A floor or so above ground level, several miles of pedestrian connections link downtown St. Paul buildings, and they’re overdue for a security upgrade.

After months of meetings with downtown business owners, residents, youth advocates, police and inspections officials, St. Paul City Council member Rebecca Noecker has proposed a raft of changes to the city’s skyway codes. Among the most dramatic, most skyway links would be required to remain open and accessible until at least midnight, instead of 2 a.m.

“What everyone agrees on, regardless of anything else, is that we want safe skyways,” Noecker told the council on Wednesday, noting that she plans to ask building owners to share security. “I’m also extremely concerned about vibrancy. I’ve been a consistent voice saying we need people to be able to go out, to have fun, to do one more thing after they get out of their entertainment venue and not to have to rush home.”

Among other changes, building owners would have to maintain manned video surveillance or install foot patrols, with formal plans reviewed by the Police Department and approved by the Department of Safety and Inspections. Police officers would no longer be required to issue warnings for first offenses, and could instead issue citations at their discretion.

The city council, which will likely vote on the proposal Sept. 13, held a public hearing Wednesday that drew strong comments for and against different aspects of Noecker’s ordinance amendment, with some of the strongest feedback coming from council members themselves. In total, at least seven people signed up to speak in support and more than a dozen signed up in opposition.

Chuck Repke, speaking on behalf of a series of building owners, said skyway closing times should be moved up to 8 p.m. in light of safety concerns.

Rick Cardenas, a downtown resident and disability rights advocate who uses a wheelchair, asked that the 2 a.m. closing be kept as is. “The 12 o’clock closure is really an imposition on my ability to (enjoy) all the services of the city,” Cardenas said.

Council members Dai Thao and Jane Prince also asked to keep closing at 2 a.m.

“If we close the skyway early, it’s not going to solve the issue of homelessness,” said Thao, a mayoral candidate, who submitted a formal amendment to Noecker’s proposal. Thao’s proposal failed, 5-2.

Noecker’s proposal spells out 13 rules expressly prohibiting smoking, fighting, urinating, defecating, littering, racing and propping open locked doors or playing music too loudly. Her ordinance amendment calls for the city and private property owners to post signage in their respective buildings explaining the code of conduct, with signs provided by the city for uniformity.

The new rules would prohibit lying down “on floors, stairs, or skyway fixtures or elements,” but they replace and remove existing ordinance language that indicates skyway users may not “sit, kneel, lounge, lie or otherwise recline upon floors or stairs.”

That proposed change has led to some debate over when it’s OK to use food court and other semi-public seating that some building owners have made available at skyway level. Bus and light-rail passengers frequently loiter in the skyway connection above Metro Transit’s Central Station at Fifth and Cedar streets and sit on window sills and radiators.

In an Aug. 24 email to Noecker, downtown property owner John Rupp called eliminating prohibitions against sitting “asinine.”

“Security must be accomplished with police in uniform. Private security personnel are not respected by the homeless or the young men hanging around the skyway,” Rupp said. “The security of the skyway is primarily the city’s responsibility, not the building owners.”