City Council Meeting Date: July 1, 2025
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Ben Martig, City Administrator
Sara Hoffman, Deputy City Clerk/Executive Assistant
Title
Consider First Reading of Ordinance 1081 Amending City Code Chapter 2, Related to City Boards and Commissions.
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council will Consider First Reading of Ordinance 1081 Amending City Code Chapter 2, Related to City Boards and Commissions.
Summary Report:
At the May 20th City Council work session, the Council received an update on the board and commission governance work and provided feedback on a draft amendment to code. The Council expressed no concerns over the attached redlined draft of code updates. Council also discussed the roles of Council members on boards and commissions and the appointment timeline. Other topics discussed in the meeting, such as the consolidation or eliminations of boards and commissions, will be discussed further as part of the governance work and will be part of phase 3 of code updates, if changes are identified. However, staff responses to concerns brought up by Council are included in this staff report.
Code Updates
An attached redline of code updates identified by Council, staff, and the City Attorney is attached (attachment 2). A summary of some of the changes is as follows:
• Section 2 - Minor changes to the standardized section of code approved in 2024 by Council (ordinance 1060). These include solidifying the board and commission appointment timeline and other long-practiced policies, such as term limits.
• Section 4 - Currently, some boards and commissions were required, in code, to report annually to the Council, while others were not. To ensure standardization and to solidify our current practice of compiling an annual report of board/commission activities to present at the yearly board and commission training, an “Annual Reports to Council” section has been added. Per state statute, the EDA, HRA, Hospital Board, and Charter Commission, are not required to provide a report. However, staff intends to continue to include these boards and commissions in the annual report.
• Sections 5 through 15 - Edits to specific boards and commissions, as follows:
o Hospital Board - Minor updates to clarify existing ways of working and to standardize language across all boards and commissions. The Hospital Board President and CEO is currently reviewing these updates. He supports the first reading and we may have some amendments after. The prior President and CEO and City/Hospital Governance Committee had reviewed prior. Any changes will also be included in the upcoming review of the Hospital Playbook.
o Human Rights Commission - Minor updates to clarify existing ways of working and to standardize language across all boards and commissions.
o Public Arts Commission (previously Arts and Culture Commission) - The Arts and Culture Commission has been changed to the Public Arts Commission to more accurately reflect the direction of the board. In addition, the Public Arts Policy, which is an approved Council policy, was duplicated in this section of code. Staff felt it was unnecessary so that section was removed. The section related to the 1% for the Arts has also been removed from this section of code and will be moved to a different section of code. More details on these changes are provided below.
o Mayor’s Youth Council - Minor updates to clarify existing ways of working and to standardize language across all boards and commissions.
o Youth Substance Prevention Alliance (previously Northfield Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention) - The Northfield Alliance for Substance Abuse Prevention has been changed to the Youth Substance Prevention Alliance. As the term “abuse” implies that a person is taking advantage of something and the term “substance abuse” implies that person is struggling with a substance abuse disorder and taking advantage or doing something willingly, members felt it was best to remove the term “abuse” to more accurately reflect the evolution of the field.
o Economic Development Authority - No changes.
o Housing and Redevelopment Authority - Minor update to the enabling legislation.
o Environmental Quality Commission - Minor updates to clarify existing ways of working and to standardize language across all boards and commissions.
o Heritage Preservation Commission - Minor updates to clarify existing ways of working and to standardize language across all boards and commissions.
o Library Board - Minor updates to clarify existing ways of working and to standardize language across all boards and commissions.
o Park and Recreation Advisory Board - Minor updates to clarify existing ways of working and to standardize language across all boards and commissions.
o Planning Commission and Zoning Board of Appeals - Minor updates to clarify existing ways of working and to standardize language across all boards and commissions.
City Council Member Liaison Roles
Staff has heard some concerns from members of Council regarding the time commitment related to Council liaison roles on boards and commissions, as well as the lack of clarity on when Council is appointed to a voting role or non-voting role. At the May 20th Council work session, staff presented three options to Council regarding Council liaison roles - (1) Council members only serve on required boards/commission/committees, (2) Council members serve on required boards/commissions/committees and any others determined by Council, or (3) Council members serve on required boards/commissions/committees and any others determined by the Mayor.
There was some debate from the Council, but there was no strong opposition to option 1, so staff have proceeded to include this in the code updates. The wording was left purposely vague to account for changes in state statute, agreements, etc. Staff will monitor internally to ensure appointments are made as required.
Appointment Timeline
At the May 20th Council work session, staff presented two options for the board and commission appointment timeline - (1) leaving it as is with terms following the calendar year or (2) shifting the timeline back to allow for an incoming Mayor and Council to make appointments.
The Council expressed no concerns with the updated timeline, so staff have incorporated the starting and end dates of terms into the code update. The detailed board and commission appointment process has been updated with more specifics. Should anyone want to see that document please contact Ms. Hoffman. It is an administrative document that the Mayor and City Administration use to accommodate their appointment process internally.
1% for the Arts
Per a request from Councilors Beumer and Dahlen, the Council discussed the 1% for the arts policy at the April 1, 2025 meeting and the May 13, 2025 work session. As mentioned above, the section of code related to the 1% for the arts is being moved from the board and commission section to Chapter 2, Article 1, Division 5, a new section of code. A redlined version of that section is included in attachment 1. This includes minor updates to code related to the change from the Arts and Culture Commission to the Public Art Commission. In addition, staff has added a cap of $500,000 for the amount that can be contributed to the 1% for the Arts fund from any one capital project and increased the minimum estimated construction costs at which 1% for the arts funds would be allocated from $175,000 to $500,000.
Council Questions for Future Discussion - NOT INCLUDED IN THIS UPDATE
At the May 20th Council work session, staff presented various areas that could be addressed in future governance updates, should the Council wish to proceed. Those areas included consolidation or termination of some boards and commissions or transitioning all or some boards and commission to five members. Below are staff responses to some questions and feedback the Council had.
What boards/commissions is the city required to have?
Staff reached out to our City Attorney and received the following information. Please note that staff is not recommending any of the following changes. This is just basic information on whether boards/commissions are required.
• The Charter Commission is required given that it has its own governing authority on state statue.
• The Library Board is likely required but there is some discrepancy surrounding this so further research would be needed.
• The Hospital Board is required since the City owns the hospital. However, the Council would have the ability to change the makeup of the board and appoint Council Members.
• The Economic Development Authority and Housing and Redevelopment Authority are not required, and the Council could take on any of the responsibilities of, and powers given to, those boards.
o Staff did receive a request from a Council member to explore possible changes to the HRA that might allow for merger with the EDA and/or empowering City Council to serve the role or parts of the role. The purpose would be for more efficiency and alignment in conjunction with the housing strategic priority. That would be brought back for consideration outside of this ordinance amendment process.
• The Planning Commission is not required and there are various options that Council could take to replace it, including making it a City department.
• The Zoning Board of Appeals is required by statute, but the Council could take on the responsibilities of, and powers, given to the board.
• All other boards are not required and could be changed with updates to code.
If boards/commission were eliminated would that put more work on Council?
It has been suggested that the EDA and the HRA could be consolidated or merged to have a shared board. This would likely increase council work but if the EDA were used as advisory in some of the processes it could streamline the work. Since Council also meets more regularly that could expedite processes and direction to staff.
Otherwise, staff does not foresee that combining or eliminating some boards or commission would create more work for Council, since most of the more critical initiatives coming though boards and commissions do eventually end up on a Council agenda. However, there are likely some scenarios that Council could consider that might have a greater impact on Council work.
Should Council have interest in discussing the consolidation or elimination of other boards or commissions further, staff would be able to determine a greater impact to Council based on specific scenarios that are discussed.
The role of Council liaisons on various boards/commissions allows that member to provide updates to keep the entire Council informed.
Staff have plans to increase communication of what the city’s boards and commissions are working on. The annual update from each board and commission, which has been compiled for the last two years for the October board and commission training, will continue. This update provides a high-level update of what each board and commission has done over the last year and what initiatives they have planned for the upcoming year. A reference to this update has been added to the code.
In addition, staff are looking at ways to improve the monthly City Administrator’s Memo to include more details on board and commission work.
Alternative Options:
Council can choose not to approve this ordinance or make changes to any relevant section of code prior to the second reading.
Financial Impacts:
N/A
Tentative Timelines:
First Reading July 1, 2025
Arts and Culture Commission Review July 14, 2025
Second Reading July 22, 2025*
Summary Publication July 30, 2025
Ordinance Takes Effect August 29, 2025
*Alternate option to move to August depending on hospital feedback