Agenda - Council Work Session - 09/14/2021

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CC Work Session 2, 5, Meeting Date: 09/14/2021 Information Title: Discuss Community Development Staffing Purpose/Background: The purpose of this case is to discuss and receive a consensus from the City Council on two separate personnel matters in the Community Development Department. Permit Technician Leave of Absence The City has two part-time Permit Technicians. One of the two is anticipated to be out of the office for six to twelve weeks beginning this week or next week. Staff has explored many options for filling the temporary gap in coverage in order to ensure the busy Building Division can keep up on its work. Subject to pending City Council approval, staff explored options such as contacting a former City of Ramsey Permit Technician, reaching out to several current part-time employees for possible assistance with coverage, temporary reassignment of current full-time staff or shifting of duties, and utilizing the current Administrative Services Intern (Happy Days Intern) to assist in the Building Division. All but the last mentioned option were not viable for a variety of reasons. Administrative Services Director Lasher consulted with the City Administrator, Interim Deputy City Administrator/Finance Director, Interim Community Development Director/City Engineer, as well as with Ms. Laubach, the current Happy Days Intern. Staff recommends that the City Council, by consensus this evening, give staff permission to terminate Ms. Nicole Laubach in her current Happy Days Intern role, effective immediately and rehire her as a temporary Building Division Intern to provide coverage during the aforementioned leave of absence. If this action is approved, a case authorizing this action would be brought forward for formal approval at the September 28th City Council meeting. It should be noted, Ms. Laubach is currently working 40 hours per week at $14.00 per hour. The approved intern wage scale is $13.00 to $18.00 per hour, D.O.Q. With a reduction from 40 to 20 hours per week, Ms. Laubach requires $18.00 per hour and would accept an offer based on that pay. Ms. Laubach exceeds the minimum qualifications of the Intern position, has already passed the City's pre -employment checks, is familiar with the City's processes and has proven to produce high quality work. She is set to graduate in December with her Bachelor's of Science in Business Management. Staff feels that Ms. Laubach's qualifications and skill set warrant $18.00 per hour. Staff recommends this action in order to provide coverage in the Building Division over the next six to twelve weeks. Pending Retirement of the Community Development Assistant Background: Ms. JoAnne Shaw is currently the City's Community Development Assistant and is working sixteen hours per week. She will be retiring from the City on November 4, 2021. The 2022 budget includes funding to fill the lost hours. In March 2020, Mr. Brian McCann was hired as a Planning Technician with the intent to learn Ms. Shaw's role. Mr. McCann has taken on a portion of Ms. Shaw's role, and the workload in the Planning Division over the last nineteen months has exceeded staffs ability to encompass the full role. There are many tasks (attached) that simply will not get done without replacing or back filling the hours lost by Ms. Shaw's departure; these tasks are listed on the left of the attached document. With that said, staff proposes downgrading Ms. Shaw's current position from a Community Development Assistant (higher pay grade) to an Administrative Assistant (lower pay grade). The Finance Director has calculated the net savings (of this downgraded position) in 2022 to be $2,405. This is based on hiring an Administrative Assistant at step 1 for twenty hours per week. Staff proposes hiring a twenty hour per week Administrative Assistant to work Monday -Friday, from 8:30 to 12:30 (approximately). This