Subd. 1. Establishment and Composition. An Emergency Services Department is hereby established. The head of this Department shall be the Emergency Services Officer (ESO). The ESO shall have direct responsibility for the organization, administration and operation of the Emergency Services Department. The Emergency Services Department shall be organized into such divisions and bureaus, consistent with state and local emergency service or civil defense plans, as the ESO deems necessary to provide for the efficient performance of local emergency service functions during a declared emergency. The Emergency Services Department shall perform emergency service functions within the city and, in addition, shall conduct such functions outside the city as may be required pursuant to the provisions of the Minnesota Civil Defense Act of 1951, as amended.
Subd. 2. Compensation. The compensation of an Emergency Services Director for any services rendered to the city may be fixed and determined by resolution of the Council.
Subd. 3. Declaration. The Mayor, or in the absence of the Mayor the Mayor Pro-Tem, shall have the unilateral authority to declare a state of emergency for a period of up to 72 hours consistent with applicable state and federal laws and regulations. The declaration shall be in writing delineating the cause of the declaration, the date and the time the declaration is effective. The state of emergency shall be continued beyond the 72-hour period only by the majority vote of the Council.
Subd. 4. Control. The Mayor shall direct and control the general operations of all local emergency services forces during a declared emergency in conformity with controlling regulations and instructions of state civil defense authorities. The heads of departments and agencies shall be governed by his or her orders in respect thereto.
Subd. 5. Emergency Operation Center. Consistent with the emergency services plan, the ESO shall provide and equip at some suitable place in the city an emergency operation center, and if required by the local emergency services plan, auxiliary centers to be used during a declared emergency as headquarters for direction and control of emergency services and civil defense forces. The ESO shall arrange for representation at the center by municipal departments and agencies, public utilities and other agencies during a declared emergency. He or she shall arrange for the installation at the Emergency Operation Center of necessary facilities for communication with and between heads of Emergency Services Divisions, the stations and operating units of municipal services and other agencies concerned with disasters and for communication with other communities and emergency operation centers, within the surrounding area and with federal and state agencies concerned.
Subd. 6. Promulgation of Rules. Whenever necessary to meet a declared emergency for which adequate regulations have not been adopted by the federal or state government or the Council, the Mayor may, by proclamation, promulgate regulations, consistent with applicable federal or state laws or regulations, which will safeguard essential public services and protect public health, safety and property.
Subd. 7. Requirements.
A. Every proclamation of emergency regulations shall be in writing and signed by the Mayor, shall be dated, shall refer to the particular declared emergency to which it pertains, if so limited, and shall be filed in the office of the City Administrator, where a copy shall be kept posted and available for public inspection during business hours. Notice of the existence of the regulation and its availability for inspection at the Administrator's office shall be conspicuously posted at the front of the City Hall or other headquarters of the city and such other place in the affected area as the Mayor shall designate in the proclamation.
B. By like proclamation, the Mayor may modify or rescind any such regulation.
Subd. 8. Contracting. During a declared emergency the Mayor is authorized to contract on behalf of the city for services or for the purchase of merchandise, supplies or materials where the amount of the contract or purchase does not exceed $30,000. The Mayor may take such action without prior approval of the Council and without compliance with regular purchasing and bidding procedures, but all claims resulting therefrom shall be audited and approved by the Council as in the case of other purchases and contracts.