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City Administrator Hagen explained that they clarified the statute that all of these are eligible <br />expenses for reimbursement. He noted that this increased the minimum amount that they could <br />reimburse themselves. He discussed the remaining positions that the Council had requested more <br />information on. <br /> <br />Administrative Services Director Lasher discussed the part-time Communications Specialist role. <br />She shared a handout that contained comments from different departments on how they would <br />benefit from this role. She noted that there is also an opportunity for them to save over $8,000 by <br />doing their own advertising in the Ramsey Resident through a Communications Specialist. She <br />explained that there is a lot that the Communications Coordinator does and added that they will be <br />making ADA updates to the website, which will be a large undertaking. She shared that there are <br />items that the Communications Coordinator has not had the time or capacity to get to that a part- <br />time specialist could help with. She added that they feel that Parks and Recreation should have its <br />own social media, and they would need someone to run this page. She noted that the current <br />Communications Coordinator is an hourly employee and the only one in the department, so she is <br />reluctant to take time off to not get behind. She added that this employee also checks Facebook <br />and emails while on vacation. She noted this new role would help give the Communications <br />Coordinator some peace of mind and the ability to disconnect from work when needed. <br /> <br />Fire Chief Kohner discussed the request for a full-time Firefighter/Fire Technician. He shared that <br />the need for this position comes from the continued growth of the City, which is increasing calls <br />for service and additional administrative duties. He noted that the benefit of this role is that it <br />would be a dual position, assisting with both calls and the administrative functions of the <br />department. He said that this role would be a customer-facing role for those residents who come <br />in and need to make payments for alarm permits or other items. He added that this position will <br />also be in charge of the record management system, reporting to the State, and payroll. He noted <br />that these are very time-sensitive items. He shared that they have been struggling with daytime <br />response for calls, as many of the paid on-call firefighters are not available during the day. He <br />stated they currently have a paid on-call firefighter working around 29 hours a week, assisting with <br />these additional duties, which is not sustainable for this individual. He added that in addition to <br />this paid-on-call individual, other full-time positions are sharing the load of these duties, or they <br />are going incomplete. <br /> <br />Councilmember Riley asked if they will still be short on responses when they are back to full Staff. <br /> <br />Fire Chief Kohner noted that this position is not related to the shortages that they are having on <br />the operational side. <br /> <br />Administrative Services Director Lasher reminded the Council of the pay scale of different <br />positions. She noted that this Firefighter/Fire Technician would be paid significantly less than the <br />Assistant Fire Chief position. She said this position will be a better value for the role it will be <br />filling. <br /> <br />Parks and Assistant Public Works Director Riverblood reviewed the request for the full-time Parks <br />Maintenance Worker. He noted that three categories drive the need for maintenance works: <br />population, aging infrastructure, and new impacts to the organization. He shared that there has <br />City Council Work Session / August 26, 2025 <br />Page 2 of 7 <br /> <br />