Agenda Packets - 2009/12/14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Item No: 7M Meeting Date: December 14, 2009 Type of Business: Council Business Administrator Review: ____ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Nick DeBar, Public Works Director Item Title/Subject: Resolution 7545 Approving a Revised Position Description and Authorizing the Advertisement for Hiring a Public Works Supervisor Background: The Public Works (PW) Supervisor position has been vacant for 3 years (Dec. 2006). The City Council previously authorized advertising for this position in September 2007. Candidates were interviewed but an offer was never made due to the unexpected resignation of the former PW Director. The Council prioritized rehiring the PW Director, after which rehiring the Supervisor position would be pursued. A new Director started in March 2009. The Council recently discussed rehiring the PW Supervisor position at the August 31, 2009 Council-Staff retreat and again at the December 7, 2009 Work Session. A revised position description was reviewed at the work session and the position need and impacts to budget were discussed. A majority of the Council agreed with the Staff recommendation to refill this key position. Discussion: The Public Works Department has been heavily impacted by missing the two top department leadership positions, in part or wholly, the past 3 years. There has been exhaustive internal department analysis and assessment to best perform department activities and Staff believes having a PW Supervisor on-board now will have an immediate and long-term positive impact to the City. Department operations, especially O&M activities, are currently planned day-to-day due to inadequate staffing levels. This situation has worsened due to increasing demands from capital improvement projects, aging infrastructure, and regulatory mandates. With some days in outright triage mode, it has become apparent that current staffing is not keeping pace with workload requirements. Staff presented justification supporting the need to rehire the PW Supervisor at the December 7 work session, including the following: • Maintain Historic Staffing Levels: PW has operated with 15 full-time and 10 part- time/seasonal employees for a full-time equivalent of approximately 18 for roughly the past 18 years, despite ever increasing new demands. • Unclear Roles and Responsibilities: Individual roles and responsibilities have become unclear due to the lack of supervision and out of necessity, including many employees performing work outside their job description without additional compensation. This has led to many employees becoming frustrated and dissatisfied. • Intra-Department Communication: Public Works operates out of two buildings (City Hall and PW Facility) and requires a clear chain-of-command to ensure work is carried out. This communication is primarily between the PW Director and Supervisors.