Minutes - Council - 05/11/2010 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Councilmember Jeffrey stated he was not opposed to looking at an Economic Development Coordinator position, but he did not want duplication of services with Landform. He believed the job description needed to be looked at to ensure there was not any overlap. Councilmember Look stated the Economic Development Coordinator played a big role in filling the industrial properties, but the City did not have much vacant industrial properties. He stated he had a concern regarding the 167th node that was a slow area even during the good times in the economy, but with the current economy he believed it would sit longer. He indicated he saw the role of the Economic Development Coordinator shifting to the Town Center, which would give an overlap with Landform. He stated he-did not believe filling the positions was an immediate need. Councilmember Wise stated this might be the point to look at all administrative and management positions to streamline processes. He indicated he did not want to seek people for positions if the City did not intend to fill them. Deputy City Administrator Nelson reviewed the City's current projects. She indicated her concern was all staff would be doing was "putting out the fires." She believed there was capacity in house to fill in on the human resources, but economic development was important for the City. She asked for consideration to recruit for the economic development position. Mayor Ramsey believed they needed an Economic Development Coordinator, at least on a part- time basis. Councilmember Look stated what the EDA was working on was important during the good times, but there were a lot of things the EDA was working on which were not crucial at this time. He noted any business would come into the City if they were subsidized, but if most of the economic development wanted handouts, maybe this was not the time to be looking at economic development. Councilmember Jeffrey stated the City needed assistance in either human resources or economic development. He stated he did not want to see the City lose any more good staff and overworking the staff to exhaustion was not acceptable. He indicated staff needed assistance, or Council had to sit down and determine what was not important. Councilmember Look noted approximately 70 percent of the budget was staffing and the Council needed to figure out how to manage with what they had. Councilmember Jeffrey noted the clock was ticking and by hiring consultants and subcontractors, the City could exceed the cost of what the City would spend on salaries. Motion by Councilmember Jeffrey, seconded by Mayor Ramsey, to authorize staff to review the PD's and recruit for an Economic Development Coordinator. Further Discussion: Councilmember Wise did not believe a week or two would make that much of a difference. He wanted to see staff s recommendations as to what could be done with the City Council /May 11, 2010 Page 9 of 11