Union council adopts emergency ordinance to update city code

At its March 9 meeting, the City of Union Council declared and adopted Emergency Ordinance 1801, a measure the city says updates Union’s codified ordinances to reflect recent changes in state law and the council's annual code‑book revisions.

John Applegate, the city manager, told council the emergency clause was needed so the ordinance would take immediate effect to align local code with state statutes and recent council enactments. Councilmember Bruns moved to declare the ordinance an emergency; Mr. Bennett seconded. The emergency declaration passed 5‑1, with Mr. Brookover voting no.

Mr. Bruns then moved to adopt Emergency Ordinance 1801; the motion, seconded by Mayor O'Callaghan, also passed 5‑1 (Brookover opposed). The City Manager read the ordinance’s emergency clause into the record before the votes.

The ordinance text, described in the meeting record as updating sections of the Traffic and General Offenses Codes, was presented as part of the city’s routine codification process. The council did not provide additional detail in the record about specific code changes; the City Manager said the updates reflect enactments already adopted by council and changes already effective under state law.

Votes on both the emergency declaration and adoption were recorded as: Yes — Bennett, Rarick, O'Callaghan, Black, Bruns (5); No — Brookover (1).

Because the council adopted the ordinance as an emergency measure, the city indicated the changes take effect immediately under the terms of the emergency clause. The meeting record does not list a referendum date or further implementation steps beyond the adoption.

Ordinance reference: Ordinance 1801 (title as printed in the meeting record: editing and inclusion of certain ordinances into the city's codified ordinances; amendment of traffic and general offenses sections to conform to the General Assembly).