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Review Public Works Supervisor Job Description and Discuss Hiring Schedule December 7, 2009 Page 3 did not see much CIP activity, but PW staff will be hard-pressed to keep pace with the added demands in the next eight years without a PW Supervisor. Aging Infrastructure: Much of Mounds View’s infrastructure is aging and will require more upkeep and repair work, including more after-hours emergency call-outs. In addition to the City’s infrastructure, many private utilities (Xcel, Qwest, etc.) and other public agencies (Ramsey County, Met Council, etc.) have infrastructure also aging and requiring more upkeep, repair, and replacement. Similar to the impacts of CIP work, their aging infrastructure also demands PW staff time, including right-of-way (ROW) permitting, plan reviews, and inspection. This evaluation is supported by the 73 ROW permits that have been issued so far this year, the most ROW permits ever issued by public works (the previous high was 34 in 2004). Asset/Records Management: A major function of public works is asset and records management. This includes documenting, reviewing, and filing the various activities associated with operating, maintaining, repairing, and improving City infrastructure for future. This information is used for a wide variety of activities, including utility locates, maintenance/repair schedules, design and analysis, and much more. Much of the O&M activities have not been documented during the PW vacancies, and the activities that have been are added to an increasing large backlog of records needing proper filing. This asset and record management is a casualty that needs to be performed, but ends up taking a back seat to more demanding “here and now” tasks. Having records properly stored will allow easy searching for emergencies, utility locates, project audits, and public requests, and the City is obligated to keep these records as required by State statutes. Undo Workload Burdens: As previously mentioned, all public works staff has felt the impact of the vacant PW Supervisor position, especially the Parks Supervisor and PW Director. While both of these employees are willing to do whatever is necessary to meet department demands, the additional duties have made some of their normal job duties suffer. The Parks Supervisor has not been able to provide the desired level of supervision to his subordinates or needed effort to oversee proper O&M of the parks, park facilities, MVCC, and building grounds. Thankfully, subordinates have helped out but this has compounded unclear roles and responsibilities (see previous discussion). The PW Director has been forced to spend more time on the daily operations and triage events rather than focusing on long-term planning, asset management, work plans/programs, and engineering. Continuation of the current arrangement may lead to “burn-out” and eventually a loss of motivation, or helplessness, to pursue those assigned job duties and responsibilities being put-off. Advantages of Hiring a Public Works Supervisor: In addition to fixing the needs itemized above, rehiring the PW Supervisor will provide the Public Works Department with the needed labor to “dig-out” and begin moving in a direction of pursuing long-range goals and objectives while meeting the increased daily demands – without any additional cost impact to the City. It is very likely that having this individual will save the City a considerable amount of money. This is a great opportunity given the dreary outlook of the general economic state and available LGA monies. No Budget Impact: The PW Supervisor position has been included in every adopted budget since being vacated in 2006, including the 2010 budget. This position is funded 50% through general funds (PW administration+pavement management) and 50% through utility