City Council Meeting Date: September 9, 2025
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Ben Martig, City Administrator
Sara Hoffman, Deputy City Clerk/Executive Assistant
Title
Consider Second Reading of Ordinance 1081 Amending City Code Chapter 2, Related to City Boards and Commissions.
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council will Consider Second Reading of Ordinance 1081 Amending City Code Chapter 2, Related to City Boards and Commissions.
Summary Report:
The City Council received a presentation at the July 1st meeting regarding the updates below. The Council voted to postpone the first reading of Ordinance 1081 to allow staff time to make changes in response to Council feedback. Staff updated the ordinance draft and presented the changes to the Council at the August 4th meeting. Council approved the first reading at that meeting. Per a request from the Northfield Hospital + Clinics CEO, some changes to the Hospital Board section have been removed from the second reading. The City and Hospital will discuss further and bring edits with the next round of code updates. There are some amendments planned for a first reading at the second meeting in September with proposed changes in board and commissions as proposed at the last budget meeting. An updated draft of the second reading for this item with these edits has been attached.
A summary publication for Ordinance 1081 is a separate item on the consent agenda for this meeting.
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.
Additional changes were made after the July 1st meeting related to the hospital.
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.
At the July 1st meeting, the Council provided feedback related to the role of City Council members on the City’s boards and commission and the logistics of determining which boards/commissions/committees the Council shall serve on. Per Council direction, the following changes have been made. These changes can be found in the updated draft and clean ordinance (attachments 1 and 2).
• The term “Council Liaison” is no longer being used in the attached ordinance. It has been replaced with “Council Member Roles.”
• Clarification on the roles of “voting” and “advisory” Council member roles on boards, commissions, and committees has been added. If Council is interested in only allowing voting roles, staff can remove the sentence on advisory roles prior to the second reading.
• A sentence has been added to clarify that, unless noted in enabling legislation, state statute, or agreements only one Council member shall serve an individual board, commission, or committee at one time.
• Wording has been added to explain that annually, prior to the board/commission appointment process, the Council will collectively determine which boards or commissions, in addition to those required by state statute, agreement, or enabling legislation, a Council member shall serve on. Please note that specific boards, commissions, and committees are not called out in code, but instead will be monitored internally so changes can be made annually to those not required by statute.
If Council approves of the changes, an agenda item will be added tentatively in October for Council to discuss Council roles on boards, commissions, and committees for 2026.
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.
There were some questions after the July 1st meeting regarding the logistics of the change in appointment timeline and member terms. Staff proposes that once the ordinance has been approved, the Council will vote to change all term end dates from December 31st to April 30th. The Mayor will then send a letter to all current board/commission members notifying them of the change. For those members with terms ending December 31, 2025, they will be asked to confirm if they are okay to remain through April 2026 or if they would prefer to end their term at the initially designated time.
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.
There were some questions at the July 1st meeting regarding the inclusion of the 1% for the Arts section in the ordinance with board and commission governance updates. The 1% for the Arts section is currently contained within the Arts and Culture Commission section of code. The intent is to remove it from this section and place it in a standalone section. Therefore, staff felt it was best to make the adjustment at the same time as the board and commission updates, since the same section of code is impacted.
Staff has kept the 1% for the Arts section the same as the version provided at the July 1st meeting but offers an alternative motion where an annual cap be added. If Council wishes to proceed with this, staff will make the desired changes prior to the second reading.
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.
1% for the Arts
Council may wish to amend this to include an annual cap on contributions to the arts fund in the event multiple projects are considered which would generate the maximum contribution.
In the event that more than one project budget in the same year would contribute the maximum amount to the arts fund, an annual cap of $750,000 total would be placed on eligible funds for that year.
Financial Impacts:
N/A
Tentative Timelines:
ü Arts and Culture Commission Review July 14, 2025
ü First Reading August 4, 2025
• Second Reading September 9, 2025
• Summary Publication September 17, 2025
• Ordinance Takes Effect October 17, 2025