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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/24/1998 Council Minutes• • • SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 24, 1998 CITY OF LINO LAKES MINUTES DATE : August 24, 1998 TIME STARTED : 4:08 p.m. TIME ENDED : 6:24 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT : Bergeson, Lyden, Dahl, Neal, Sullivan MEMBERS ABSENT : None Staff members present: Police Chief/Interim City Administrator, Dave Pecchia; Police Office Manager/Record Minutes, Renee Kaulfuss. The purpose of the meeting was to set goals for the Interim City Administrator and to review the City Council's responsibilities and goals. REVIEW OF COUNCIL GOAL SETTING SESSION At a previous meeting, the City Council set goals and responsibilities for the City to finance, economic development, personnel, organizational changes and the Comprehensive Plan. These goals and responsibilities stressed the importance of the vision of the City currently in place. The values related to the five (5) goals were to improve communication between the public, the City Council and the staff There had been several complaints in the past relating to incorrect, and/or incomplete information communicated to the public, the City Council and other City staff. Implementation of these goals will eliminate confusion in getting and receiving information from staff and assist in a more timely response to the City Council and the citizens. SETTING INTERIM CITY ADMINISTRATOR GOALS Mayor Sullivan distributed draft goals for the City Administrator related to the five (5) City goals. Each Council Member was asked to review the document and make changes. She suggested the goals be prioritized and a four (4) month time limit be determined for meeting the goals. Discussion followed and concern was expressed regarding making the goals simple and to make sure that they are achievable and task oriented. Mayor Sullivan noted that these goals are for Dave and not the staff. She stressed the need to set the goals high since the City has places it needs to go. She also noted that Directors as well as staff should be qualified to perform their job duties and responsibilities as well as being challenged. There was discussion relating to the need for Council to allow Dave to perform his duties with the support of the Council. There was also discussion regarding Council Members interceding with staff. John asked that the newly appointed Directors be given a period of PAGE 1 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 SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 24, 1998 • of personnel be based on skills and abilities and it appeared that Council was not following these goals. There was further discussion regarding the appropriate period of time for the Interim Administrator to reach the stated goals. It was decided that annual goals be set with quarterly evaluations. The progress of each goal is to be substantiated and progress documented. If the goals are not progressing as anticipated, written documentation affecting the progress should be included. It was noted that some of the goals such as the 1999 Budget should be completed by year end. • • John was concerned that Dave, as Interim Administrator, needed time to demonstrate that he had been given a proven team of staff to achieve all of the stated goals. He stated that the Council supported this proposal two (2) weeks ago and the Mayor is now asking for a major change in the support of this appointment. Further discussion followed regarding staff's qualifications and the proposal for City Engineer. Kim, Caroline and Chris felt the staff member was not qualified and should be removed from the position. John and Andy felt that the staff member should be given four (4) months to demonstration his abilities. Dave asked that this matter not be placed on the Council agenda. He was instructed to speak to this staff member about what the majority of the Council had decided. Caroline and Chris discussed their concern regarding the City Engineer appointment. Kim, Andy and John did not agree with their concerns. It was decided to leave the request for appointment of the City Engineer on the agenda this evening. Dave was directed to research a plan to set standards and goals for each staff member. The consequences for non-performance should also be included in the plan. He was also asked to contact the League of Minnesota Cities to research options for the plan. There being no further discussion on these issues, the special meeting was adjourned and the City Council reconvened in the Council Chambers for the regular Council meeting. These minutes were considered, corrected and approved at Council meeting. mber 21, 1998 regular Marilyn G. Anderson, Clerk -Treasurer PAGE 3 , Mayor