Last year, the City of Bloomington Minnesota hired Karla Henderson to help steer the city’s redevelopment as Director of Community Development.  She is well qualified for the job since she served in Detroit Mayor Dave Bing’s inner circle and brings a wealth of experience turning around neighborhoods to her new job in Minnesota.  

Early

In my practice representing developers and landowners, I routinely review dozens if not more, of development agreements over the course of a year.  Without question, the most complained about aspect of virtually all such agreements, by a wide margin, is the extent of fees being imposed by a given city.  Municipal fees are the runaway

The redevelopment of any large land area can be very difficult to accomplish, especially when it is surrounded by homeowners who like the status quo.  This is especially true when the conversion involves a golf course: pastoral, quiet, well-landscaped (maybe a few stray golf balls).  The surrounding landowners (most often homeowners) understandably love the open


The City of Minneapolis determined that many freelance workers (independent contractors) need legal and economic protections since they are not covered by employment laws.  The City, therefore, enacted the Minneapolis Freelance Worker Protections Ordinance (the “Ordinance”).  This Ordinance, effective January 1, 2021, requires companies to enter into written agreements with most freelance workers.

The Ordinance

We are nearly 9 months into the so-called COVID-19 global pandemic.  While not without historical precedent, COVID-19 has wreaked havoc on the physical and economic health of millions both within the United States and around the world.  In Minnesota and across the country, governors and their public health departments have exercised “peacetime” emergency powers designed

Today, most public hearings are conducted online or by conference call, whether before the Planning Commission, City Council, Board of Adjustments or County Board. Every unit of government has switched to some form of telephonic or video hearing format in response to the global pandemic. The good news is projects are still being approved by

Margaret Vesel and Matthew Bergeron recap the Minnesota Legislature’s week-long June special session and preview the special session beginning on July 13, 2020. They discuss the ongoing negotiations over law enforcement reform, capital investment, and bonding and examine how the seemingly unrelated issues are interconnected when it comes to finding a “comprehensive deal”.

Continue Reading A Summer of Special Sessions: Is July’s Special Session the Last Chance for a Deal on Bonding, COVID-19 Relief & Police Reform?

This post is co-written by Phyllis Karasov and Mike Schechter.

On Wednesday, June 24, we wrote an article on the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry’s guidance that requires a preparedness plan for the construction industry. The guidance was confusing and placed onerous responsibilities on contractors, owners and public entities, including ensuring that plans among

Recently I commented on a growing level of concern regarding Gov. Tim Walz’s use of his statutory public safety “emergency” authority to promulgate wide-ranging and consequential executive orders affecting the state’s economy and citizens.  While many groups, including health care and service organizations, were required to suspend their operations for at least two months, the

Minnesota businesses and citizens have been operating under a Peacetime Declaration of Emergency, Executive Order 20-01, since March 16, 2020.  The impetus for the Declaration was the rapidly-emerging Coronavirus as a global health crisis with far-reaching implications.  Since the original Declaration, the governor has issued 75 Executive Orders addressing various COVID-related topics from health