Laserfiche WebLink
<br />service was approved by this Council and it came from someone that they wanted to do that <br />program. He sees a little bit of hypocrisy there, saying they are understaffed but making it <br />available for City workers to go out and work for Habitat for Humanity, and the residents are <br />paying for that. Mayor Gamec requested staff to prepare an organizational chart of the <br />engineering department for the Council's review. Mr. Bruce Lindberg questioned how much it <br />would save the City to have someone in-house, and why they would not go ahead and bring <br />someone in-house where the communication system would be a lot more structured and it would <br />save the City money. As a taxpayer if his money is being used wisely he is all for it. Those <br />savings can be used in other aspects ofthe City's business. <br /> <br />Motion carried. Voting Yes: Mayor Gamec, Councilmembers Jeffrey, Olson, Elvig, and <br />Strommen. Voting No: Councilmembers Dehen and Look. <br /> <br />2) Request for Authorization for a Voluntary OSHA Workplace Safety <br />Consultation <br /> <br />Interim City Administrator Nelson stated this is a request to authorize staff to request a voluntary <br />inspection by OSHA Workplace Safety Consultation. Periodically, the Compliance Division of <br />the Minnesota Department of Occupational Safety and Health conducts unannounced inspections <br />of employers' facilities. In areas where an employer is determined to be non-compliant, fines are <br />issued and the employer is required to rectify the issue. This year cities are being targeted by <br />MN OSHA and many are incurring exorbitant fines for violations. Ms. Nelson stated staff <br />thought it would be in the City's best interest to be proactive and schedule a volunteer <br />compliance check. Earlier this week staff brought in a Loss Control Consultant through the <br />League of Minnesota Cities to conduct a mock OSHA inspection. The mock inspection revealed <br />some areas where additional efforts must be made to preserve employees' health and safety. <br />Staff anticipates there will be some expense in addressing the findings of the inspection. It is <br />staffs recommendation that, when possible, small expenses that do not exceed $1,000 would be <br />paid from department budgets, and large expenses would be paid from the Insurance Fund. The <br />OSHA inspection would be scheduled for September. There will be a period of time to work on <br />the recommendations from the League of Minnesota Cities before the volunteer OSHA <br />inspection. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec stated this is good. OHSA is doing a lot of inspections. He knows of a home <br />business that was inspected and Mayor Ryan in Blaine said they were hit hard. <br /> <br />Councilmember Jeffrey stated he likes that this is voluntary and will save in fines. Health and <br />safety in the workplace needs,to be key. This is a good investment of their time. The Committee <br />discussed that the City will need to be prepared to comply with the results of the voluntary <br />inspection. <br /> <br />Motion by Councilmember. Jeffrey, seconded by Councilmember Dehen, to ratify the <br />recommendation of the Personnel Committee in Case No.2 and to adopt Resolution #07-06-145 <br />authorizing a voluntary OSHA Workplace Safety Consultation. <br /> <br />City Council / June 12,2007 <br />Page 27 of29 <br />