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2004-05-28 Friday News The Friday News May 28, 2004 HIPAA POLICY Last week, Emmy attended a HIPAA Compliance Policies and Procedures workshop in Bloomington that was sponsored by the League of Minnesota Cities. This workshop helped explain the new HIPAA requirements that have to be implemented by the City. HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) is a new federally mandated, unfunded program, which requires covered entities (Health Plans) to implement policies and procedures with respect to protected health information (PHI). Health plans include major medical, dental, medical reimbursement, and EAP (Employee Assistance Program). The City is a covered entity because we have a health reimbursement plan. PHI is individually identifiable information which is created, modified, received or maintained by a covered entity that relates to an individual's past, present or future physical or mental condition, treatment or payment for care. This information is protected if transmitted in electronic, written, or oral form. The insurance companies and insurance broker that we work with are considered Business Associates of the City and must also implement the new HIPAA regulations. At the next Council meeting, the City Council will be asked to review and approve a HIPAA policy, pass a resolution acknowledging HIPAA requirements, and designate a Privacy Officer. MOSQUITO’S I received a copy of the attached letter from Metropolitan Mosquito Control District (MMCD) this week. The MMCD is trying to be more proactive in notifying those they affect this summer – I suppose with all this rain we have been having, we are in for a bumper crop of mosquitoes (although I hope not). I visited their web site - the site says that the MMCD is not yet treating for mosquitoes. We will add a link from the City’s web page to theirs – as they have requested. SIRENS Last Friday at the Mayor/Manager Monthly Meeting Mr. Dave Gisch, Dakota County’s Emergency Preparedness Officer was there to discuss sirens – it is the season, and at our previous meeting the sirens had just gone off the night before - with no storm arriving. No one at the meeting was sure what the policy was for setting off the sirens, so we invited Dave to update us on the operation of sirens in Dakota County. He handed out the attached information sheet. The sirens for Mendota Heights are operated by West St. Paul dispatch. The dispatchers activate the sirens based on reports from the National Weather Services and confirmations from officers on the street. Dave told us that the operators would rather sound the sirens and be wrong, than not sound them and be wrong – they prefer to error on the side of caution. PILOT KNOB RULING The City was notified late last Friday by John Baker that the Judge King had ruled in the City’s favor in the Pilot Knob case. John Baker is the attorney appointed by the League of Minnesota Cities to represent the City in the law suit brought against the City by John Allen, owner of the Pilot Knob site, and MinnStar Developer. Pilot Knob was proposed to be developed by MinnStar into 157-unit townhouses on the bluffs above the Mississippi and Minnesota Rivers at the end of the Mendota Bridge. In their lawsuit John Allen and MinnStar alleged that the automatic approval period continued to run during the environmental review process. The owners/developers have been holding up the EIS process by refusing to pre-pay the estimated costs of the scoping stage of the EIS. Now we will see if they decide to continue to hold up the EIS and pursue an appeal, proceed with the EIS or abandon the project. GRADUATIONS Ultan Duggan called today and reported to me that he is the proud father of Heather who is receiving her Masters Degree from Columbia University in New York, and Rory who is graduating magna cum laude from William Mitchell Law School this spring. MEMORIAL DAY City offices will be closed Monday for Memorial Day – I hope everyone has a wonderful long weekend. Respectfully Submitted, James Danielson City Administrator Attachments: Just the Facts, Pipeline, City Council Agenda, Pre-Application Meeting Synopsis, MMCD Letter, Dakota County information sheet on sirens, Villager Article “District 197 seeks $56 million referendum to upgrade schools”, SouthWest Review Article “Some changes coming to Mendota Plaza”.