Minutes - Council Work Session - 07/11/2017

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Councilmember Kuzma mentioned that with the Ramsey Foundation, the organization, is moving the responsibility for planning the concerts to the City. He noted that would be part of the event planning for the City employee. Community Development Director Gladhill reviewed the Strategic Plan initiatives specific to the community development department. He noted that they would like to be more collaborative in improving the image and aesthetic of Highway 10 and Highway 47. He stated that they are in the midst of updating the Comprehensive Plan. He stated that community development would assume the licensing duty from the City Clerk, because the department is already involved in that aspect. He reviewed the desired customer service metrics for the community development department, noting that the department is doing well. He reviewed the staffing plan metrics for the next few years and the variables that can impact those staffing levels. He stated that there is a high level of new developments and a desire to review proposals quicker. He stated that in the next 20 years the City is expected to continue to grow in households,population and staffing needs. He reviewed some of the duties that the community development department is currently involved in. Councilmember Riley stated that there is a need right now while the City is in the growth phase, noting that the need has been mitigated in the past few years with the use of consultants. Community Development Director Gladhill stated that he anticipates the rapid growth rate for the next decade or two. He agreed that the gap could be filled with the use of consultants but noted that it is then difficult to pair that use of consultants with the ability to provide rapid response to questions. He noted that consultants also have a higher hourly rate. He stated that clients are often not pleased to wait one to two weeks for a response from the consultant and therefore believes it would be helpful to have a full-time position added that would be able to help address the workload and be able to provide customer service. Councilmember Riley asked if the permit revenue is already budgeted into the projection. Community Development Director Gladhill stated that they attempted to better estimate the permit revenue but noted that there was a large swing that occurred. He stated that he would prefer to err on the side of caution rather than attempting to forecast too high and scramble to cut items during the budget year. Councilmember Shryock asked why a senior planner would be needed rather than a lower level planner. Community Development Director Gladhill noted that there would be a high rate of turnover for a lower level planner. He stated that the Council has made the statement that they would like to create a collaborative effort to address code enforcement rather than through violations. He stated that the experience that a senior planner would bring would assist in that environment and would help to prevent that turnover that an assistant planner would bring. City Engineer Westby stated that the position classified as new in the budget, but noted that there currently is an employee that splits time between engineering/public works/parks. He noted that the employee has taken on the duty of parks reservation and therefore the ability for that employee City Council Work Session/July 11, 2017 Page 4 of 6