The Hastings City Council’s workshop on legislative priorities last week had councilors discussing what they as a body would like to officially recommend to legislators in the upcoming legislative session.

Community TV
Securing new funding for Hastings Community TV (HCTV) was one of the topics widely agreed upon at the workshop.
Funding for HCTV has declined in the age of streaming, because HCTV’s income is largely tied to cable subscriptions.
Cable companies must pay a franchise fee to municipalities in order to run their cables through public infrastructure like road and parks.
The city currently charges a 5% franchise fee on cable companies passing along 95% of those proceeds to HCTV. Last year that amount was about $278,000 which has dropped from $330,000 in 2019, according to City Administrator Dan Wietecha.
Last year’s Equal Access to Broadband bill (HF4182) seeks to hold internet providers to that same standard.
City councilors discussed backing the proposed legislation that would broaden franchise fees to internet providers and therefore secure new funding for Hastings’ local television station which films a number of civic functions from city council meetings to school board meetings, as well as local high school sports and more.
“These companies should pay to use the public right of way,” said Mike Bremer, Executive Director with HCTV.

E-bikes
Councilors discussed new E-bike legislation from mandated helmets for riders under 18 to requiring licensing and permits to updating statutory definitions of bicycles with motors.
The city updated its micromobility transportation ordinance earlier this year and then shifted focus to education, especially for parents in curbing the E-bike use around town.
“Something does need to happen,” said Councilor Lisa Liefeld. “But the ordinance doesn’t mean anything if parents don’t enforce it.”
While the council broadly agreed that E-bikes continue to be an issue in town, they were split on if further rules were the solution.
“People already aren’t following the current law so our answer is to further legislate it?” asked Councilor Dawnmarie Vhirachoff.

Manufactured Home Parks
The council was also split on how—if at all—to approach the rapid increase in the cost of local manufactured home parks.
Manufactured home parks like Three Rivers on Shannon Driver have seen a steep increase in rent across the county in recent years. In Hastings, that increase has been as much as 8-10% per year, according to City Council workshop documents.
Manufactured home parks are often some of the most affordable homes in a community, which is especially important in Hastings which already lacks sufficient affordable housing.
“I want to make sure this affordable housing stays affordable,” said Vhirachoff.
Last year’s Manufactured Home Park Resident Bill of Rights (HF 2381) sought to cap rent increases for manufactured home parks at 3% as well as provide a number of other rights for renters there.
Others disagreed with taking a stance on the bill, citing that similar rent control was not reflected for other renters like those in apartment buildings or multi-family homes.
“I don’t think it’s our jurisdiction to touch that,” said Councilor Maya Beck.

Other topics
Several other topics were also provided to city councilors including legislation to combat cryptocurrency fraud, cannabis, and local option sales and use tax.
Local option sales and use tax would add an additional fee to cannabis sales in order to fund the new future fire station and regional parks program.
While funding is tight for a new fire station, especially while the city seeks funding for PFAS water treatment plants, adding additional fees onto its residents isn’t always popular. Beck in particular referenced moving to Hastings in order to avoid the layers of local option sales and use tax that are often used in the Twin Cities.