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• City of St. Anthony Council Minutes June 14, 1994 Page 3 1 suggested that Mr. Hamer find out the exact cost for installation of the light. It 2 was then determined that the Council needs more information before 3 considering this request. 4 5 Motion carried unanimously. 6 7 Mayor Ranallo called forth State Representative Mary Jo McGuire to address the Council and 8 those present about legislative actions. 9 10 Representative McGuire began by stating that the legislators considered many matters at this 11 session such as crime control, ethics reform, property tax relief, government accessibility, and 12 education. She indicated that some of the major areas they addressed were the Target Center; 13 NSP Prairie Island Nuclear Waste Storage; and a major bonding bill for capital expenses 14 throughout the State. The legislators worked on minimum wage, health care, game and fish 15 issues and welfare reform. A major ethics bill was passed which prohibits lobbyists from 16 getting gifts of value and greatly increases lobbyist's reporting requirements. A major crime 17 control prevention bill was also approved. 18 Representative McGuire talked about the Tax Bill, Data Privacy Bill and, Open Meeting Law It changes. McGuire said that the legislature is "sunsetting" the local government trust fund, but 21 local government aid was increased by 2%. The legislature also fully funded the Targeting 22 Program which means that if your taxes increase over $100 or 12%, you can get up to 75% of 23 that increase back in credit. Open Meeting laws were amended making the qualification that a 24 violation of the Open Meeting Law must be intentional. The public body cannot pay the 25 penalty on behalf of the member who violated the rule. However, the public body can pay for 26 the attorney's fees and the court may award attorney's fees up to $13,000. The legislators also 27 passed the Uniform Local Election Law which requires school district and special district 28 elections to be held in November, beginning in 1998. 29 30 Mr. Hamer had discussed unfunded mandates and fees with Representative McGuire prior to 31 the meeting. The Representative indicated she had done some research on this subject. She 32 said the fee for air emission is designed to give incentive to people to reduce air emission. 33 The Representative also discussed the water appropriation fee that is collected by the 34 Department of Natural Resources. The Council indicated the City doesn't receive anything for 35 this fee and feels the DNR should direct those funds from the City for Silver Lake quality. 36 Mr. Hamer mentioned the Hazardous Material Notification Fee collected by the Department of 37 Public Safety. He stated that the City of St. Anthony and other cities have their own response 38 teams and respond to their own spills, etc.. Representative McGuire stated she would look 39 into this fee to see if it is necessary and will also check on other double fees. Councilmember Fleming mentioned the Health Care Bill and the Nursing Home bill, which had been vetoed by the Legislature.