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iJ INFORMATION SERVICE of 335A Municipal Reference Bureau and *555A League of Minnesota Municipalities *555F 3300 University Avenue S.E., Minneapolis, Minnesota 55414 February 11, 1972 EFFECTUATION OF A TRAFFIC CONTROL DEVICE ORDINANCE BY MEANS OF A RESOLUTION Mr. Robert Pegg City -st torney • 115 5th Avenue West Alexandria, Minnesota 56308 Dear Mr. He This letter is in response to your inquiry of February 9, concerning authority to implement`an ordinance providing for traffic control devices by means_of council resolution. Though it is traditional for municipal penal _regulations to be by- ordinance, your .municipal charter would, of coo se, control as to the type of legislation', violation of which may result in a criminal penal.ity, which the council..ay erect. An examination of our file Copy of your charter reveals that section ''5 controls council procedure including enactment of ord;.na cos and resolutions. That part of section 5iiacer the heading "Ordinances and Resolutions`' provides. that all Legislation shall be by.-.ordinance or resolution and does.not specify the situations in which either is appropriate. That portion of section 5 concerned _ with emergency ency ordinances and resolutions likewise ,fails to distinguish the situations in which either legislative device is appropriate. Though other portions of section .5 provide .for differences in procedure, e.g. enactment of an ordinance requires'publication, a _reasonable interpretation of the charter could well be that ordinances and .resolutions are inzterchangable legislative devices: and- that the difference in procedure was pro4ided so that: the council' could _use its .discretion as to when legislation would best be accomplished by ordinance, with the attendant publication and when the public interest would be served by passage of a resolution. Such interpretation is constitutionally supportable even though the council could not make an act a criminal offense without providing some reasonable opportunity for the public to know that the doingof the act might entail imposition of criminal sanctions. In a case see/ as you mentioned, the placement of the signs in full view of the street ol users is probably a better publication thancould be obtained by publishing ? ` a copy of the resolution in the newspaper. In summary, I think the Alexandria charter puts your. city in a different category with regard to effectuation of ordinances by means of a resolution,,,froze most municipalities which provide" for the use of ordinances for legislative enactments acid permit the use of resolutions in administrative or ministerialsituations. - _ '(Over)