Minutes - Council Work Session - 10/13/2015

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Mayor Strommen thanked Anoka County Lieutenant Bryon Fuerst for his time and the additional information on the position he shared. Human Resources Manager Lasher provided additional details from the staff report regarding the personnel changes proposed in the 2016 budget. Councilmember Riley asked and received confirmation on the process of progressing through the classifications and step increases for positions. Councilmember Kuzma stated that he is aware that staff does comparisons with other municipalities and asked if a similar comparison is done in regard to the private sector. Human Resources Manager Lasher stated that she does not compare salaries to the private sector. Councilmember Kuzma stated that it seems like the cities compare their salaries to each other in order to remain competitive but did not think the private sector raised salaries at the same rate. He stated that he would like to see comparison to the private sector as well to ensure that the City is not outpacing the private sector. Human Resources Manager Lasher stated that she can certainly add that element in the next discussion regarding the personnel policy. City Administrator Ulrich stated that while it may be difficult to find comparisons for some positions, there would be some positions where the City can find similar positions such as engineering. He stated that the level of benefits would also have to be considered and the fact that the City would like to retain talented staff members. Councilmember LeTourneau agreed that it is never an apples -versus -apples comparison when comparing municipalities and the private sector. Human Resources Manager Lasher stated that the City Engineer recruitment occurred three times, noting that it was difficult to receive recruits and applicants for that position with the salary. Mayor Strommen stated that there may have been other elements to that issue but acknowledged that there are other things to consider when thinking of comparing government to the private sector. Councilmember Riley stated that he is not talking about the position specifically but referenced the reclassification of a new position, even though that was forwarded by staff and included in the budget, which was adopted. Mayor Strommen stated that staff has agreed to remove the reclassification of the position from the table until the time staff can put together information for when the Council should consider reclassification and title changes. City Council Work Session / October 13, 2015 Page 4 of 8