City Council Minutes 2014 10 14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Meeting Minutes October 14, 2014 Page 5 of 23 the waste water facility at 90 and sewer collection at 70. She stated it is a very complex system. Council member Lipton inquired about the request for a new full -time position. He asked if this is the future build -out of staff or will there be other requests in the future. Public Works Director Kowar explained the request for a Maintenance Technician III position was envisioned for the water and waste water divisions. Generally, the staff schedule is one person, per shift, per day, with some overlap on some days. Because of the scheduling, the lower level maintenance, not included in the CIP, has not been kept up. There was also a request from the facility staff for an additional positon. The two requests were combined providing an opportunity to use internal employees to do the work currently done by contractors. The Public Works Department does not anticipate adding any new positions in the future. Mayor Muckle supported this position. He felt the risk factors were helpful for internal management, but not for the Council's purposes. He felt the Public Works monthly report provides more information in an easier format and is useful in future planning purposes. Council member Stolzmann also supported the position. She felt it would be easier to justify positions if there were work load measures and stated she is looking for those in this type of budgeting. She felt the monthly report is an excellent place to pull the key metrics and gave several examples. She felt the metric helped her identify CIP projects, but did not provide much help on the operational side. Council member Keany inquired about the cost recovery on the proposed position. He suggested some of the contract services be cut to enable this new position to pay for itself. He inquired about the nature of the contract services. Public Works Director Kowar explained some services are basic electrical work or HVAC technicians to troubleshoot problems. If the present staff had the time to perform these services, they would be performed in- house. Council member Keany stated this person would have to have a very broad spectrum of skills to maintain multiple facilities. He asked if there is such a person with such skill sets. Public Works Director Kowar stated these skill sets often go together and he was aware of other agencies who have hired for these types of positions. Mayor Muckle asked if the budget was reduced based on not having to hire contractors. Public Works Director Kowar explained the budget contains the current historical level for maintenance in operations in the event this position is not approved. If the position is approved the budget can be reduced. He addressed the metrics provided and stated they would make changes based on the monthly report.