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Mayor Strommen noted the control issue has been of interest to all parties involved. Until we <br />flush out what that means, we do not know what the agreement will look like. There are short <br />term and long -term benefits and the long term could be harder to measure. This is about <br />feasibility over the long term and is another piece to figure out. <br />City Administrator Ulrich indicated staff will split out what the benefits for Ramsey will be. <br />The consensus of the Council was to bring this item back for discussion in the future. <br />2.02: Discussion Regarding Non - Union Sick Leave Severance <br />Human Resources Manager Lasher reviewed the staff report. She explained the purpose of the <br />discussion is to review the current sick leave severance policy, specific to non -union staff and to <br />consider modifications to the policy. Several non -union staff members have asked if the City <br />Council would consider revising the policy to better align with the severance benefits of many <br />other cities. She presented the results of the staff survey of several metro cities compared to <br />Ramsey's policy. Overall, she explained, she found that Ramsey's sick leave benefits are on the <br />low end, as well as how long it takes to move up. <br />Councilmember Backous pointed out the entire compensation package has to be looked at. He <br />said he advocates to move to a PTO -type policy and not designate sickness or vacation. Then, if <br />PTO is not used, it can be carried over. <br />Human Resources Manager Lasher explained a PTO policy was considered quite a few years <br />ago, and was deemed to be an incredible undertaking to go though the conversion process. It is <br />administratively labor intensive. She suggested new employees would be started on a PTO plan, <br />going forward. <br />Councilmember Backous suggested if employees are being retained, it is a good sign the benefits <br />and pay are in the ballpark. He stated the conversion to a PTO policy would not be too large an <br />undertaking. He said he has experience in this, as it has been his background for 20 years. <br />Councilmember Tossey agreed with Councilmember Backous, stating he is a public employee <br />and has always advocated for PTO since it is simpler. He suggested ideas of how to implement a <br />conversion. <br />Human Resources Manager Lasher stated the Personnel Policy is being updated, which is why <br />this issue is raised now, rather than with year -end benefits and raises. <br />Mayor Strommen indicated it would be good to start researching how involved it would be to <br />change to a PTO type policy. She agreed the entire package should be considered. She pointed <br />out this is a good time to bring up this issue since it affects the budget. <br />The consensus of the Council was to direct staff to begin researching changing to a PTO type <br />policy. <br />City Council Work Session / June 10, 2014 <br />Page 3 of 4 <br />