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Item No: 07C Meeting Date: February 27, 2017 Type of Business: CB Administrator Review: ____ City of Mounds View Staff Report To: Honorable Mayor and City Council From: Desaree Crane, Assistant City Administrator Item Title/Subject: Resolution 8723, Approving a Revised Job Description and Authorization to Advertise for a Seasonal Intern in the Public Works Department Introduction: An engineering intern for the Public Works (PW) Department was first approved by the City Council in June 2006 in lieu of a seasonal maintenance worker to assist with the administrative/engineering staff. This minor shift in staffing was proposed to better enable PW to administer activities associated with the many upcoming public improvement projects planned at that time. The position description was tweaked in February 2010 between internships to include GIS (geographical information systems) duties and to better describe the overall duties and accommodate some shortcomings of the previous version. The GIS Engineering Intern is a temporary, part-time position geared toward current or recent college students in a related field. This employment arrangement allows Public Works to obtain skilled help at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time, regular employee. Current PW Staff have extensive experience and skill in working with AutoCAD and ArcGIS, the software programs already owned by the City, which will, in turn, allow a current or recent college student to obtain “real world”, on-the-job experience resulting in a “win-win” situation. The position is fully funded by the Water and Sanitary Sewer Enterprise Funds and has no impact on the General Fund. Discussion: Public Works Director Brian Erickson revised the job description by making it more of a GIS Intern and not an Engineering Intern. According to the Affordable Healthcare Act, there are provisions that require employers to offer health insurance to seasonal employees who work 120 calendar days or more during the year. It further requires that the seasonal employee who is hired to work for 120 calendar days and worked an average of 30 hours per week to be offered insurance on the 90th day of his or her employment, and would be eligible for health insurance benefits for 30 days. In addition to the obvious administrative nightmare and cost associated with insuring an employee for 30 days, this provision can also subject employers to obligations under the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA) upon termination of the employee’s employment, thereby creating even more burdens to the employer.