06-24-2019 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Keis and Members of City Council FROM: Chris Heineman, City Administrator DATE: June 24, 2019 RE: Planning & Code Enforcement Transition BACKGROUND: Staff received a resignation letter from Associate Planner/Code Enforcement Officer Jessica Jagoe on May 8, 2019. Jessica had served in many capacities since 2000 for a total of 19 years of service for the City of Little Canada. Following her resignation, staff has taken a significant amount of time to review both the current and long-term staffing needs in this area. For most of the past 30-years, the City of Little Canada has utilized Northwest Associated Consultants (NAC) to serve the city’s planning needs. Since 2016, the City of Little Canada has been transitioning away from consultant services in this area and has utilized NAC only for specific projects such as the 2040 Comprehensive Plan since 2018. In the short term, staff may once again utilize NAC for assistance on planning projects on an as-needed basis. During the initial weeks of this transition process, existing staff members have filled in for both planning and code enforcement responsibilities. These responsibilities have primarily fallen on the shoulders of the City Administrator and the City Clerk, however, the employee who has been the most significantly impacted is City Clerk Heidi Heller who has taken on a significant level of additional duties outside of the City Clerk job description. Heidi has prior planning experience, and many of the questions related to planning or zoning can be addressed without the use of an outside consultant. Many cities have a compensation policy for employees who temporarily perform work outside of their job classification. Finance Director Brenda Malinowski conducted a survey of nine nearby communities, and most provide an additional 5-10% of the respective employee’s present salary. For the short-term, Brenda and I are recommending a temporary 10% salary increase ($307 per pay period) for Heidi until replacement position(s) are hired. During the recent strategic planning process, one of the four strategic directions under core government section that was established was Creating Operational Efficiency. This included a specific focus on optimizing the organizational structure. As one of the first steps in this process, staff is recommending that the critical duties of this position be restructured to address the city’s long-term organizational needs. There are many municipal models to consider, but the most common organizational structure to address local planning and development concerns is by establishing a Community Development Department. Staff is recommending that a full-time Community Development Director or Manager be hired to lead this department. In addition, a part-time position (approximately .5 FTE) should be hired to address code enforcement and rental licensing issues.