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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 2020/10/05APPROVED PROCEEDINGS OF THE MOUNDS VIEW CITY COUNCIL CITY OF MOUNDS VIEW RAMSEY COUNTY, MINNESOTA Special Meeting October 6, 2025 Mounds View City Hall 2401 Mounds View Boulevard, Mounds View, MN 55112 5:20 P.M. 1. MEETING IS CALLED TO ORDER 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE 3. ROLL CALL: Clark, Gunn, Lindstrom, Meehlhause and Smith NOT PRESENT: None. 4. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS A. Public Works Grievance. Public Works/Parks and Recreation Director Peterson stated after Council approved Resolution 10121, “Approving the Hire of Clint Schumann to Public Works Utilities Maintenance Worker Position,” on July 14, 2025 staff received a formal grievance from the Public Works Bargaining Unit with the nature of the grievance specific to: “Hiring a new employee at a higher step classification than any current member of the Public Works Bargaining Unit,” on July 30, 2025. On August 6, 2025, Administrator Zikmund met with the complainant Mike Schnur and all members of the Collective Bargaining Unit (CBU) at Public Works to better understand their concerns, specifically inquiring if their remedy meant to include all members of the CBU being brought up to Step 9 retroactive to January 1, 2025. This request was affirmed. Public Works/Parks and Recreation Director Peterson explained on August 18, 2025, the City Administrator and HR Director met with the Bargaining Unit Stewards and Complainant Schnur to review and discuss the grievance. Complainant Schnur recorded a portion of the meeting on his cellular device, however not the entire discussion. Staff clarified that the Grievance process, according to the CBU agreement, would follow the City of Mounds View Policy Manual to which they concurred. Staff clarified wages/compensation were exempt from the grievance process per City Policy 6.02 Grievance Procedure. All present at the meeting were given a copy of City Policy 6.02. The CBU was informed per City Policy 6.02 pay increases or lack thereof are not grievable – and Complainant Schnur indicated he was unaware wages were not grievable. Mounds View City Council October 6, 2025 Special Meeting Page 2 Public Works/Parks and Recreation Director Peterson reported Complainant Schnur requested to have the grievance heard before Council. Complainant Schnur appeared before council at the August 25, 2025, Council Meeting and delivered information to Council during Item 9.B., Reports of Staff, requesting Council hear the grievance. Council agreed. At their workshop on September 2, 2025, Council set Monday, October 6, 2025, at 6:00 p.m. for a Special Meeting to hold the hearing. That time has been moved to 5:15 and the CBU was advised of the change. Public Works/Parks and Recreation Director Peterson indicated on August 26, 2025, Staff received an updated Grievance document that detailed – “Increase all employees who would meet step 9 of the wage compensation scale, no matter what grade, who meet or exceed all of the requirements for step 9 effective July 30, 2025.” The document identifies the following four Public Works CBU members who should be elevated to Step 9 within their current grade, effective July 30, 2025: Michael Schnur, Brett Brisbois, Scott Vandervegt, and Nick Bohmert. Mayor Lindstrom opened the grievance hearing at 5:21 p.m. Michael Schnur explained the staff report did not come from him but rather came from public works staff. He clarified he was not requesting all public works employees be moved to Step 9, but rather was asking for all employees who qualify to be moved to Step 9. He commented on the date of the grievance itself, noting this was the effective date for the new employee. He reported as a public works bargaining group they feel that hiring someone and paying them 100% of their market value wage when no one within the public works bargaining group was at 100% of the market wage was unfair. He indicated if this was the practice that would be followed, then the public works bargaining group would like to see all employees with the same level of experience of qualifications should be moved up as well. He believed by not moving up the existing public works employees the City was placing more value on someone who has never worked for the City than those who have worked for the City for years. Council Member Clark asked if wages were exempt from grievance. City Administrator Zikmund reported staff has articulated with the City Attorney that wages and compensation were not grievable per the employee policy and the collective bargaining agreement states they will abide by the City’s policy. He noted this item was brought forward to allow the Council to listen to the City employees. He explained if the Council were to agree with the grievance the City would then have work to do on the employee policy. He clarified that there were four staff members that were seeking an increase to Step 9 and three were scheduled to receive Step 9 pay on January 1 and the last will move to Step 9 next summer. Council Member Meehlhause questioned if each of these employees were at the same pay grade. Mr. Schnur explained two were at Grade 5, one at Grade 6 and one at Grade 7. Mayor Lindstrom inquired how many years of experience did the new hire bring to the City. Mr. Schnur stated he had 10 years of public works experience and other life experience. Mayor Lindstrom asked how many years of experience the current City employees had. Mr. Schnur reported one employee has 28 years, one has 20 years, one has ten in Mounds View and ten in another City and the last employee has eight years of experience. Mounds View City Council October 6, 2025 Special Meeting Page 3 Mayor Lindstrom questioned what type of experience was required for the recently hired public works position. Human Resources Director Ewald stated the City looked at his previous experience with the City of Delano and his experience as a machinist. In addition, he owned his own business. Mayor Lindstrom stated the Council does the best it can to make sure staff know they are supported, and the Council values the work that they do. He reported the Council also hires department heads to make the best decisions regarding employees for the City. He indicated he trusted staff’s judgement when it came to the recent hire. He commented he could not see moving people along on the pay scale because they were not happy with how the City hired someone. He stated this did not mean the Council did not appreciate the work being done by existing staff members, but that was the determination of staff for the hire. Council Member Smith explained there were currently three staff members that would move to Step 9 in January. She asked where the other staff member was at. Mr. Schnur explained he was at a Step 6 and he has 28 years of experience with the City. City Administrator Zikmund commented on how the market rate adjustment for pay was implemented three years ago. He stated the new pay system allows people to go from a five step to a nine step pay scale. He indicated the pay steps were in place to ensure the City does not fall behind on pay again. Council Member Meehlhause discussed how City employees were able to move a step each calendar year until they were at the top number of steps. He stated in the private sector every job has a pay scale and noted it was very difficult for employees to reach the top because performance was a big determining factor for raises. Council Member Gunn questioned why this grievance was brought forward when the collective bargaining unit knew wage disputes were not a reason to bring a grievance forward. Mr. Schnur reported he did not recognize or see this originally. He stated he brought the grievance to Don and Nyle originally and was told the dispute was not grievable. He explained he did not believe he was grieving his wage because the wage scale was set. Council Member Gunn commented when employees go up on the pay scale, their pay increases, which meant the grievance was connected to wages. Mr. Schnur indicated he asked to speak to the Council because he feels more value was placed on the new employee than was placed on the current employees. Mayor Lindstrom stated if this new employee was not hired, the Council would not be in this position today. Mr. Schnur stated this was correct. Mayor Lindstrom reported the core issue was where the new person was hired at. Mr. Schnur stated it was fair to say hiring someone at 100% of their wage was upsetting when no one within public works was being paid at this same rate and the current employees have more experience. Mounds View City Council October 6, 2025 Special Meeting Page 4 Council Member Gunn indicated three of the four public works employees will be reaching Step 9 in January of 2026. Council Member Clark inquired how many other employees would be impacted if the grievance clause regarding wages were removed. Public Works/Parks and Recreation Director Peterson reported the collective bargaining unit (CBU) for public works has 11 employees. Mayor Lindstrom stated if the Council were to act on this matter a door would be opened for future employees to grieve their wages. Council Member Gunn asked if the public works employees were set on going back to July for compensation. Mr. Schnur commented there is nothing that is not negotiable. Mayor Lindstrom questioned what the dollar amount is for these four employees. Finance Director Bauman stated she did not have the figures in front of her. Mr. Schnur explained two employees would need to be compensated $900, one employee would need to be paid $1,200 and the final employee would need to be compensated $3,600 for 2025. He estimated the City would have to pay additional $4,000 in 2026 to get all four employees to Step 9. Council Member Gunn indicated if these four employees were pushed up to Step 9 they would not receive a step increase next year. Mayor Lindstrom commented that these employees would only receive a COLA adjustment. He stated he appreciated the great work Mr. Schnur does on behalf of the City noting he had worked for Mounds View for the past 28 years. He explained this was a very difficult situation. He stated from a policy standpoint that it would be difficult for the Council to go back and question the department heads about how the recent hire was conducted. He asked if there were any other options for the Council to consider. Mr. Schnur stated he did not care if he went to Step 9, but he would be happy with an accelerated schedule. However, the three other employees would be at Step 9 in January. Council Member Meehlhause questioned if the CBU would have responded in the same manner if the previous public works employee had gone to Step 9 in August. Mr. Schnur anticipated the same action would have been taken by the CBU and a grievance would have been brought forward. Public Works/Parks and Recreation Director Peterson discussed the qualifications and licensures that the new employee has. He reported that the new employee has a Class B water license along with a Class A drivers license. He stated these were the qualifications and requirements within the job description. He noted the current employees do not have these licensures. Mayor Lindstrom commented that the migration to the step program happened with all the current employees and noted the new person was offered Step 9. Council Member Smith asked what licensures Mr. Schnur has for the City. Public Works/Parks and Recreation Director Peterson reported Mr. Schnur has a Class A water license and a Class SC Mounds View City Council October 6, 2025 Special Meeting Page 5 sewer license. He talked about what a great opportunity the new employee was given the licensures he had, along with his years of experience working in another city. He stated when the new employee was hired, by no means was it looked at that the City does not value its current employees. Council Member Clark questioned how much it costs to hire a new employee. Human Resources Director Ewald estimated new hires cost the City several thousand dollars due to the hiring assessment, physical and drug testing that had to be completed. Council Member Smith inquired what step Mr. Schnur’s position would be hired at if he were to leave the City. Human Resources Director Ewald reported the City tries to bring new hires in at Step 1, but pay rates are negotiated with each employee, noting there was an 18-month probationary period. Mayor Lindstrom stated he did not see how the City could advance the steps for these employees given the policies that were in place. He reiterated that he had to trust staff and the recommendation that was made for the recent hire. He explained he greatly valued the work of the existing employees, and he would hate for this situation causing ripple effects for other staff members. He indicated this was a more complicated topic than just this one employee because there would be ripple effects. He commented on how the Council felt good about making changes to the step scale several years ago. He reported he had to support the decisions that were made by the department heads based on the recent hire given the experience that he had. Mr. Schnur indicated he understood the new employee had the right qualifications for the position. He stated it was disheartening that this new employee was getting paid more than the City’s current employees. Council Member Clark explained she understands where Mr. Schnur was coming from, but she did not believe it would be right for the Council to go against the current policies that were in place. Council Member Gunn stated she has been with the City for 20+ years, and she knows almost all the public works employees. She indicated she understood the situation and concerns that have been raised by Mr. Schnur. She discussed how working in the private sector meant her wage increases were not guaranteed but rather were performance based. She stated she did not support the Council changing its current policy to allow for wage grievances. She apologized but noted she would not be able to go along with the grievance. MOTION/SECOND: Gunn/Meehlhause. To Deny the Grievance Request. Council Member Meehlhause reported he had great respect for the public works staff but noted he would have to follow the policy that was in place. He indicated the Council also has a fiduciary responsibility to consider when it comes to property tax increases for wages and compensation. Council Member Gunn reiterated that Step increases for coming for all four public works employees in 2026. Mounds View City Council October 6, 2025 Special Meeting Page 6 Mayor Lindstrom explained he believed in the work being done by the public works employees and he understood how frustrating this situation was because the same situation occurred at his place of employment. It was his hope this situation would not make the public works employees feel like the City Council does not care, because they do. He discussed how he valued the work conducted by the public works team. Council Member Clark inquired if public works employees could pursue new licensures to advance their pay. Public Works/Parks and Recreation Director Peterson reported employees could pursue higher licenses, but the only way employees would receive more pay is if they take on more responsibility or if a new job was created. Mr. Schnur inquired if the public works contract could have language added to ensure this does not happen in the future. Mayor Lindstrom stated he was open to discussion but was not willing to commit to anything at this time. Council Member Meehlhause encouraged the CBU to bring forward a pitch at the next union negotiation. A roll call vote was taken. Ayes – 5 Nays – 0 Motion carried. Mayor Lindstrom closed the grievance hearing at 6:16 p.m. 5. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 6:17 p.m. Transcribed by: Heidi Guenther Minute Maker Secretarial