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<br />PUBLIC WORKS ORGANIZATIONAL ASSESSMENT 1
<br />Executive Summary
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<br />The City of Lake Elmo (City) contracted Raftelis to complete an operational, organizational, and management
<br />analysis of its Department of Public Works (Department). This assessment aimed to identify opportunities for
<br />improving operational efficiency and effectiveness and review organizational structure, technology, processes, and
<br />policies to provide efficient and effective service to the fast-growing community of Lake Elmo.
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<br />To complete this assessment, the project team engaged with nine operators, three members of the leadership team,
<br />three members of the billing, finance, and HR departments, and three (contracted) engineering team members to
<br />develop a comprehensive understanding of the Public Works Department operations. The perspectives from staff
<br />and leadership were combined with an analysis of available data and information related to current workloads and
<br />staff performance, including data related to capital and operating statistics, service level targets, budgets, capital
<br />improvement plans, and annual financial reports. Information gained from interviews and documentary research
<br />was compared with industry best practices and helped shape a series of recommendations with the intent of improved
<br />efficiency and effectiveness of Department operations, while working to ensure the ability of the Department to
<br />handle continued growth in the future.
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<br />The City of Lake Elmo has several unique challenges associated with its Public Works operations. For example, the
<br />City has experienced rapid population growth over the last 10 years. By 2050, Lake Elmo is expected to be the fastest-
<br />growing community in Washington County, with a population projected to increase 67% to 19,000 residents by mid-
<br />century1. More recently, the City’s growth rate has ranked as the fastest growing in the entire state2. In some
<br />important ways, the growth in workload demands that Public Works has experienced has far outpaced the rate of
<br />population growth. In 2013, the City had only several dozen sewer customers and now has over 2,600. In the same
<br />time span, the City’s water customers have grown from just over 1,000 to approximately 3,500. The City and its
<br />residents also have had concerns over PFAS contamination in the water supply, to which the City settled a $2.7M
<br />drinking water lawsuit with 3M3.
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<br />Despite these challenges, in many respects the Department is providing a high level of service, given its size and
<br />challenges. For example, it has developed and tracks service level targets, such as valve exercising, hydrant flushing,
<br />and sewer jetting. The service level targets qualify as industry best practices, and the Department, to this point, has
<br />been able to meet its targets. These types of preventative maintenance activities are needed if the Department is to
<br />maximize the value it receives from its assets. In addition, the Department has implemented asset management
<br />software (Beehive) that allows the Department to track maintenance activities and the condition of its assets. Finally,
<br />the Department has a pay grade structure (Operator III, II, I) that rewards employee motivation, and is at least partly
<br />responsible for the superior employee retention observed.
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<br />Ultimately, the primary difficulties faced by the Department are growth-related. While it has been able to meet its
<br />service level targets, the effort has clearly strained the Department and its resources, and the current pace is unlikely
<br />to be sustainable. The Department last created additional Operator positions in 2019. In just the four years from 2019
<br />to 2023, the growth in the Department’s major service areas has been rapid, with cumulative growth of:
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<br /> 74% increase in sewer customers
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<br />1 Population growth in Lake Elmo: https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/lake-elmo-rosemount-and-carver-
<br />among-cities-set-for-population-boom
<br />2 https://www.startribune.com/lake-elmo-growth-rate-surges/600179062
<br />3 PFAS Lawsuit: 3M, Lake Elmo settle for $2.7M, land transfer in drinking water lawsuit | MPR News
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