08-25-2021 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO:Mayor Keis and Members of the City Council FROM:Bryce Shearen, Parks & Rec/Community Services Manager Heidi Heller, City Clerk/HR Manager Chris Heineman, City Administrator DATE:August 25, 2021 RE:Change Employment Status of Recreation Coordinator Position ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED: Consider the status change of Recreation Coordinator position from part-time to full-time. BACKGROUND: The Recreation Coordinator position is an important part of the Parks & Recreation Department, which also includes the City’s engagement and communications efforts, such as social media, the city website and newsletter. This position is vital to the Parks Department as recreation programming is expanding, the farmer’s market continues to grow and be successful, and even more so in the coming years as several park improvement projects will be occurring. This proposal adheres to the strategic objectives of the 5-year Strategic Plan adopted in 2019. Changing this position from part-time to full-time aligns with the initiative of optimizing our organizational structure and creating operational efficiency. One of the 2-year priorities in creating operational efficiency is to implement a revised organizational structure. The increased hours for the Recreation Coordinator position will take some of the day-to-day duties off the Parks & Rec/Community Services Manager’s plate and provide more time to focus on the upcoming large-scale improvement projects, grant applications and long-term planning and budgeting. The hours for this position were initially increased in 2021 to 34 hours per week, which has helped immensely with the ability to expand the opportunities for programming and support the overall duties in the Parks Department. With the upcoming park improvement projects, including Pioneer Park, a full-time staff member to support the department and Manager would create additional operational efficiencies. The Recreation Coordinator position has unfortunately turned over twice in 2021. Each time staff has interviewed for the position, potential candidates always ask if the position would become full-time. Most applicants are looking for a full-time parks & recreation position to settle into as a career. If the position were full-time, staff feels there is much greater potential to retain an employee for a longer period of time.