Agenda - Council Work Session - 07/11/2017

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Fire Inspector/Life Safety Educator— Fire — NEW The Fire Depar trnent staffing levels have not increased since 2004. Since that time, we have seen increases in calls for service and city growth with the addition of residential/commercial properties. This position will assist with the City's strategic initiative of improving the safety of the community and also gain personnel credit to ultimately lower our ISO classification rating. This position will be responsible for conducting code compliance inspections, performing preplanning activities and responding to emergencies as a firefighter. This position will also be responsible for developing and implementing fire and life safety education programs. Work includes preparing and presenting fire prevention and fire safety education programs, initiating and maintaining partnerships and communications with schools, community groups, and businesses; developing brochures and educational materials for public distribution. Administrative Assistant — Engineering - NEW This position will assist with various administrative duties the City Engineer currently completes, and will provide coverage for administrative asssistants from other depar tinents. Duties will include website administration and updates; preparation and mailing of letters, memos, and notices; Asset Management Program administration; Special Assessments program administration; meeting minutes; document filing and scanning; and covering desks and phones for adminitrative assistants from other departments. Park Maintenance Worker — Park & Rec - NEW This position would bring the park department back to the 2008 staffing level. This position would also be part of our snow removal program. In the past we have tried to fill the gap with seasonal help and a new 7 month position that was created with the help of the AFSCME union. With the current job market seasonal help is in high demand. Seasonal recruiting has become difficult and seasonal employees can only accomplish so many tasks because of restrictions on equipment operations and licensure requirements. While the park depar trnent starts spring cleanup and prepping athletic fields in April, most of our seasonal help starts in late May and leaves in mid August. The demand holds true in the Fall when we are working on athletic fields until late October. In the past 10 years demands for park maintenance have increased. Projects and maintenance that we have deferred action on are coming to the forefront, such as boardwalk repairs, aging playgrounds, trail maintenance,tree removal, etc. City sponsored events such as Happy Days and the Draw Concert Series are requiring more manhours from PW staff as well. This position would fall under Strategic Imperative III: "Smart, Citizen Foucused Government" in our Strategic Action Plan Recreational Assistant — Park & Rec - NEW Duties range from coordination of all Ramsey's recreation programs and The Draw Summer Event Series, as well as assisting the parks department with myriad administrative support tasks.