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spent training them. He stated that currently case management and inspection is not contracted <br />out to consultants. <br />Finance Director Lund stated that two interns were removed from the budget with the addition of <br />this position, noting the cost per intern is $16,000. <br />Asst. City Administrator/Economic Development Manager Brama provided additional <br />information on the public improvements planned for future years that are not included in the <br />five-year budget. <br />Mayor Strommen stated that she supports the public works position as that is consistent with <br />maintaining roads and infrastructure. She suggested holding off on the other two positions and <br />reevaluating those positions in one year when the City is closer to the 2017/2018 increase. She <br />stated that she would also want to see more robust planning for items that will impact the tax <br />rate, noting that while these are good investments there are other good investments as well and <br />believed that the City should ensure that the investment is being made in the right areas. She <br />noted that staffing positions have been filled by interns and the City has not dug into the staffing <br />strategy and identified a long-term plan as to the best method to managing the use of interns. <br />Councilmember Kuzma stated that one thing assumed with the projections is the automatic <br />increase of two percent each year, noting that does not have to be planned as staff is already <br />being paid at a high level and the wages are competitive. <br />Councilmember Shryock agreed with the comments of Mayor Strommen. She agreed that public <br />works is an important issue and probably one of the issues that receives the most resident <br />feedback. She also agreed that it would be more comfortable to wait one to three years to better <br />digest the needs of the City before adding the other positions. <br />Councilmember Kuzma stated that the positions would add $6 per year, which will not break the <br />bank. He stated that cutting the positions is not going to decrease the huge increases that are <br />coming because of debt services. <br />Mayor Strommen agreed but stated that there are a number of items that are not even included in <br />the projections and the City cannot afford all of the items. She agreed that expenditures will <br />need to be increased but there are a number of them coming in the next five years and the City <br />cannot do each and every one of them, therefore she is reluctantly drawing a line to take a more <br />conservative approach. <br />Community Development Director Gladhill asked the comfort level of the Council. He stated <br />that if the position is not added for code enforcement he would want the ability to provide more <br />appropriate timelines for customers, noting that building permits and review times would need to <br />be reflected. He also asked for at least the use of one intern if the position is not added. <br />Councilmember LeTourneau stated that he is interested by the discussion, as this is a healthy <br />discussion. He noted that the Strategic Plan was drafted with an opinion of where the City would <br />like to go and that Plan would allow the City to move to a new place, which comes with risk. He <br />City Council Work Session / November 24, 2015 <br />Page 4 of 7 <br />