Minutes - Council - 06/05/2012 - Special

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Councilmember Strommen stated she supports filling the City Engineer position and to provide for a transition period as raised by Councilmember Elvig. She noted that having the consulting engineer at City Hall will help with ease of communication. As to the other option offered to have two Superintendent positions, Councilmember Strommen stated this is the first time she has heard of this option and had no strong feelings one way or the other. Councilmember Strommen stated she wants to be thoughtful and assure the staff structure is correct for the department. She indicated it would be helpful to see job descriptions and budget impacts. Mayor Ramsey stated the City has a pool of engineers from which City Administrator Ulrich will select based on area of expertise and assure to provide for a transition period. City Engineer Himmer noted the City still has staff with internal project knowledge and the consulting engineer can be contacted after the transition period, if needed. He stated he intends to summarize all of the items he is working on and City Administrator Ulrich can decide how to allot those responsibilities. City Engineer Himmer noted Fire Chief Kapler has raised the issue of communication between departments and the consultant, which should be affirmed in the scoping process. Councilmember Elvig asked about the impact of raising staff to Superintendent and then hiring a Public Works Director. He asked if those staff members would then no longer be Superintendents. City Administrator Ulrich stated that would be a concern if there were individual departments but Superintendent is a level above Supervisor with an umbrella of authority. He indicated the Public Works Director would be in charge of Engineering and other departments and the Superintendent positions could remain in place and the structure would still work. Councilmember Elvig asked Street Supervisor Reimer if he supports this new proposal. Street Supervisor Reimer answered in the affirmative. Motion by Councilmember Elvig, seconded by Mayor Ramsey, to approve staff recommendation to recruit for the position of City Engineer, use a consulting engineer during the recruitment period, and create two Superintendent positions. Fire Chief Kapler commented on the importance of addressing communication because there is no direct reporting link between the Engineering and Public Works Departments. He indicated the communication piece needs to be addressed when interviewing for City Engineer to assure there is strong communication. Councilmember Elvig concurred and noted Engineering usually involves a process so that department could be obligated to articulate the process for each step as a means of communication. Fire Chief Kapler recommended review of the current City Engineer job description since it was written to be under the supervision of a Public Works Director. Special City Council Meeting / June 5, 2012 Page 3 of 7