St. Paul, Minnesota — Today, the Minnesota House of Representatives unanimously passed HF 1981, a bill chief authored by state Representative John Ward (DFL – Baxter) that deals with a snowplowing issue involving undeveloped land and the city of Jenkins. The League of Minnesota Cities supported the bill on behalf of the city of Jenkins and the issue affects cities across the state.
In 2009, the Legislature passed a law providing permissive authority for local road authorities to remove snow from unopened or private roads in uncompleted subdivisions containing five or more lots provided such removal was necessary to provide access for buses, public works vehicles or emergency response vehicles. The local road authority was granted the authority to impose a reasonable and proportional fee upon the properties located within the subdivision. The sunset was extended for one year last year, and that sunset now approaches: May 2, 2014.
This bill would eliminate the sunset clause, making it possible for local road authorities to pass annual resolutions stating their intent to remove snow from such subdivisions.
“This is a permanent fix to a problem the city of Jenkins has been facing for quite some time,” said Rep. Ward. “I’m very pleased the bill passed unanimously and am hopeful the Senate will pass the bill soon so we can get it to Governor Dayton to be signed into law.”
State Senator Carrie Ruud (R – Breezy Point) is the chief author of the bill in the Senate.