written by Amber Eisenschenk, staff attorney with the League of Minnesota Cities. Contact: aeisenschenk@lmc.org or (651) 281-1227.

This blog post conveys general information. It’s not legal advice. Please check with your city attorney before acting on this information.

MN Medical Cannabis Program: What Should Cities Know?

In May 2014, the Medical Cannabis Therapeutic Research Act (the Act) was passed by the Minnesota Legislature and signed into law by Gov. Mark Dayton. On July 1, 2015, the law came into effect, legalizing medical cannabis in liquid, pill, oil, or vaporizing form for specific illnesses.

According to the Star Tribune, 528 patients have qualified for medical marijuana as of August 7. Three dispensaries are currently open in Minneapolis, Eagan, and Rochester, and a fourth will open in Moorhead in the next few months. Though these numbers are low, they will grow—the Act allows for up to eight dispensaries to be opened throughout the state, and patient enrollment continues to increase.

As employers, cities need to consider how the new legislation will impact hiring, firing, disciplinary practices, and employee/patient protections. Within the Act, there is a provision providing that a registered employee cannot be disciplined for testing positive for cannabis unless the employee used, possessed, or was impaired by cannabis on the premises of employment or during the hours of employment.

There are many questions to consider when working the Act into personnel policies, such as when medical cannabis should be treated as an illicit drug? Though medical cannabis is legal in the state of Minnesota, there are cases where use of medical marijuana can result in termination. One example of an exception to state law is the Department of Transportation, which treats use of medical cannabis as it would any other type of illicit drug.

Do you have questions about the Minnesota Medical Cannabis Program? Register for the League’s free webinar Minnesota Medical Cannabis Program: Introduction and Legislative Update by 12 p.m. on Tuesday, August 18.

Research Q of the Week: Figuring out Minimum Wage—May Require Some Coffee (8/6/15)

Question: How do we figure out the correct minimum wage to pay city employees?

Answer: To make this more appealing, let's imagine that it’s a bit like making coffee. Before you get that black wake-up brew, you have to pick the right filters to use. Specific bits of state and federal law both apply as these filters. Before we start filtering note that city councils may choose to pay anyone more than applicable legal minimum wage—you just cannot pay less.

Large vs. small employers
State law now requires a higher minimum wage than federal law, so let’s start there. State law requires that you filter out large vs. small employers. If your city’s total budget hits $500,000, your city is a large employer and must pay a higher minimum wage.

But what’s included in that “total budget” calculation? Toss in all enterprise funds such as sewer/water or municipal liquor stores. Do not include separate legal entities in this mix such as housing redevelopment authorities (HRAs) and economic development authorities (EDAs). If this filter applies to your city, run this one by the city attorney.

So as of Aug. 1, 2015 large employers must pay eligible employees $9 per hour. Small employers, cities with a total budget of less than $500,000 must pay $7.25 per hour.

Youth, training rates
Now let’s look at specific employees as another filter. If your city employs young people under the age of 18 you may pay them a “youth rate” of $7.25 per hour, whether your city is a large or small employer. Note that this is the same rate small employers pay everyone as of Aug. 1, 2015 so this is a filter that large employers may use.

Another filter is the “training rate.” If your city employees anyone under 20, under state law, you may pay that person $7.25 for the first 90 days, if your city chooses to do so. Again, this filter is useful for large employers, not small employers because they must pay everyone at least $7.25 per hour. After 90 days, a large employer must pay the current minimum wage of $9 per hour. Unless another unusual filter fits.

Exemptions fall back on federal rate
State law exempts some workers altogether. Here’s a partial list: elected officials; city board, commission, or committee members; city volunteers; city police or firefighting personnel; park and rec workers under age 18 who work less than 20 hours per week; and those employees who cannot participate in the Public Employees Retirement Association (PERA).

This last filter, those who are exempt altogether from state minimum wage law, includes students under the age of 23, and some student interns. This filter is complicated so if you want all the details, call or email research (800) 925-1122, (651) 281-1200, research@lmc.org. Remember, if any of your city’s employees are exempt from state minimum wage, the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour applies. Federal law also allows a youth minimum wage of not less than $4.25 an hour for employees who are under 20 years of age but only for the first 90 consecutive days.

Yup, that's a lot of filters. Time for some coffee.

Written by Jeanette Behr, research manager with the League of Minnesota Cities. Contact: jbehr@lmc.org or (651) 281-1228.

This blog post conveys general information. It’s not legal advice. Please check with your city attorney before acting on this information.

Five Years of GreenStep Cities & Looking Ahead to 2015-2016 Workshop Series

The GreenStep Cities program is celebrating its fifth year of helping local governments embrace sustainable practices resulting in cost savings, energy savings, and a brighter future for residents.

Happy birthday to you! Lookin' good!

Eighty-three local governments and counting have adopted this voluntary program, which provides access to powerful data tools, planning expertise, and recognition.

Curious? All city officials can attend GSC's upcoming technical workshops (online or in-person) to learn about a sustainability topic related to the program's goals and to get a feel for what GreenStep is all about.

You can now view recordings of the 2014-2015 workshops on the Clean Energy Resource Teams (CERTs) website:

View the 2014-2015 GreenStep Cities technical workshop webinar archive
 
More of this, please
The 2015-2016 GreenStep Cities technical workshops are scheduled from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the second Tuesday of the month Sept.-June. You can attend IRL at the League of Minnesota Cities in St. Paul or register for the webinar option to watch from your office or kitchen table.

Register for September's introduction workshop here: Register for 2015-2016 GreenStep Cities Technical Workshops on Eventbrite.
Other Questions? You can contact one of the GreenStep Cities program staffers here