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Councilmember Dehen arrived at 5:39 p.m. <br />Councilmember Dehen stated he read the case and concurs this would be a good thing. <br />Motion carried. Voting Yes: Chairperson Jeffrey, Councilmembers Olson and Dehen. Voting <br />No: None. <br />Case #1: Request for Authorization to Recruit an Assistant City Engineer <br />Human Resources Manager Reed Kone stated as part of the 2007 General Fund Budget the City <br />Council approved the creation of a new Assistant City Engineer position. The purpose of the <br />position is to provide professional engineering counsel, design and review, as requested; assist <br />with development of the capital improvements program; and assist with development of a street <br />maintenance program and budget. This position will also supervise the City's two engineering <br />technicians. Staff is requesting authorization to begin recruitment for this position immediately <br />in order to have the position on board by late summer or early fall. Ms. Reed Kone advised the <br />budgeted salary for the Assistant City Engineer position is $60,550. The 2007 General Fund <br />Budget will cover $37,150 of the annual salary and it is anticipated that the remaining $23,400 <br />will be covered by billable hours. <br />Public Works Director Olson stated regarding the $20,000 of billable hours, when developments <br />come in the developer normally hires the consultant to do the design for the proposed <br />subdivision. At that point staff reviews the proposal and the hours are billed directly, or the time <br />directly attributable to that review is something the City has the ability to bill back to the <br />developer. In the absence of a developer, for example if there is an improvement project such as <br />the design and inspection of the trail recently approved to go in by Ramsey Elementary School, <br />the City has the equipment to do that design in- house. There is flexibility with this position in <br />making sure that the dollars spent for either consulting and /or design should go down. He does <br />not want to promise that this will be a position that is 100% funded, but staff feels very strongly <br />that a good portion of the salary could be billed back to developers and /or billed to improvement <br />projects. <br />Chairperson Jeffrey asked if staff anticipates that the billable hours will reduce the amount of <br />consultant time that is purchased today, or if more work will be brought in -house that will not be <br />farmed out to consultants. <br />Public Works Director Olson replied he thinks the second option is more likely, and if the pace is <br />picked up with development they will be able to keep on pace much better. It is largely a <br />function of the improvement projects on the deck or in the Capital Improvement Program. If <br />there is a high rate of development they will still likely be hiring out consultant services, if <br />development is not at a high rate there are improvement projects this could be funded through. <br />Chairperson Jeffrey asked if there is a skill set this position would carry that might currently be <br />in -house or if there would be another set of hands to help carry the load. <br />Personnel Committee / June 12, 2007 <br />Page 3 of 5 <br />