Minutes - Council Work Session - 04/01/2025 - Special

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Planning Manager Larson said there has been inconsistent direction from Council on code enforcement measures. Community Development Director Hanson suggested they may want to implement a code enforcement policy that outlines how they enforce certain issues to create that consistency. Planning Manager Larson explained that Councilmembers certainly want to help their residents; however, they also have a role in being the appeal board. He noted that if a Councilmember gets too involved with a resident's issue, this could make things messy. Councilmember Buscher agreed and noted that Council can sometimes overstep their roles on Staff. She said she wants to ensure that Council is working towards both resident and Staff satisfaction. She asked if they are still having issues finding volunteers for City events. Parks and Assistant Public Works Director Riverblood said yes. He added that sometimes, working with volunteers requires an increase in Staff time. He noted that in previous Strategic Plans they had called out wanting to do a better job at recognizing volunteers. He stated he agrees with this; however, sometimes volunteers do not want to be recognized. Mayor Heineman noted that recognition could be used as a recruitment tool. Councilmember Stewart asked what was on the not working well list last year that has dropped off. City Administrator Hagen explained that the delivery times for new vehicles was on last year's list; however, this has improved. He said it is not as quick as it has been, but it is quicker than it was the past few years. He noted that delivery times are still slow so they have shifted their focus to looking farther in advance at vehicle needs to make sure they will be delivered when they are needed. He added that they have also made great progress on their staffing levels. Councilmember Buscher asked about the item from last year on improving communication on new business prospects. Economic Development Manager Sullivan shared that they discussed this and explained that sometimes they cannot share things with Council right away from a confidentiality perspective. He noted that when they put things out there too early and they do not come to fruition, it does not look good on the City. He said he deals with a lot of prospects that are not to the point where they are buying City land or considering a site plan. He noted they are trying to do better at not turning away projects too prematurely before trying to figure out if the project would even work. Councilmember Specht said he does think this has gotten better since last year. He added that he wanted to make sure they are not turning away projects prematurely before discussing with Council or trying to make them fit in the City. City Council Special Work Session / April 1, 2025 Page 7 of 15