City of St. Cloud to Assist City of St. Joseph With Massage Licensing Inspection Services

(KNSI) — The St. Cloud City council Monday night is expected to approve a resolution authorizing the mayor and city clerk to execute a joint powers agreement with the city of St. Joseph for providing a massage license inspection service.

According to the city council agenda, illicit activity linked to illegitimate establishments and massage therapists is a problem around the state and the country. To address this concern, the city of St. Cloud updated its massage ordinance in 2019, and other area cities have followed by adopting a similar ordinance. In 2019, a couple was charged with prostitution and sex trafficking linked to a massage business in Waite Park. Those charges were later dropped.

According to the resolution, the city of St. Joseph has recently approved a massage ordinance to license new and existing establishments and needs inspection services. As the city of St. Cloud already has an established health department, including licensing massage establishments, the city of St. Joseph has asked for help.

The resolution says that St. Cloud is willing to provide inspection services for the licensed establishments for a predetermined annual fee of $465 per licensed establishment. License application reviews, appeal hearings, administrative search warrants, complex investigations, drive time, and other work over routine license inspection duties will be billed in the amount of $80 an hour. Mileage will be reimbursed to St Cloud at a rate of 58.5 cents per mile driven, calculated from St. Cloud City Hall to the inspection location and back to city hall. Payments will be made quarterly each year the agreement is in effect.

Officials from the city of St. Joseph signed the agreement on February 23rd, One day after the city council approved it.

The joint powers agreement says that the St. Cloud Health and Inspections Department will conduct massage license inspections, review massage therapist and massage establishment applications, and other code enforcement and licensing activities for the city of St. Joseph. Assistance from the city of St. Cloud would include routine annual inspections of all licensed massages establishments by registered environmental health specialists, including any required inspection reports and other necessary documentation and record findings. The agreement expresses the understanding that St. Cloud will first provide services to St. Cloud establishments.

The agreement is for one year and went into effect on February 7th.

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