08/24/1998 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 24, 1998 time to determine whether they meet and/or exceed the goals set by the City Administrator. Dave stated that he has conducted meetings with the Directors and they have set some internal goals they felt were necessary to meet the immediate needs of the City. The Directors started with the prioritized list of goals made at the beginning of the year. These goals included economical development issues, financial issues, personnel issues and the 20/20 Vision. Dave explained that when he was appointed Interim Administrator, he found that changes were needed in the structure of city hall. The changes were not made immediately so that staff could demonstrate to the City Council their attitude, competence and qualifications. Job descriptions for every staff position have been completed including the new positions of Financial Specialist, Senior Planner, Utilities Supervisor and Parks Supervisor. The Public Works Director/Engineer position has been eliminated and John Powell who is a TKDA employee will be working out of an office here at city hall. He is an important link to staff since he is well informed about the City's economic development issues. Staff is requesting that he be appointed City Engineer through December, 1999. As an employee of TKDA, he is bound by the conditions and obligations of the contract between TKDA and the City. His primary responsibilities will include managing the City's Municipal State Aid program, submit reports and permit applications to governmental agencies and serve as lead contact for the City on engineering issues. This request is on the agenda for the regular Council meeting this evening. Discussion of the City Engineer proposal followed. Some Council Members were in favor of the proposal and others outlined their reservations about the proposal. Dave noted that there are concerns regarding who supervises the position of the City Clerk. The City Charter will be consulted on this issue. In addition, Administration is currently researching an early retirement package for the current City Clerk. Dave stated that he has scheduled a meeting with Springsted to provide finance services relating to the budget process, lowering the tax capacity rate and investment of funds. Staff is working on a RFP for a new City auditor. The Human Resources tech is currently scheduled in the 1999 budget. City hall is in the process of a computer technology conversion and the MIS issues are being handled through consultants. Kim and Dave had met with the League of Minnesota Cities staff. League staff indicated that the City had appropriate support for day-to-day finances by Springsted, but expressed concern about the lack of experience regarding overall finance issues. Kim expressed her concern regarding the qualifications of one of the City employees. Discussion followed. It was noted that Council had set a goal that all future appointments PAGE 2