CC MINUTES 01131981 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-2- obscenity 2-obscenity ordinance. He said the violations of .these offenses can be prosecuted but "you can't shut down the offending establishment" . The City can, either under its own ordinance or under existing state statutes, "prosecute an establishment for having offending materials for sale but can't prosecute them for running an adult book store or theater" . The attorney added that "prosecutions have not been terribly. effective in other cities in preventing the violation of these. offenses" , and. reminded the Council that any prosecutions will probably be before a county judge with .a jury drawn from the county. The advantages of the City having its. own ordinance., he told Council- man Marks , is "that you can increase the penalty to. $500 and there might be a- slight advantage in defining the offenses more carefully than in the state statutes." . However, he reminded the Council, "the City can prosecute any such offenses now under. the state statutes" . Councilman Marks. recommended the words "offer to sell" should be added to Section -975 of the proposedordinance which was accepted in the following: Motion by Councilman Sundland. and seconded by Councilman Ranallo to approve the first reading of Ordinance 1.981-002 with the modification in wording suggested by Councilman Marks, with the full understanding that additional modifications may be necessary after the second reading. ORDINANCE 1981-002 AN ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE SALE, PROMOTION, • AND PRODUCTION OF OBSCENE MATERIALS AND PROVIDING PENALTY THEREFOR, AMENDING CHAPTER. IX OF THE 1973 CODE OF ST. ANTHONY ORDINANCES BY ADDING A SECTION 975 AND BY REPEALING SUBDIVISION 16 OF SECTION 930 : 00 Motion carried unanimously. Further discussion of the ordinance was deferred until after the public hearing regarding projects and activities to be funded from CDBG funds which was opened by -Mayor Haik at 7 : 50 P.M. The Mayor confirmed that the consideration involved. activities to be funded from $24 ,193 in unexpended CDBG funds as well as $45,000 which is the estimated amount . of the City ' s grant from Year VII funds. Julie Ann Bye, area representative from HUD., who. had attended the public hearing on the funds held by the Planning Commission January 6th, was also present. The minutes for that hearing were explored at great length with special attention paid to concerns raised by some Planning Commis- sion members regarding subsidizing landlords to bring their properties up to the existing code standards. Mr. Fornell cited steps which can be taken by the -City Fire Department to enforce fire safety. standards and Mr. Soth advised he didn' t believe the City could be held responsible for damage which might result from non-conformance with these stand- ards as long as there "have been reasonable actions taken to reinforce these codes" . Mr. Berg said conditions attached to the grants will require matching funds from the landlords and would provide for pro- rata payback if there was a sale of the improved properties after code violations have been corrected. The Manager cautioned the Council that the program might not be workable under federal require- ments -that the "prevailing wages" be paid to the workmen who make the improvements.