HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Legislative Review Committee - 04/14/2004 -r
LEGISLATIVE REVIEW COMMITTEE
Meeting Summary
April14,2004
Legislative Review Committee present:Ray Martinez,Marty Tharp
Staff present:Diane Jones,Ron Phillips,Steve Roy,Mark Radtke
The meeting was called to order at 8:15 a.m.
MEETING SUMMARY
The meeting summary for the March 24,2004 Legislative Review Committee meeting
was approved as written.
UPDATES ON BILLS
Mark Radtke provided a progress report on several bills the Committee has been
following this session.
-RB 1021 has moved to the Senate.The bill now lowers the BAC for DUI to .08,
allows cities to permit alcohol tastings at retail outlets,and allows diners to
transport partially consumer bottles of wine.Mayor Martinez explained his
continued opposition to the tastings provision.He said it invites young adults to
take advantage of free samples at multiple outlets and then drive.
-RB 1203 will come before the Senate State Affairs Committee this afternoon As
approved by the House,the bill now only limits the transfer of condemned
property to private interests in regard to Urban Renewal.There are also several
exceptions where a condemned piece of URA property could be transferred to
private owners.CML continues to fight the bill because of the limits it places on
Urban Renewal Authorities.
-HB 1367 has moved to the Senate floor for action.Amendments to the bill will
require areas seceding from a library district to continue to pay existing bonds.
-RB 1374 has moved to the House floor.The amended bill allows water districts
to have a sales tax,but only through an agreement with the appropriate local
government.
-RB 1385 was defeated in House Loci )vernment Committee.The bill would
have granted landlords protection from actions resulting from the behavior of
their tenants.Assistant City Manager Darin Atteberry testified in opposition to
the measure at the committee hearing.
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-HR 1396 is a bill that would prohibit local government from charging business
fees that are not uniform for all businesses.The exception would be for fees
directly linked to costs generated by one type of business.Steve Roy said the
broad and vague wording of the bill could affect City impact fees or the City’s
ability to negotiation development fees with builders to encourage affordable
housing.He said limiting the bill language to “regulatory fees”would fix the bill.
Mayor Martinez suggested a letter describing our suggested changes be sent to
appropriate legislators.The Committee adopted that suggestion.
-SB 199 would require city building inspectors to enforce rules on crane operator
certification.Mr.Radtke relayed information from the City building department
saying the bill would require us to create an enforcement mechanism to check the
certification of crane operators.It would also create a liability exposure if we
failed to make the inspections.Mr.Radtke said he believes the votes are there to
kill the bill in Senate Business Affairs this afternoon
DISCUSSION OF NEW BILLS
liE 1435 has been introduced by the health department.Mr.Radtke said based on
Council policy the City is pursuing an amendment to the bill that would extend the
vehicle emission inspection program until it can be determined what effect the program
has on reducing ozone pollution.He noted at the same time we are pursuing a
commitment from the Department Public Health that would substitute for such an
amendment.Councilmember Tharp agreed this was important to pursue as we need to
play a role in meeting EPA air quality standards.Mayor Martinez noted that much of
Fort Collins problem comes from pollutants entering the City from other areas.Ms.
Tharp said while pollution does travel in a wide area we can contribute to the solution by
controlling our sources.
CLEAR ACT
Mr.Radtke reported there is no change in status for either the House or Senate version of
the federal CLEAR Act (Hit 2671 and S.1906).
FUTURE MEETINGS
The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Legislative Review Committee will be 8:15
a.m.,Wednesday,May 12 in the City Manager’s Conference Room.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:58 a.m