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<br /> <br />8. Anoka County SWAT JPA <br />Public Safety Director John Swenson reviewed for Council discuss a proposed Joint Powers <br />Agreement (JPA) with the Anoka County Sheriff’s Office (ACSO) which currently operates a stand- <br />alone Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team that provides service to all of Anoka County. <br />ACSO has not been able to staff their SWAT Team at a level that meets the Tier 1 team standards <br />of the National Tactical Officers Association (NTOA) and the Federal Emergency Management <br />Agency (FEMA) requirements. ACSO is in the process of creating a multi-jurisdictional SWAT team <br />that will meet staff requirements for Tier 1 team and will serve as a collaborative regional <br />resource; the JPA would allow for Lino Lakes Public Safety to become a member of the team <br />along with six other agencies. <br /> <br />Council discussed the annual costs as well as the benefits to the City. Council was generally in <br />favor of moving forward with the JPA, but noted that they expect there to be no impact to the <br />City’s public safety services. <br />Mr. Christopher Stowe, 426 Pine Street, stated he is against this because he’s already paying the <br />sheriff’s office to kick in doors on no knock warrants. He added that if (an officer) wants to be a <br />sheriff he should go be a sheriff otherwise just be a Lino officer. <br />9. Earned Safe and Sick Time <br />Human Resources and Communications Manager Meg Sawyer and Finance Director Hannah <br />Lynch presented to Council on the new law passed during the 2023 legislative session (Chapter <br />53) that will require employers to provide all employees with earned sick and safe time (ESST) <br />beginning January 1, 2024. Earned sick and safe time is paid leave employers must provide to <br />employees in Minnesota that can be used for: <br /> <br />- Care of employee or family member’s mental or physical illness, treatment, or <br />preventative care; when determined by health authority that employee or family <br />member is at risk of infecting others with a communicable disease. <br />- Employee or family member’s absence due to domestic abuse, sexual assault or stalking. <br />- Closure of employee’s workplace due to weather or public emergency or closure of a <br />family member’s school or care facility due to weather or a public emergency. <br /> <br />Staff presented several options for implementation and proposed implementing ESST for all part- <br />time and temporary employees through the accrual method and implementing ESST into our <br />current Paid Time Off (PTO) leave and Sick leave policy for full time employees. By incorporating <br />ESST into the City’s current PTO and Sick leaves through the accrual method and carryover <br />method, it would require no additional tracking or accrual needed and no additional ESST payout <br />at time of separation. Due to lack of guidance by the state as to ESST for on-call firefighters, staff <br />will update Council as guidance is received from lawmakers and the League of Minnesota Cities. <br />Administrator Cotton added that local elected officials do not accrue in ESST per recent guidance <br />by lawmakers. <br />76