HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 292AN ORDINANCE PROVIDING FOR CIVIL DEFENSE AND FOR PROTECTZON
~ND PPD~OTION OF PUBLIC S.~FETY, HELATH, AND ~LFARE IN THE
CITY OF COLb~BIA HEIGHTS DURING CIVIL' DEI'~NSE D~RGENCIES.
The City Council of Columbia Heights does ordain:
Section l. Policy' and ..Purp0s_e: Subdi%~sion 1. Because of the
existing and increasing possibility of the occurrence of disasters of un-
precedented size and destructiveness resulting from enemy attack~ sabotage,
other hostile action~ or any other disaster, and in order to insure that
preparations of this city will be adequate to deal with such disasters, and
generally to provide for the common dsfense and to protect the public peace,
health, and safety, and to preserve the lives mud property of the people of
this city, it is hereby found and declared to be necessary:
(a) To establish a local civil defense agency;
(b) To provide for the exerc~ise of necessary powers during
civil defense emergencies;
(c) To provide for the rendering of mutual aid between this
city and other political subdivisions of this state mud of other
states with respect to the carrying out of civil defense f~zuction.
Subd. 2o It is further declared to be the purpose of this ordinance
and the p?licy ~ th~ city that all civil defeuse fzmctions of this city
be coordinated to the maximum extent practicable with the comparable i~nc-
tious of the feder~ government, of this state, snd of other states and
l~c~lities, and of' Private 'a~encies of every tp~0e, to the end that the most
effective preparations and. use .may be made of the nation's manpower, re-
sources, and facili{ies for dealing with an~f disaster that may occur.
Sec. 2. Definitions. As used in this ordinance:
Subdivision l. "Civil Defense" means the preparation for and the
carrying out of all emergency functions~ other than functions fo~ ¥~ich
military forces are primar.ily responsible, to prevent, minimize and repair
injury and damage resulting from disasters caused by enemy attack, sabotage
or other hostile action. These functions include, without limitation,
fire-fighting services, police services~ medical an~ health services,
rescue, engineering, air-raid warning services, communications, radiolo-
gical, chemical and other special W~pons defense, evacuation of persons
from stricken areas, emergency welfare services, emergency transportation~
existing or properly assigned ~functions of plant protection, temporary
restoration of Public utility services, and other functions related to
civilian protection, togebher with all other activities necessary or inci-
dental to preparation for and carrying out of the foregoing functions°
8ubdo 2. "Civil defense emergency" means an emergency declared
by the governor under the ~.innesota Civil Defense Act of 19~l, Laws 19~l,
Ch. 692, Sec. ~O1o
Subd. 3. ~Civil defense forces" means any personnel employed
by the city aud any other volunteer of the local civil defense agency engaged
in carrying on civil defense functions in accordance with the provisions of
this ordinance or any rule or ot~er therunder.
Sec° 3. Su~d.~ l~. Establishement of Civil Defense Agency°
There is hereby created within the city government a civil defense agency~
which shall be under the supervision and control of a director of civil
defense~ hereinafter called the director. The director shall be appointed
by the mayor and shall serve for an indefinite term. In a civil defense
emergency he may ~be removed by the mayor summarily or suspended; at other
times he may be removed by the mayor for cause after an opportunity to be
heard. He shall serve without salary, but shall be ~ paid his necessary
expenses. The director shall have direct responsibilitysfor the organization,
administration and operation of the~.civil defense agency, subject to the
direction and control of the mayor. The civil defense agency shall be
organized into such divisions and bureaus, consistent with state and local
civil defense plans, as the director deems necessary to provide for the
efficient~ performance of local civil defense f~mctions during a Civil
defense emergency.
Subdo 2. There is hereby created within the civil defense agency
a civil defense advisory committee, hereinafter called the "committee,,.
Members of the committee shall be appointed by the mayor to represent city
departments and other groups concerned with civil defense. The mayor shall
be chairman and director~-shall be secretary of the com~aittee. The committee
shall advise the director and the city council on all matters pertaining to
civil defense. Each member shall serve without compensation and shall hold
office at the pleasure of the mayor~
.Sec.. 2. Powers and Duties of the .. Director ~ Subdv. l. The director,
with the consent of the mayor~ shall represent the city on any regional or
state organization for civil defense° He shall develop proposed mutual aid
agreements with other political subdivisions within or outside the state for
reciprocal civil defense aid and assistance in a civil defense emergency too
great to be dealt with unassisted, and he shall present such agreements to
the council for its action. Such arrangements shall be consistent ;~th the
state civil defense plan and during a civil defense emergency, it shall be
the duty of the civil defense agency and civil defense forces to render
assistance in accordance with the provisions of such mutual aid arrangements.
Any mutual a~'d arrangement with a political subdivision of another state shall
be .subject to the approval of the governor.
.. ~:~.~1 Subdo 2. The director shall make such studies and suryeys o~ the
manPower, industries, resources, mud facilities of the city as he deems
necessary to determine their adequacy for civil defense and to/Dlan for their
most efficient use in time of a civil defense emergency.
Subd. ~. The director shall prepare a comprehensive general plan .
for the civil defense of the city and shall present such plan to the cotmcil
for its approval. ~Mhen the council has approved the plan, by resolution~
it shall be t.he duty of all municipal agencies and all civil defense forces
of the city to perform the duties and functions assigned by the plan as
approved. The plan may be modified in like manner from t.tme to time. The
director shall coordinate the civil defense activities of the city to .the
end that they shall be c~nsistent and fully integrated with the civil
defense plan of the federal government and the state and correlated with
the civil defense plans of other political subdivisions within the state.
Subdo h. In accordance with the state and city civil defense
plan, the director shall institute such training programs and public in-
formation programs and shall take all other preparatory steps, including the
partial or full mobilization of civil defense forces in advance of actual
disaster, as ~ay be necessary to the prompt and effective oper~.tion of the
city civil defense plan iu time of a civil defense emergency° He may,
from td~e to time, conduct such practice air-raid ~lerts or other civil
defense exercises as he may deem necessary..
Subd. ~. ?ne director shall utilize the personnel, services,
equipment, supplies and facilities of existing departments and agencies
of the city to the max~m extent practicable. T~e officers and personnel
of all such departments and agencies shall, to the maximum extent practicable,
cooperate with and exteud such services and facilities to the local civil
defense agency and to the governor upon r~uesto The head of each department
and agency, in cooperation with ~nd under the direction of the director,
shall be responsible for the planning and progrmming of such civil defense
activities as w~l Luvolve the utilization of the facilities of his depart-
ment or agency.
~ Subd~ ~o The director shall~ in cooperation with existing city
departments and agencies affected, orEa~i~e, recruit, and train block
wardens, auxiliary police, auxiliary firemen, emergency medical personnel,
carry out the civil defense plans of the city and the state° T~ the extent
that such emergency persor~uel is recruited to augment a regula~~ city depart-
ment or agency for civil defense emergencies, it shall be assigned to such
department o~ agency for purposes of administration ~ud co~umando The director
may dismiss an~ ciwil defense volunteer at ~uy time and require him to
surrender any equipment and identification furnished by the city.
Subd. 7. Consistent with the civil defense plan, the director
shall provide and equip casualty stations, ambulances, canteens~ evacuation
centers ~nd other facilities, or conveyances for the care of injured or
homeless persons.
Subd. 8. T~e director shall carry out all orders~ rules and
regulations issued by the governor with reference to civil defense.
Subd. 9. The director shall direct and coordinate the general
operations of ~ll local civil defense forces during a civil defense emergency
in conformity with controlling regulations and instructions of state civil
defense authorities.~/ The heads of departments and agencies shall be governed
by his order~ in respect thereto.
Subd. 10. Consistent with the civil defense plan, t~e director
shall provide and equip at some suitable place in the city a control center
and, if required by the state civil defense plan, an auxiliary control center
to be used during a civil defense emergency as headquarters for direction
and coordination of civil defense forces. Me shall arrange for representa-
tion at the control center by municipal departments and agencies, public
utilities and other agencies ~uthorized by federal or state authority to
carry on civil defense activities d~ring~ a civil defense emergency. He
shall arrange for t~e installation at the control center o~ necessary
facilitie~ for commu~.ication with and bet~en hezd of civil defense divisions,
the stations and operating units of municipal services and other agencie~
~concerned with civil defense and for communication with other communities
and control centers within the surround.~ng area mud with the federal and
state agencies concerned°
Subdo ll. During the firs% 30 days of a civil defense emergency,
the director may, when necessa~ to save life or property, require any
person, except members of the federal or state military forces and officers
of the state or a political subdivision, to perform services for civil
defense purposes as he directs, and he may co~mmandeer, for the time being,
any motor vehicle, tools, appliances or' any other .property, subject to the
owner's right to Just compensation as provided by law.
Sec. 5. General Provisions on Civil Defense ~rkers. Subdv.1.
No person shall be employed or associated in any capacity in the civil defense
agency who advocates or had advocated a change by force or violence in the
constitutional form of government of the United States or in this state or
the overthrow of any government in the United States by force or violence,
or ~ho has been convicted of or is under indictment for information charging
any subversive act against the United States. Each person who is appointed
to serve in.the 6ivil defense agency shall, before entering upon his duties,
take an oath in ~miting as pre, scribed by the Ninnesota Civil Defense Act of
19~l~ Section ~03.
Subd. 2. Civil defense volunteers shall be called into service only
in case of a civil defense emergency for which the regular municipal forces
are inadequate, or for necessary training and preparation for such emergencies,
All volunteers shall serve v~thout compensation.
/
Subdo 3. Each civil defense volunteer shall be provided with such
suitable insignia or other identification as may. be required by the director.
Such identification shall be in a form and style approved by the federal
government.. No volunteer sha!l exercise any authority over the persons or
property of others without his identification. No person except an authorized
voluntee,r shall use the identification of a volunteer or otherv~se represent
~m~.?..f to be an a~,thorized volunteer°
Subd. 2. No civil defense volunteer shall carry any firearm while
on duty exeept on written order of the chief of the police department.
Subd. 5. Personnel procedures of the city applicable to regular
employees shall not apply to volunteer civil defense workers.
Sec. 6. Emergency Regulations. Subdivision 1. ¥~enever necessary
to mee~ a civil defense emergency or to prepare for such an emergency for
which adequate regulations have not been a~opted by the governor or the
city council, the mayor may b~ proclamation promulgate regulations, consistent
with applicable federal or state law or regulation respecting: protection
against air-raids; the sounding of air-raid alarms; the conduct of Dersons
a~eand the use of property during alarms; the repair, maintenance, and
safeguarding of essential public services; emergency health, fire, and safety
regulations; trial drills or practice periods required for preliminary
training; and all other matters which are required to protect public safety,
health, and welfare in civil defense emergencies. No regulation governing
observation of enemy aircraft, air attack, alarms, or illumination during
air attacks shall be adopted or take effect unless approved by the state
director of civil defense.
Subd. 2o Every proclamation of emergency regulations shall be in
writing and signed by the mayor, shall be dated, shall refer to the particular
civil defense emergency to which it pertains, if so limited, and shall be
filed in the office of the city clerk, where a copy shal~be kept posted and
available for public inspection during business hours. Notice of the existence
of such regulation and its availability for inspection at the clerk's office
shall be conspicuously posted at the front of ~he city hall or other head-
quarters of the city and at such other places in the affected area as the
mayor shall designate in the proclamation. Thereupon the regulation ~hall
take effect immediately or at sUch later time as may be specified in the
proclamation. By like proclamation the mayor may modify or recind any such
8~
regulation.
Subd. 3. The'city council may resaind any such regulation by
resolution at any time. tf not sooner'rescinded, every such regulation
~hall expire at the end of 30 days after its effective date or at the end
Of the civil'defense mmergency, to which it relates, whichever occurs Tirst.
Any ordinance, rule o~ regulation inconsistent 'with &u emergency regulation
promulgated by the mayor shall be' suspended ~during the period of time and
to the extent that such conflict exists~~
Sec. 7. Civil Defense Agency Prodedure. There is hereby established
in the city treasury a special fund to he known as the civil defense fund.
Into this fund shall be placed the proceeds of taxes levied for civil defense,
money transferred from other funds, gifts and other revenues of the civil
defense agency. From it shall be made expenditures for the operation and
maintenance of the civil defense agency and other expenditures for civil
defense. Regular accounting, disbursement, purchasing, budgeting and other
financial procedures of the city shall apply to the civil defense fund
insofar as practibable; but budgeting requirements and other financial pre-
cedu~s shall not apply to expenditures from the fund during 1951 or in any
case ~hen their application will prevent compliance %dth ter~s and conditions
of a federal or state grant of money or property for civil defense purposes.
Sec. 8. Conformity and Cooperation with Federal and State Authority.
Every officer and agency of the city shall cooperate with federal and state
authorities and with authorized agencies engaged in civil defense and emer-
gency measures to the fulles{ possible extent consistent with the performance
of their other duties. The provisions of this ordinance and of all regulations
made therunder~shall be subject to all applicable and controlling provisions
of federal and state laws and of regulations and orders issued thereunder
and shall be deemed to be suspended and inoperative so far as ~ere is any
conflict therewith. The chief of police may appoint any qualified'person
hold%D~ a ~osition ~n any a~encv created under f~der~ ~r ~+,~ ~+,~+,~
for civil defense purposes as a special policeman of the city v~th such
police powers and duties within the city incident to the functions of his
position, not exceeding those of a regular policeman of the city as may be
prescribed in the appointment. Every such special policeman shall be subject
to the supervision and ~control of the chief of police and such other police
officers of the city as the chief may designate°
Sec. 9. Civil Defense A G6vernmental Function. All functions
hereunder and all' other activities relating to civil defense are hereby
declared to be governmental functions. The city and, except in cases of
wilful misconduct, its officers, agents, employees, or representatives en-
gaged in any civil defense acbivities, vhile complying ~rlth or attempting to
~Dmply with the ~innesota Civil Defense Act of 1991 or with this ordinance
or any rule, regulation or order made thereunder, shall not be liable for
the death of or any injury to persons, or damage to property as a result of
such activity. The p~ovisions of this section shall not affect the right of
any person to receive benefits to ~ich he ~ould otherwise be entitled under
this ordinance or under the workmen's compensation law, or under any pension
law, nor th% right of any such person to receive any benefits or compensation
under any act of Congress.
Sec. 'lO. Prohibited ill,rumination a Nuisance. .&ny illumination
w/thin the city contrary to the provisions of this or any other ordinance
pertaining to civil defense or of any regulation adopted thereunder or of
any federal or state law, regulation, or order shall be deemed a public
nuisance o Any regular or auxiliary policeman or block ~arden may abate
such nuisance summmrily or may take any other action necessary to enforee
such provisions, including entr~y on private property and the use of v~nat-
ever reasonable force is necessary'.
Sec. 11. Participation in Labor Dispute or Politics. The civil
defense agency shall not participate in any form of political activity, nor
shall it be employed directly or indirectly for political purposes, nor shall
it be employed in a legitimate labor dispute.
Sec. 12. penalty. Any person who violates any provision of this
ordinance or of any regulation adopted there~uader relating to acts, omissions,
or conduct other thau official acts of city officers or employees shall be
gUilty of a misdemeanor, and upon conviction shall be p~nished by a fine of
not more than $100o or by imprisonment for not more than 90 days. ~
Adopted by the coun6i! this ~Tth day oft~ovembe~ 19 8! ·
Attest:
Offered by Lange
Seconded by De~ble
Roll Call - All Ayes.
Secretary to coUncil