01-29-2020 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO:Mayor Keis and Members of City Council FROM:Chris Heineman, City Administrator DATE:January 29, 2020 RE:Approval of Community Development Director/Planner Employment Agreement ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED: The City Council is asked to consider Approval of the Employment Agreement for the position of Community Development Director / Planner for the City of Little Canada. BACKGROUND: In late 2019, the City of Little Canada submitted a job posting seeking applicants for a Community Development Director / Planner position. This position will serve as a staff liaison to the Planning Commission and will work closely with other units of government such as the Metropolitan Council and Ramsey County. The position will also serve as the coordinator of the development review process and lead the City’s Community Development efforts. We received a total of 15 applications for the position, and 5 candidates were selected for interviews. Members of the staff leadership including Heidi Heller, Bryce Shearen, and I conducted the first round of interviews with each of the 5 candidates. Each of the candidates who were interviewed had a substantial level of planning and community development experience and staff utilized a list of 15 interview questions plus a pre-interview writing exercise to evaluate the applicants. Each of the questions were scored on a 5-point scale and the pre-interview question was evaluated on a 5-point scale for a total of 50 points possible. The field was then narrowed to the top two candidates and the Leadership Team conducted the second round of interviews. While both of the finalists were highly qualified, I am pleased to announce that Corrin Wendell was selected. Corrin has nearly 14 years of planning and community development experience and currently serves as the Metropolitan Council Sector Representative for Districts 11 and 12. She has extensive experience with all aspects of planning, including zoning administration and code enforcement, zoning text amendments, zoning code and official zoning map updates, site plan reviews, and several other areas related to community and economic development. As the City of Little Canada’s Metropolitan Council Sector Representative, she is very familiar with our Comprehensive Planning process and the City’s 5-year Strategic Plan. The Conditional Offer of Employment was accepted, and a starting salary follows the Community Development Director/Planner wage scale and is within budget. If approved, her initial date of employment will be February 24, 2020. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Staff recommends approval of Community Development Director/Planner Employment Agreement