City Council Agenda and Packet 2015 10 06

Home Browse Search

City Council Meeting Minutes September 21, 2015 Page 14 of 17 Council member Keany felt the Sustainability Coordinator could support their position with grants. Mayor Pro Tem Dalton wanted some projected return shown and didn't favor funding this position. Council member Stolzmann felt sustainability should be everyone's job. Council member Loo was not in favor of funding the Sustainability Coordinator position, the CMO Intern or the Historic Preservation Intern. She felt the Historic Preservation Master Plan needed to reduce the number of goals. Mayor Pro Tem Dalton wanted have HPC vote for the things important to the Historic Master Plan and was not in favor of hiring an intern. Council member Keany asked about not funding 5 police officers and if adding one or two would help. Chief Hayes noted adding 5 officers would allow one extra officer per shift. Adding one or two officers could help with the night shift. Currently there are five open positions, with 3 in line to go active and 2 going to academy. There is currently a regional shortage and difficulty getting candidates. City Manager Fleming noted there has been difficulty keeping and recruiting staff in the Police Department. He will meet with the police department soon and share the salary increases available in 2016. Council member Lipton asked about the PD strategic plan and wanted to see how it would affect positions. He wondered if turn -back could be invested in additional positions. City Manager Fleming noted the call volume has not necessarily gone up, but the complexity has gone up. Chief Hayes agreed the complexity is up, there is cooperation with surrounding agencies and no lack of personnel for emergency calls. Mayor Muckle felt the Sustainability Coordinator could be a good addition but agreed it should be everyone's responsibility. He felt the Ranger position was proven and would rather add hours there. He had no strong opinion on the CMO intern. He inquired about the Preservation Planner and what percentage of her time was to be spent on preservation. Planning and Building Safety Director Russ explained responded a third of the Preservation Planner's time is allocated to preservation, but she is in far excess of that time as the Master Plan has been created. It is challenging the Planning Department's ability to implement the Master Plan. Council member Stolzmann felt the historic documents on funding for a historic planner should be reviewed. She thought the Historic Preservation planner was to be funded 30% from the Historic Preservation Fund, but it was not the amount of staff time allocated to be spent on historic preservation. Building and Safety Director Russ agreed the entire department is supporting historic preservation. 51