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<br />WS – 6 <br />WORK SESSION STAFF REPORT <br />Work Session Item No. 6 <br /> <br /> <br />Date: April 6, 2020 <br /> <br />To: City Council <br /> <br />From: Jeff Karlson, City Administrator <br /> <br />Re: Communications Coordinator <br /> <br /> <br />Background <br /> <br />Staff is requesting that the City Council give consideration to approving a new <br />Communications Coordinator position. <br /> <br />It has become increasingly evident that City staff does not have the ability to consistently <br />provide timely and up-to-date communication to residents, businesses, and the general <br />public via social media and the website. Staff is doing the best they can with the <br />resources they have, but we regularly receive feedback about the lack of up-to-date <br />information, particularly because we don’t have a general Facebook page and the website <br />doesn’t get updated frequently enough. <br /> <br />Two recent events further brought this to light—the manganese predicament and the <br />coronavirus pandemic. The management team has had several discussions about this and <br />we agree that creating a Communications Coordinator position is a high priority given the <br />public’s demand for more current information through social media. The City simply <br />does not have the capacity to keep up with people’s expectation that the City will provide <br />up-to-the-minute messages and notices. <br /> <br />Therefore, staff is proposing that a Communications Coordinator position be posted <br />immediately. The new hire would be supervised by the HR Manager. <br /> <br />A position description is attached for your review. This individual would manage and <br />coordinate the City’s communications, including social media, website, newsletter, <br />marketing, and cable television. Based on the League of Minnesota Cities’ salary survey, <br />we anticipate the minimum and maximum salary range will be approximately $62,000 to <br />$77,000. However, there would be no increase in the general fund budget for two <br />reasons. <br /> <br />First, to partially fund the position I am proposing the transfer $40,000 annually from the <br />Communications Fund. There is currently more than $200,000 in the fund. The revenue <br />source for this fund are the monthly franchise fees and PEG fees the City receives from <br />North Metro Television based on the number of Comcast cable subscribers in Lino <br />Lakes. In February the City received its 2019 share of cable revenue in the amount of