Agenda - Council - 01/08/2019 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Police Chief Katers stated that he asked for two positions and the direction from the Council was to find savings and push the start date to October. He stated that he would still like to have two officers beginning January 1st, noting that he was able to find a cost savings. He stated that the calls for service have only increased over the years. He stated that he can get by with whatever the Council approves, but there will be a cost to service and some services will be cut. He noted that obviously, there will be response to emergency calls, but the community programs would perhaps need to be cut. He stated that his goal is to keep pace with the rate of growth that Ramsey has seen rather than falling further and further behind. He stated that he would not request an excessive amount of staff, noting that this is not a wish list and is something he sees as needed. Mayor LeTourneau stated that the City conducts a citizen survey every two years and one of the repeated comments is that the residents enjoy living in a safe community and this request for two officers is what Police Chief Katers feels is needed to maintain the current level of services. Public Works Superintendent Riemer stated that street maintenance continues to be one of the biggest issues for the City and this position would be a large part of that program. He stated that the City continues to fall behind and without this added position, the City will continue to fall further behind. Parks and Assistant Public Works Superintendent Riverblood stated that he would also like to advocate for the maintenance worker position. He stated that public safety is a focus of public works. He explained that maintenance is highly visible and is important to residents. He agreed that the City is on the cusp of falling behind and if this position is not added, the City will continue to fall further behind and it will be noticeable. Mayor LeTourneau stated that each member of the Council is a taxpayer in the community and believed that the Council is being responsible in a manner that ensures that the City can continue to maintain its level of service. Councilmember Shryock recognized the issue of burning out employees. She stated that her primary concern is with bonding for road debt. She stated that there will be a future discussion on funding for road debt and that method for funding could change, but that is not a guarantee that the method will change. She stated that adding positions will have a compound impact in the future in terms of cost of living increases and benefits increases. She stated that although those are separate issues, both issues continue to compound as time moves forward. She appreciated the ideas given by Councilmember Riley. She stated that she would love to keep all the positions proposed. She asked and received confirmation that the PIR funds that are being used to offset some of the budget increases this year is not a source that could be used every year. Finance Director Lund explained how the PIR fund is replenished. Councilmember Shryock stated that by using the PIR fund this year, the budget was reduced by one percent, so that appears to be an artificial decrease that will reappear in the future budgets. She stated that perhaps another option would be to delve more into line items to determine what City Council Work Session / November 27, 2018 Page 4 of 7