Agenda - Council - 05/27/1980 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Adverse possession I! seems clear that M.S. 541o01 prohibits adverse possession of city property; that is, the occupation or use by other parties of city property. The League suggests, however, in the event that court decis,ons do not concur with this interpretation, that the legislature should make it clear that no adverse possession can be had against the state and its political subdivisions. because, unlike similar laws in other states, it preserved the common law liability of a good samaritan for damages resulting from ordinary negligence in rendering emergency care. The League recommends that the law be amended to limit the liability of a person rendering emergency care at the scene of an emergency to liability for willful or wanton misconduct. Work restitution program Prosecution Expe~ience over the past few years has shown that many cities, especially smaller cities, have experienced costs for prosecution and associa- ted activities beyond their ability to support. The League recommends that the [aw be amended to require that county attorneys prosecute al'l cases involving local or state law, except where the city council by ordinance has designated that the violation of certain ordinances or misde- meanors would be prosecuted locally. The county should retain approximately two-thirds of the fines when it ~s the county attorney's responsibility to p~osecute, and when it is the city's reponsibility to prosecute, the city should retain approximately two4hirds of the fines. In addition, the League supports the concept of requiring county attor- neys to p~osecute state patrol cases. Good Samaritan Law The Good Samaritan Law, a law of interest to mun,cipal employees in the provision of emer- gency care, has never really served its purpose The League urges the various court systems, municipal officials, and the legislature, to the extent that it can, to encourage and make possi- ble community work restitution programs. This may require making available funding methods through grants or special levies. Youth service bureaus A youth service bureau attempts, through coun- selling, to avert establishment of a pattern of youth lawbreaking. Youth are referred by police, school and court. By utilitizing the youth service bureau, a youth and his family are helped to find and cor- rect the cause of a behavior problem. The League recommends that the legislature encourage local governments to sponsor youth ser- vice bureau type activities as a help and buffer to the court system and.a preventative for habitual youth offense. The legislature has already allocated some funds for thistype of activity, but to succeed, it must provide local units the ability to fund these programs through the local property tax levy by use of a special levy. LAND USE AND THE ENVIRONMENT Agricultural preservation Those public policies which encourage sub- stamial development in non-urban areas and wh,ch extend public services.., beyond existing lUr,sdic~,ons .and service areas s~em to be largely exposed as wasteful and counter-productive. There ,s also increasing recognition that cities offer a va,iety of lifestyles that conserve energy, and that they a,e already centers of substantial public and private investment. Finally, there is increasing recognition that the prime agricultural land of Minnesota is a major natural and economic re- sou,'ce and that a major objective of any land use strategy is the preservation of this prime agricul- tural land. The League endorses a policy of urban conservation based upon these perceptions. There ale several steps that should be taken to: 1) stren- gthen the present land use controls exercised by cities and counties; 9_) provide a framework for orderly, planned growth for cities through the Minnesota Municipal Board; 3) discourage scat- tered development, especially those developments located on agricultural land, wetlands, or other land needing protection; and 4) provide the nec- essary policy direction concerning land-use de- cisions which clearly have statewide or regional implications. To this end, the League has'devel- oped several proposals which address various aspects of the problem. Agricultural preservation. The state should establish a policy encouraging the preservation of prime agricultural land which discourages the de- veloPment of such land outside areas to be served by a municipal community and encourages regional -21 -