Minutes - Council Work Session - 08/08/2016

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Community Development Director Gladhill provided a summary of the proposed development and planning budget included in the staff report. Asst. City Administrator/Economic Development Manager Brama reviewed the proposed budget for the City website redesign included in the staff report. Community Development Director Gladhill provided additional information on the E-Plan review process. Finance Director Lund reviewed the proposed staffing requests included in the staff report. Asst. City Administrator/Economic Development Manager Brama provided additional details on the proposed part-time administrative support position, noting that the EDA was generally supportive of the position. Mayor Strommen asked and received confirmation that this would be an administrative assistant position. Councilmember Williams confirmed that the EDA was supportive of this position. City Administrator Ulrich stated that Asst. City Administrator/Economic Development Manager Brama has reached another level of expertise and will be able to use that expertise on economic development projects, therefore unloading some of the administrative tasks would be a solid use of time. Public Works Superintendent Riemer provided additional details on the proposed building maintenance worker, noting the high demand the department has seen for the parks and buildings. Councilmember Kuzma stated that he is in strong support of the drug task force position just as he was the previous year. Finance Director Lund continued to review the remaining elements of the staff report. Councilmember Kuzma stated that he is concerned with the employee costs rising each year. He stated that the City has awesome benefits and would like to see the City slow down the employee costs. City Administrator Ulrich noted that there were a number of years where the employee salaries were frozen during the recession and a number of staffing positions were cut during that time. He stated that they attempt to keep the wages within the market range in order to retain good staff and avoid turnover. He acknowledged that there have been cost of living increases each year since the recession but noted that is similar to other municipalities that give a two to three percent increase each year. He stated that the intent is to keep the employees in the mid -range of the market, not too high and not too low, noting that he would prefer to stay in that range. City Council Work Session / August 8, 2016 Page 2 of 5