12-01-2016 Parks & Rec Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Keis and Members of City Council Parks & Recreation Commissioners FROM: Joel Hanson, City Administrator DATE: November 23, 2016 RE: Follow-Up to November 16th Workshop Discussions At the joint workshop held between the City Council and the Parks and Recreation Commission on November 16th, a number of issues required further information. Those items are as follows: • Job Description for Parks & Recreation Director – I have attached the job description discussed at the Parks & Recreation Commission meeting of September 8th. I have also enclosed the most recent version handed out at the workshop meeting of November 16th. As I stated on the 16th, the primary changes were the inclusion of sub-categories in the “Major Duties” section of the description. I also noted that two “duties” were moved the “Qualifications” section with some minor modification in wording. (Note: The P&R Commission also re-ordered some of the duties. Those changes were made and presented to the City Council which then modified the ordering as noted above.) One other consideration relates to the title of the position. Parks & Recreation Director is an obvious choice. However, given some of the discussion about expanded duties involving social media and possible other functions, another choice might be “Community Services Manager”. I came across that title when searching for comparable jobs on the League of Minnesota Cities website dealing with compensation and benefit levels. That seems to be more encompassing of the possibilities that could be in play in the future without negating the principal purpose of Parks & Recreation Administration as defined by the job description. Taking that one-step further, the Department could be moved to “Administration” to also reflect the expansion of the position. Furthermore, given that the parks maintenance functions are under “Public Works”, this type of reporting change doesn’t create any logic gaps in departmental responsibilities. While this isn’t a big deal in terms of impact in a city our size, I believe it may send a better message indicating the broader responsibilities and the importance to the City’s management team. The goal of this review is to get the job description in the desired form when it becomes time to start advertising the position. • Pioneer Park Ordinance Requirements for Vehicular Parking – Here is our ordinance governing required parking in parks: