Minnesota Session Laws - 1990, Regular Session

  

                         Laws of Minnesota 1990 

                        CHAPTER 572-H.F.No. 2162 
           An act relating to the operation of state government; 
          changing certain procedures and limits for contracts 
          with the state; creating a cooperative purchasing 
          revolving fund; directing commissioner of 
          administration to consider making state-owned space 
          available for a workplace school; establishing an 
          advisory task force; authorizing reimbursement of 
          certain expenses; changing certain vehicle marking and 
          color provisions; clarifying certain transfer 
          authority; permitting exemptions from building and 
          other codes to preserve historic state buildings; 
          exempting certain land transfers from certain reviews; 
          providing for certain intergovernmental agreements; 
          amending Minnesota Statutes 1988, sections 16B.09, 
          subdivision 5; 16B.17, subdivisions 3 and 4; 16B.24, 
          subdivisions 5 and 10; 16B.41, subdivision 4; 16B.58, 
          subdivision 7; 16B.60, by adding subdivisions; 471.59, 
          subdivision 1; Minnesota Statutes 1989 Supplement, 
          sections 16B.28, subdivision 3; 16B.54, subdivision 2; 
          40.46, subdivision 1; proposing coding for new law in 
          Minnesota Statutes, chapter 16B. 
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 16B.09, 
subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 5.  [COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS PURCHASING REVOLVING 
FUND.] The cooperative purchasing revolving fund is a separate 
account in the state treasury.  The commissioner may charge a 
fee to cover the commissioner's administrative expenses to 
government units that have joint or cooperative purchasing 
agreements with the state under section 471.59.  The fees 
collected must be deposited in the revolving fund established by 
this subdivision.  Money in the fund is appropriated to the 
commissioner to administer the programs and services covered by 
this section. 
    Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 16B.17, 
subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 3.  [DUTIES OF CONTRACTING AGENCY.] Before an agency 
may seek approval of a consultant or professional and technical 
services contract valued in excess of $2,000 $5,000, it must 
certify to the commissioner that:  
    (1) no state employee is able to perform the services 
called for by the contract; 
    (2) the normal competitive bidding mechanisms will not 
provide for adequate performance of the services; 
    (3) the services are not available as a product of a prior 
consultant or professional and technical services contract, and 
the contractor has certified that the product of the services 
will be original in character; 
    (4) reasonable efforts were made to publicize the 
availability of the contract; 
    (5) the agency has received, reviewed, and accepted a 
detailed work plan from the contractor for performance under the 
contract; and 
    (6) the agency has developed, and fully intends to 
implement, a written plan providing for the assignment of 
specific agency personnel to a monitoring and liaison function; 
the periodic review of interim reports or other indications of 
past performance, and the ultimate utilization of the final 
product of the services.  
    Sec. 3.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 16B.17, 
subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 4.  [REPORTS.] After completion of performance under 
a consultant or professional and technical services contract, 
the agency shall evaluate the performance under the contract and 
the utility of the final product.  This evaluation must be 
delivered to the commissioner, who shall retain all the 
evaluations for future reference.  The commissioner shall submit 
to the governor and the legislature a monthly listing of all 
contracts for consultant services and for professional and 
technical services executed or disapproved in the preceding 
month.  The report must identify the parties and the contract 
amount, duration, and tasks to be performed.  The commissioner 
shall also issue quarterly reports summarizing the contract 
review activities of the department during the preceding quarter.
    Sec. 4.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 16B.24, 
subdivision 5, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 5.  [RENTING OUT STATE PROPERTY.] (a)  [ AUTHORITY.] 
The commissioner may rent out state property, real or personal, 
that is not needed for public use, if the rental is not 
otherwise provided for or prohibited by law.  The property may 
not be rented out for more than five years at a time without the 
approval of the state executive council and may never be rented 
out for more than 25 years.  A rental agreement may provide that 
the state will reimburse a tenant for a portion of capital 
improvements that the tenant makes to state real property if the 
state does not permit the tenant to renew the lease at the end 
of the rental agreement. 
    (b)  [RESTRICTIONS.] Paragraph (a) does not apply to state 
trust fund lands, other state lands under the jurisdiction of 
the department of natural resources, lands forfeited for 
delinquent taxes, lands acquired under section 298.22, or lands 
acquired under section 41.56 which are under the jurisdiction of 
the department of agriculture.  
    (c)  [FORT SNELLING CHAPEL; RENTAL.] The Fort Snelling 
Chapel, located within the boundaries of Fort Snelling State 
Park, is available for use only on payment of a rental fee.  The 
commissioner shall establish rental fees for both public and 
private use.  The rental fee for private use by an organization 
or individual must reflect the reasonable value of equivalent 
rental space.  Rental fees collected under this section must be 
deposited in the general fund.  
    (d)  [RENTAL OF LIVING ACCOMMODATIONS.] The commissioner 
shall establish rental rates for all living accommodations 
provided by the state for its employees.  Money collected as 
rent by state agencies pursuant to this paragraph must be 
deposited in the state treasury and credited to the general fund.
    (e)  [LEASE OF SPACE IN CERTAIN STATE BUILDINGS TO STATE 
AGENCIES.] The commissioner may lease portions of the state 
owned buildings in the capitol complex, the capitol square 
building, the health building, and the building at 1246 
University Avenue, St. Paul, Minnesota, to state agencies and 
charge rent on the basis of space occupied.  Notwithstanding any 
law to the contrary, all money collected as rent pursuant to the 
terms of this section shall be deposited in the state treasury. 
Money collected as rent to recover the depreciation cost of a 
building built with state dedicated funds shall be credited to 
the dedicated fund which funded the original acquisition or 
construction.  All other money received shall be credited to the 
general services revolving fund.  
    Sec. 5.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 16B.24, 
subdivision 10, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 10.  [CHILD CARE SERVICES CARE/WORK-PLACE SCHOOL 
SPACE.] For state office space that is leased, purchased, or 
substantially remodeled after August 1, 1988, the commissioner 
shall consider including space usable for child care services or 
for a workplace school.  Child care Space must be included if 
the commissioner determines that it is needed and that it could 
be provided at reasonable cost.  The commissioner may prepare a 
day care site sites as a common usage space for the capitol 
complex. 
    Sec. 6.  Minnesota Statutes 1989 Supplement, section 
16B.28, subdivision 3, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 3.  [REVOLVING FUND.] (a)  [CREATION.] The materials 
distribution revolving fund is a separate fund in the state 
treasury.  All money relating to the resource recovery program 
established under section 115A.15, subdivision 1, all money 
resulting from the acquisition, acceptance, warehousing, 
distribution, and public sale of surplus property, and all money 
resulting from the sale of centrally acquired, warehoused, and 
distributed supplies, materials, and equipment, and all money 
relating to the cooperative purchasing venture established under 
section 471.59 must be deposited in the fund.  Money paid into 
the materials distribution revolving fund is appropriated to the 
commissioner for the purposes of the programs and services 
referred to in this section.  
    (b)  [TRANSFER OR SALE TO STATE AGENCY.] When the state or 
an agency operating under a legislative appropriation obtains 
surplus property from the commissioner, the commissioner of 
finance must, at the commissioner's request, transfer the cost 
of the surplus property, including any expenses of acquiring, 
accepting, warehousing, and distributing the surplus property, 
from the appropriation of the state agency receiving the surplus 
property to the materials distribution revolving fund.  The 
determination of the commissioner is final as to the cost of the 
surplus property to the state agency receiving the property.  
    (c)  [TRANSFER OR SALE TO OTHER GOVERNMENTAL UNITS OR 
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATIONS.] When any governmental unit or 
nonprofit organization other than a state agency receives 
surplus property, supplies, materials, or equipment from the 
commissioner, the governmental unit or nonprofit organization 
must reimburse the materials distribution revolving fund for the 
cost of the property, including the expenses of acquiring, 
accepting, warehousing, and distributing it, in an amount the 
commissioner sets.  The commissioner may, however, require the 
governmental unit or nonprofit organization to deposit in 
advance in the materials distribution revolving fund the cost of 
the surplus property, supplies, materials, and equipment upon 
mutually agreeable terms and conditions.  The commissioner may 
charge a fee to political subdivisions and nonprofit 
organizations to establish their eligibility for receiving the 
property and to pay for costs of storage and distribution. 
    Sec. 7.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 16B.41, 
subdivision 4, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 4.  [ADVISORY TASK FORCE.] The commissioner must 
appoint a state information systems advisory task force to help 
develop and coordinate a state information architecture that is 
consistent with the information management direction developed 
by the information policy council, and make recommendations to 
the commissioner concerning the progress, direction, and needs 
of the state's information systems.  The task force must include 
representatives of state agencies, the supreme court, higher 
education systems, librarians, local government, and private 
industry.  The task force must also have two members of the 
house of representatives appointed by the speaker of the house 
and two members of the senate appointed by the senate committee 
on committees.  No more than one member from the house of 
representatives and one from the senate shall be chosen from the 
same political party.  The task force expires and the terms, 
compensation, and removal of nonlegislative members are as 
provided in section 15.059, but the task force does not expire 
until June 30, 1993. 
    Sec. 8.  Minnesota Statutes 1989 Supplement, section 
16B.54, subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 2.  [VEHICLES.] (a)  [ACQUISITION FROM AGENCY; 
APPROPRIATION.] The commissioner may direct an agency to make a 
transfer of a passenger motor vehicle or truck presently 
assigned to it.  The transfer must be made to the commissioner 
for use in the central motor pool.  The commissioner shall 
reimburse an agency whose motor vehicles have been paid for with 
funds dedicated by the constitution for a special purpose and 
which are assigned to the central motor pool.  The amount of 
reimbursement for a motor vehicle is its average wholesale price 
as determined from the midwest edition of the national 
automobile dealers association official used car guide. 
       (b)  [PURCHASE.] To the extent that funds are available for 
the purpose, the commissioner may purchase or otherwise acquire 
additional passenger motor vehicles and trucks necessary for the 
central motor pool.  The title to all motor vehicles assigned to 
or purchased or acquired for the central motor pool is in the 
name of the department of administration.  
       (c)  [TRANSFER AT AGENCY REQUEST.] On the request of an 
agency, the commissioner may transfer to the central motor pool 
any passenger motor vehicle or truck for the purpose of 
disposing of it.  The department or agency transferring the 
vehicle or truck shall be paid for it from the motor pool 
revolving account established by this section in an amount equal 
to two-thirds of the average wholesale price of the vehicle or 
truck as determined from the midwest edition of the National 
Automobile Dealers Association official used car guide. 
    (d)  [VEHICLES; MARKING.] The commissioner shall provide 
for the uniform marking of all motor vehicles.  Motor vehicle 
colors must be selected from the regular color chart provided by 
the manufacturer each year.  The commissioner may further 
provide by rule for the use of motor vehicles without uniform 
coloring or marking by the governor, the lieutenant governor, 
the division of criminal apprehension, division of gambling 
enforcement, arson investigators of the division of fire marshal 
in the department of public safety, financial institutions 
division of the department of commerce, division of state 
lottery in the department of gaming, criminal investigators of 
the department of revenue, state-owned community service 
facilities in the department of human services, and the office 
of the attorney general.  
    Sec. 9.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 16B.58, 
subdivision 7, is amended to read: 
    Subd. 7.  [SURCHARGE FOR VEHICLES OCCUPIED BY ONE PERSON.] 
The commissioner shall impose a surcharge of 25 percent for 
vehicles occupied by only one person parking in a state parking 
facility in the capitol area, as described by section 15.50, 
subdivision 2.  The revenue from this additional charge shall be 
placed by the commissioner in a special account.  For the 
benefit of employees employed in the capitol area, the money in 
the account is appropriated to the commissioner and shall be 
used by the commissioner in the following order of priority:  
(1) to acquire or lease commuter vans pursuant to section 
16B.56; (2) within limits and upon conditions the commissioner 
determines to be necessary, to reimburse state agencies for all 
costs resulting from agreements with the metropolitan transit 
commission or other operators pursuant to section 473.409, 
including costs related to employees employed outside the 
capitol area; and (3) to be used for maintaining and improving 
parking lots or facilities owned or operated by the state.  The 
commissioner may adopt rules necessary to administer the 
provisions of this subdivision, subdivision 5, and section 
473.409.  The rules may exempt from the surcharge vehicles 
operated by persons whom the commissioner determines have job 
requirements that make car pooling impractical. 
    Sec. 10.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 16B.60, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 9.  [HISTORIC BUILDING.] "Historic building" means a 
state-owned building that is on the national register of 
historic places. 
    Sec. 11.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 16B.60, is 
amended by adding a subdivision to read: 
    Subd. 10.  [EQUIVALENT PROTECTION.] "Equivalent protection" 
means a measure other than a code requirement that provides 
essentially the same protection that would be provided by a code 
requirement. 
    Sec. 12.  [16B.625] [EXEMPTIONS.] 
    The commissioner may exempt a part of a historic building 
occupied by the state from the state or another building, fire, 
safety, or other code if the exemption is necessary to preserve 
the historic or esthetic character of the building or to prevent 
theft, vandalism, terrorism, or another crime.  When the 
commissioner grants an exemption, the commissioner shall 
consider providing equivalent protection.  A certificate of 
occupancy may not be denied because of an exemption under this 
section. 
     Sec. 13.  Minnesota Statutes 1989 Supplement, section 
40.46, subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  [RESERVATION OF MARGINAL LAND AND 
WETLANDS.] (a) Notwithstanding any other law, marginal land and 
wetlands are withdrawn from sale by the state unless use of the 
marginal land or wetland is restricted by a conservation 
easement as provided in this section.  
    (b)  This section does not apply to transfers of land by 
the board of water and soil resources to correct errors in legal 
descriptions under section 40.43, subdivision 8, or to transfers 
by the commissioner of natural resources for: 
    (1) land that is currently in nonagricultural commercial 
use if a conservation easement would interfere with the 
commercial use; 
    (2) land in platted subdivisions; 
    (3) conveyances of land to correct errors in legal 
descriptions under section 84.0273; 
    (4) exchanges of nonagricultural land with the federal 
government, or exchanges of Class A, Class B, and Class C 
nonagricultural land with local units of government under 
sections 94.342, 94.343, 94.344, and 94.349; 
    (5) land transferred to political subdivisions for public 
purposes under sections 84.027, subdivision 10, and 94.10; and 
    (6) land not needed for trail purposes that is sold to 
adjacent property owners and lease holders under section 85.015, 
subdivision 1, paragraph (b). 
    (c) This section does not apply to transfers of land by the 
commissioner of administration for: 
    (1) land that is currently in nonagricultural commercial 
use if a conservation easement would interfere with the 
commercial use; or 
    (2) land transferred to political subdivisions for public 
purposes under sections 84.027, subdivision 10, and 94.10. 
    Sec. 14.  Minnesota Statutes 1988, section 471.59, 
subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
    Subdivision 1.  [AGREEMENT.] Two or more governmental 
units, by agreement entered into through action of their 
governing bodies, may jointly or cooperatively exercise any 
power common to the contracting parties or any similar powers, 
including those which are the same except for the territorial 
limits within which they may be exercised.  The agreement may 
provide for the exercise of such powers by one or more of the 
participating governmental units on behalf of the other 
participating units.  The term "governmental unit" as used in 
this section includes every city, county, town, school district, 
other political subdivision of this or any adjoining another 
state, another state, and any agency of the state of Minnesota 
or the United States, and includes any instrumentality of a 
governmental unit.  For the purpose of this section, an 
instrumentality of a governmental unit means an instrumentality 
having independent policy making and appropriating authority. 
    Presented to the governor April 26, 1990 
    Signed by the governor May 4, 1990, 11:44 p.m.