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1 1 City Council Regular Meeting Minutes 04 April 13, 2004 Page 4 1 Commissioner Wiessner stated the County was looking for a community to donate land to the 2 County for the suburban court. She added she was not sure if St. Anthony Village had received a 3 request. She noted a location had not been identified at the present time. 4 5 Commissioner Wiessner encouraged County residents to go to the County's website at 6 www.co.ramsey.nin.us. 7 8 Councilmember Faust stated he wanted to echo Commissioner Wiessner's information about 9 bringing yard waste to a compost site location. He added residents could now take branches to 10 the sites for recycling, which would save each homeowner approximately$65 per year. 11 12 Councilmember Faust indicated he had served on a jury within the last month and felt the 13 process was handled in a great manner, which included excellent security, coordination and 14 cooperation. He stated it was a good experience and asked Ms. Wiessner to inform the County 15 staff that they had done a wonderful job. Commissioner Wiessner responded she would pass on 16 Councilmember Faust's praise and noted, as of July 1, the employees would be State employees 17 rather than County employees. 18 19 Commissioner Wiessner stated one of the County's budget challenges had been additional 20 courthouse security after September 11, 2001. She indicated the County Board discussed 21 removing security from every door; however, the judges gave the County a court order 22 demanding the security be left intact. She added this was one of those mandated items the 23 County had to provide as a host of the court system. 24 25 Mayor Hodson thanked Commissioner Wiessner for her thorough presentation. 26 27 Mayor Hodson asked Commissioner Wiessner if she had followed the .08 designation in the 28 Legislature. Commissioner Wiessner responded it appeared there was a bill in both the House 29 and Senate and the County's position was to support the .08 designation if funding was provided 30 to enforce it, as more people would be arrested and supervised by the County. She added the 31 County felt it was a good law but it would add additional costs to the County. 32 33 Commissioner Wiessner indicated Senator Marty had introduced a bill to have the money 34 transferred from a tax on liquor sales set to sunset in 2005 to local governments for chemical 35 dependency treatment and implementation of enforcement laws. She stated she understood the 36 Senate was supportive and the House was not, as the House saw the transfer as a new tax. She 37 noted the transfer was only the continuation of an existing tax. She added it appeared the House 38 and Senate would pass the .08 designation and the question was what year it would be 39 implemented. 40 41 Mayor Hodson stated he thought a funding source should be provided, as transportation funds 42 could be lost if the law was not enforced. Commissioner Wiessner responded the Federal 43 government was currently withholding transportation dollars. She added it was suggested some 44 of that money be used for enforcement; however, it was specifically slated for highways. She 45 noted the State did use some of those funds for troopers but, unfortunately, none of the money 46 would"trickle down" to local governments.