1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to eminent domain; modifying provisions 
  1.3             governing appointment of commissioners; providing for 
  1.4             hearing and notice requirements; amending Minnesota 
  1.5             Statutes 2000, sections 117.075; 469.012, subdivision 
  1.6             1. 
  1.7   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.8      Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 117.075, is 
  1.9   amended to read: 
  1.10     117.075 [COURT TO APPOINT COMMISSIONERS.] 
  1.11     Upon proof being filed of the service of such notice, the 
  1.12  court, at the time and place therein fixed or to which the 
  1.13  hearing may be adjourned, shall hear all competent evidence 
  1.14  offered for or against the granting of the petition, regulating 
  1.15  the order of proof as it may deem best.  If the proposed taking 
  1.16  shall appear to be necessary and such as is authorized by law, 
  1.17  the court by an order shall appoint three disinterested 
  1.18  commissioners, and at least two alternates, residents of the 
  1.19  county, to ascertain and report the amount of damages that will 
  1.20  be sustained by the several owners on account of such taking.  
  1.21     Before appointing a commissioner, the court shall inquire 
  1.22  whether each prospective commissioner has any relationship, 
  1.23  business or otherwise, to any of the parties in the proceeding, 
  1.24  or any interest in the proceeding which may constitute a 
  1.25  conflict of interest, or which may create the appearance of 
  1.26  impropriety should that person be appointed.  Responses to this 
  2.1   inquiry must be either written or on the record and made 
  2.2   available by the court to any party in the proceeding before and 
  2.3   after appointment.  No person who might have difficulty in 
  2.4   rendering an unbiased decision may be appointed to serve.  The 
  2.5   court, in its discretion, may appoint one registered, practicing 
  2.6   attorney to the commission who is knowledgeable in eminent 
  2.7   domain matters.  All other commissioners appointed must be 
  2.8   persons actively engaged in the occupation of real estate sales 
  2.9   or real estate appraising or persons knowledgeable in real 
  2.10  estate values.  The order shall fix the time and place of the 
  2.11  first meeting of the three commissioners and prescribe their 
  2.12  compensation.  At the first meeting at the office of the court 
  2.13  administrator of district court the appointees must be sworn by 
  2.14  the court administrator or an authorized deputy and shall take 
  2.15  and sign the following oath before assuming their duties as 
  2.16  commissioners: 
  2.17                       (TITLE OF PROCEEDING) 
  2.18     .................................  does swear under penalty 
  2.19     of perjury as follows: 
  2.20     I will faithfully and justly perform to the best of my 
  2.21     ability, all the duties of the office and trust which I now 
  2.22     assume as commissioner in the above entitled proceeding.  I 
  2.23     further swear that, except as disclosed in writing or on 
  2.24     the record, I have no interest in any of the lands in the 
  2.25     above proceeding or any present or past relationship, 
  2.26     business or personal, with any of the parties to the above 
  2.27     proceeding or any other actual or potential conflict of 
  2.28     interest, and that I will render fair and impartial 
  2.29     decisions, so help me God. 
  2.30     The order may, in the discretion of the court, limit the 
  2.31  title or easement to be acquired by the petitioner by defining 
  2.32  the rights and privileges which the owner of any of the lands 
  2.33  may exercise therein in subordination to the public uses to 
  2.34  which it is appropriated.  In case any commissioner fails to act 
  2.35  or fails to meet the qualifications required by this section, 
  2.36  the court without further notice may appoint another in that 
  3.1   commissioner's place.  
  3.2      The court administrator of court in each county shall post 
  3.3   in the courthouse in a prominent place a notice that a qualified 
  3.4   person may apply to have the person's name placed upon a list of 
  3.5   potential commission appointees for eminent domain proceedings. 
  3.6   The notice must contain the language of the oath which the 
  3.7   commissioners are required to take upon appointment and shall 
  3.8   list the other qualifications set forth in this section.  The 
  3.9   court shall give due consideration to the names appearing on the 
  3.10  list, but is not bound to make appointments from the list. 
  3.11     Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 2000, section 469.012, 
  3.12  subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  3.13     Subdivision 1.  [SCHEDULE OF POWERS.] An authority shall be 
  3.14  a public body corporate and politic and shall have all the 
  3.15  powers necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of 
  3.16  sections 469.001 to 469.047, except that the power to levy and 
  3.17  collect taxes or special assessments is limited to the power 
  3.18  provided in sections 469.027 to 469.033.  Its powers include the 
  3.19  following powers in addition to others granted in sections 
  3.20  469.001 to 469.047:  
  3.21     (1) to sue and be sued; to have a seal, which shall be 
  3.22  judicially noticed, and to alter it; to have perpetual 
  3.23  succession; and to make, amend, and repeal rules consistent with 
  3.24  sections 469.001 to 469.047; 
  3.25     (2) to employ an executive director, technical experts, and 
  3.26  officers, agents, and employees, permanent and temporary, that 
  3.27  it requires, and determine their qualifications, duties, and 
  3.28  compensation; for legal services it requires, to call upon the 
  3.29  chief law officer of the city or to employ its own counsel and 
  3.30  legal staff; so far as practicable, to use the services of local 
  3.31  public bodies in its area of operation, provided that those 
  3.32  local public bodies, if requested, shall make the services 
  3.33  available; 
  3.34     (3) to delegate to one or more of its agents or employees 
  3.35  the powers or duties it deems proper; 
  3.36     (4) within its area of operation, to undertake, prepare, 
  4.1   carry out, and operate projects and to provide for the 
  4.2   construction, reconstruction, improvement, extension, 
  4.3   alteration, or repair of any project or part thereof; 
  4.4      (5) subject to the provisions of section 469.026, to give, 
  4.5   sell, transfer, convey, or otherwise dispose of real or personal 
  4.6   property or any interest therein and to execute leases, deeds, 
  4.7   conveyances, negotiable instruments, purchase agreements, and 
  4.8   other contracts or instruments, and take action that is 
  4.9   necessary or convenient to carry out the purposes of these 
  4.10  sections; 
  4.11     (6) within its area of operation, to acquire real or 
  4.12  personal property or any interest therein by gifts, grant, 
  4.13  purchase, exchange, lease, transfer, bequest, devise, or 
  4.14  otherwise, and by the exercise of the power of eminent domain, 
  4.15  in the manner provided by chapter 117, to acquire real property 
  4.16  which it may deem necessary for its purposes, after the adoption 
  4.17  by it of a resolution declaring that the acquisition of the real 
  4.18  property is necessary to eliminate one or more of the conditions 
  4.19  found to exist in the resolution adopted pursuant to section 
  4.20  469.003 or to provide decent, safe, and sanitary housing for 
  4.21  persons of low and moderate income, or is necessary to carry out 
  4.22  a redevelopment project.  Real property needed or convenient for 
  4.23  a project may be acquired by the authority for the project by 
  4.24  condemnation pursuant to this section.  This includes Prior to 
  4.25  adoption of a resolution authorizing acquisition of property by 
  4.26  condemnation, the governing body of the authority must hold a 
  4.27  public hearing on the proposed acquisition after published 
  4.28  notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the 
  4.29  municipality, which must be made at least one time not less than 
  4.30  ten days nor more than 30 days prior to the date of the 
  4.31  hearing.  The notice must reasonably describe the property to be 
  4.32  acquired and state that the purpose of the hearing is to 
  4.33  consider acquisition by exercise of the authority's powers of 
  4.34  eminent domain.  Not less than ten days before the hearing, 
  4.35  notice of the hearing must also be mailed to the owner of each 
  4.36  parcel proposed to be acquired, but failure to give mailed 
  5.1   notice or any defects in the notice does not invalidate the 
  5.2   acquisition.  For the purpose of giving mailed notice, owners 
  5.3   are determined in accordance with section 429.031, subdivision 
  5.4   1, paragraph (a).  Property acquired by condemnation under this 
  5.5   section may include any property devoted to a public use, 
  5.6   whether or not held in trust, notwithstanding that the property 
  5.7   may have been previously acquired by condemnation or is owned by 
  5.8   a public utility corporation, because the public use in 
  5.9   conformity with the provisions of sections 469.001 to 469.047 
  5.10  shall be deemed a superior public use.  Property devoted to a 
  5.11  public use may be so acquired only if the governing body of the 
  5.12  municipality has approved its acquisition by the authority.  An 
  5.13  award of compensation shall not be increased by reason of any 
  5.14  increase in the value of the real property caused by the 
  5.15  assembly, clearance or reconstruction, or proposed assembly, 
  5.16  clearance or reconstruction for the purposes of sections 469.001 
  5.17  to 469.047 of the real property in an area; 
  5.18     (7) within its area of operation, and without the adoption 
  5.19  of an urban renewal plan, to acquire, by all means as set forth 
  5.20  in clause (6) but without the adoption of a resolution provided 
  5.21  for in clause (6), real property, and to demolish, remove, 
  5.22  rehabilitate, or reconstruct the buildings and improvements or 
  5.23  construct new buildings and improvements thereon, or to so 
  5.24  provide through other means as set forth in Laws 1974, chapter 
  5.25  228, or to grade, fill, and construct foundations or otherwise 
  5.26  prepare the site for improvements.  The authority may dispose of 
  5.27  the property pursuant to section 469.029, provided that the 
  5.28  provisions of section 469.029 requiring conformance to an urban 
  5.29  renewal plan shall not apply.  The authority may finance these 
  5.30  activities by means of the redevelopment project fund or by 
  5.31  means of tax increments or tax increment bonds or by the methods 
  5.32  of financing provided for in section 469.033 or by means of 
  5.33  contributions from the municipality provided for in section 
  5.34  469.041, clause (9), or by any combination of those means.  Real 
  5.35  property with buildings or improvements thereon shall only be 
  5.36  acquired under this clause when the buildings or improvements 
  6.1   are substandard.  The exercise of the power of eminent domain 
  6.2   under this clause shall be limited to real property which 
  6.3   contains, or has contained within the three years immediately 
  6.4   preceding the exercise of the power of eminent domain and is 
  6.5   currently vacant, buildings and improvements which are vacated 
  6.6   and substandard.  Notwithstanding the prior sentence, in cities 
  6.7   of the first class the exercise of the power of eminent domain 
  6.8   under this clause shall be limited to real property which 
  6.9   contains, or has contained within the three years immediately 
  6.10  preceding the exercise of the power of eminent domain, buildings 
  6.11  and improvements which are substandard.  For the purpose of this 
  6.12  clause, substandard buildings or improvements mean hazardous 
  6.13  buildings as defined in section 463.15, subdivision 3, or 
  6.14  buildings or improvements that are dilapidated or obsolescent, 
  6.15  faultily designed, lack adequate ventilation, light, or sanitary 
  6.16  facilities, or any combination of these or other factors that 
  6.17  are detrimental to the safety or health of the community.  The 
  6.18  exercise of the power of eminent domain under this clause is 
  6.19  subject to the notice and hearing requirements described in 
  6.20  clause (6); 
  6.21     (8) within its area of operation, to determine the level of 
  6.22  income constituting low or moderate family income.  The 
  6.23  authority may establish various income levels for various family 
  6.24  sizes.  In making its determination, the authority may consider 
  6.25  income levels that may be established by the Department of 
  6.26  Housing and Urban Development or a similar or successor federal 
  6.27  agency for the purpose of federal loan guarantees or subsidies 
  6.28  for persons of low or moderate income.  The authority may use 
  6.29  that determination as a basis for the maximum amount of income 
  6.30  for admissions to housing development projects or housing 
  6.31  projects owned or operated by it; 
  6.32     (9) to provide in federally assisted projects any 
  6.33  relocation payments and assistance necessary to comply with the 
  6.34  requirements of the Federal Uniform Relocation Assistance and 
  6.35  Real Property Acquisition Policies Act of 1970, and any 
  6.36  amendments or supplements thereto; 
  7.1      (10) to make an agreement with the governing body or bodies 
  7.2   creating the authority which provides exemption from all ad 
  7.3   valorem real and personal property taxes levied or imposed by 
  7.4   the body or bodies creating the authority.  In the case of 
  7.5   low-rent public housing that received financial assistance under 
  7.6   the United States Housing Act of 1937, or successor federal 
  7.7   legislation, an authority may make an agreement with the 
  7.8   governing body or bodies creating the authority to provide 
  7.9   exemption from all real and personal property taxes levied or 
  7.10  imposed by the state, city, county, or other political 
  7.11  subdivision, for which the authority shall make payments in lieu 
  7.12  of taxes to the state, city, county, or other political 
  7.13  subdivisions as provided in section 469.040.  The governing body 
  7.14  shall agree on behalf of all the applicable governing bodies 
  7.15  affected that local cooperation as required by the federal 
  7.16  government shall be provided by the local governing body or 
  7.17  bodies in whose jurisdiction the project is to be located, at no 
  7.18  cost or at no greater cost than the same public services and 
  7.19  facilities furnished to other residents; 
  7.20     (11) to cooperate with or act as agent for the federal 
  7.21  government, the state or any state public body, or any agency or 
  7.22  instrumentality of the foregoing, in carrying out any of the 
  7.23  provisions of sections 469.001 to 469.047 or of any other 
  7.24  related federal, state, or local legislation; and upon the 
  7.25  consent of the governing body of the city to purchase, lease, 
  7.26  manage, or otherwise take over any housing project already owned 
  7.27  and operated by the federal government; 
  7.28     (12) to make plans for carrying out a program of voluntary 
  7.29  repair and rehabilitation of buildings and improvements, and 
  7.30  plans for the enforcement of laws, codes, and regulations 
  7.31  relating to the use of land and the use and occupancy of 
  7.32  buildings and improvements, and to the compulsory repair, 
  7.33  rehabilitation, demolition, or removal of buildings and 
  7.34  improvements.  The authority may develop, test, and report 
  7.35  methods and techniques, and carry out demonstrations and other 
  7.36  activities for the prevention and elimination of slums and 
  8.1   blight; 
  8.2      (13) to borrow money or other property and accept 
  8.3   contributions, grants, gifts, services, or other assistance from 
  8.4   the federal government, the state government, state public 
  8.5   bodies, or from any other public or private sources; 
  8.6      (14) to include in any contract for financial assistance 
  8.7   with the federal government any conditions that the federal 
  8.8   government may attach to its financial aid of a project, not 
  8.9   inconsistent with purposes of sections 469.001 to 469.047, 
  8.10  including obligating itself (which obligation shall be 
  8.11  specifically enforceable and not constitute a mortgage, 
  8.12  notwithstanding any other laws) to convey to the federal 
  8.13  government the project to which the contract relates upon the 
  8.14  occurrence of a substantial default with respect to the 
  8.15  covenants or conditions to which the authority is subject; to 
  8.16  provide in the contract that, in case of such conveyance, the 
  8.17  federal government may complete, operate, manage, lease, convey, 
  8.18  or otherwise deal with the project until the defaults are cured 
  8.19  if the federal government agrees in the contract to reconvey to 
  8.20  the authority the project as then constituted when the defaults 
  8.21  have been cured; 
  8.22     (15) to issue bonds for any of its corporate purposes and 
  8.23  to secure the bonds by mortgages upon property held or to be 
  8.24  held by it or by pledge of its revenues, including grants or 
  8.25  contributions; 
  8.26     (16) to invest any funds held in reserves or sinking funds, 
  8.27  or any funds not required for immediate disbursement, in 
  8.28  property or securities in which savings banks may legally invest 
  8.29  funds subject to their control or in the manner and subject to 
  8.30  the conditions provided in section 118A.04 for the deposit and 
  8.31  investment of public funds; 
  8.32     (17) within its area of operation, to determine where 
  8.33  blight exists or where there is unsafe, unsanitary, or 
  8.34  overcrowded housing; 
  8.35     (18) to carry out studies of the housing and redevelopment 
  8.36  needs within its area of operation and of the meeting of those 
  9.1   needs.  This includes study of data on population and family 
  9.2   groups and their distribution according to income groups, the 
  9.3   amount and quality of available housing and its distribution 
  9.4   according to rentals and sales prices, employment, wages, 
  9.5   desirable patterns for land use and community growth, and other 
  9.6   factors affecting the local housing and redevelopment needs and 
  9.7   the meeting of those needs; to make the results of those studies 
  9.8   and analyses available to the public and to building, housing, 
  9.9   and supply industries; 
  9.10     (19) if a local public body does not have a planning agency 
  9.11  or the planning agency has not produced a comprehensive or 
  9.12  general community development plan, to make or cause to be made 
  9.13  a plan to be used as a guide in the more detailed planning of 
  9.14  housing and redevelopment areas; 
  9.15     (20) to lease or rent any dwellings, accommodations, lands, 
  9.16  buildings, structures, or facilities included in any project 
  9.17  and, subject to the limitations contained in sections 469.001 to 
  9.18  469.047 with respect to the rental of dwellings in housing 
  9.19  projects, to establish and revise the rents or charges therefor; 
  9.20     (21) to own, hold, and improve real or personal property 
  9.21  and to sell, lease, exchange, transfer, assign, pledge, or 
  9.22  dispose of any real or personal property or any interest 
  9.23  therein; 
  9.24     (22) to insure or provide for the insurance of any real or 
  9.25  personal property or operations of the authority against any 
  9.26  risks or hazards; 
  9.27     (23) to procure or agree to the procurement of government 
  9.28  insurance or guarantees of the payment of any bonds or parts 
  9.29  thereof issued by an authority and to pay premiums on the 
  9.30  insurance; 
  9.31     (24) to make expenditures necessary to carry out the 
  9.32  purposes of sections 469.001 to 469.047; 
  9.33     (25) to enter into an agreement or agreements with any 
  9.34  state public body to provide informational service and 
  9.35  relocation assistance to families, individuals, business 
  9.36  concerns, and nonprofit organizations displaced or to be 
 10.1   displaced by the activities of any state public body; 
 10.2      (26) to compile and maintain a catalog of all vacant, open 
 10.3   and undeveloped land, or land which contains substandard 
 10.4   buildings and improvements as that term is defined in clause 
 10.5   (7), that is owned or controlled by the authority or by the 
 10.6   governing body within its area of operation and to compile and 
 10.7   maintain a catalog of all authority owned real property that is 
 10.8   in excess of the foreseeable needs of the authority, in order to 
 10.9   determine and recommend if the real property compiled in either 
 10.10  catalog is appropriate for disposal pursuant to the provisions 
 10.11  of section 469.029, subdivisions 9 and 10; 
 10.12     (27) to recommend to the city concerning the enforcement of 
 10.13  the applicable health, housing, building, fire prevention, and 
 10.14  housing maintenance code requirements as they relate to 
 10.15  residential dwelling structures that are being rehabilitated by 
 10.16  low- or moderate-income persons pursuant to section 469.029, 
 10.17  subdivision 9, for the period of time necessary to complete the 
 10.18  rehabilitation, as determined by the authority; 
 10.19     (28) to recommend to the city the initiation of municipal 
 10.20  powers, against certain real properties, relating to repair, 
 10.21  closing, condemnation, or demolition of unsafe, unsanitary, 
 10.22  hazardous, and unfit buildings, as provided in section 469.041, 
 10.23  clause (5); 
 10.24     (29) to sell, at private or public sale, at the price or 
 10.25  prices determined by the authority, any note, mortgage, lease, 
 10.26  sublease, lease purchase, or other instrument or obligation 
 10.27  evidencing or securing a loan made for the purpose of economic 
 10.28  development, job creation, redevelopment, or community 
 10.29  revitalization by a public agency to a business, for-profit or 
 10.30  nonprofit organization, or an individual; 
 10.31     (30) within its area of operation, to acquire and sell real 
 10.32  property that is benefited by federal housing assistance 
 10.33  payments, other rental subsidies, interest reduction payments, 
 10.34  or interest reduction contracts for the purpose of preserving 
 10.35  the affordability of low- and moderate-income multifamily 
 10.36  housing; 
 11.1      (31) to apply for, enter into contracts with the federal 
 11.2   government, administer, and carry out a section 8 program.  
 11.3   Authorization by the governing body creating the authority to 
 11.4   administer the program at the authority's initial application is 
 11.5   sufficient to authorize operation of the program in its area of 
 11.6   operation for which it was created without additional local 
 11.7   governing body approval.  Approval by the governing body or 
 11.8   bodies creating the authority constitutes approval of a housing 
 11.9   program for purposes of any special or general law requiring 
 11.10  local approval of section 8 programs undertaken by city, county, 
 11.11  or multicounty authorities; and 
 11.12     (32) to secure a mortgage or loan for a rental housing 
 11.13  project by obtaining the appointment of receivers or assignments 
 11.14  of rents and profits under sections 559.17 and 576.01, except 
 11.15  that the limitation relating to the minimum amounts of the 
 11.16  original principal balances of mortgages specified in sections 
 11.17  559.17, subdivision 2, clause (2); and 576.01, subdivision 2, 
 11.18  does not apply. 
 11.19     Sec. 3.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
 11.20     Section 2 is effective August 1, 2002, and applies to 
 11.21  resolutions adopted on or after that date.