AGENDA MAPLE PLAIN CITY COUNCIL – WORKSHOP MAPLE PLAIN CITY HALL JANUARY 22, 2019 5:30 p.m. 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. ADOPT AGENDA 3. STAFFING STUDY FOLLOW-UP 4. COMPOST SITE DISCUSSION AND UPDATE 5. CITY HALL DISCUSSION 6. MN LEAGUE OF CITIES TRAINING 7. SET ADVISORY COMMISSION INTERVIEWS 8. SUMMER RECREATION PROGRAM 9. CITY COUNCIL COMMISSION ASSIGNMENTS 10. UPCOMING TOPICS FOR CITY COUNCIL 11. WEEKLY UPDATE 12. ADMINISTRATIVE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES 13. OTHER BUSINESS 14. ITEMS FOR NEXT WORKSHOP 15. ADJOURNMENT If anyone has any further questions regarding this agenda, please feel free to call Robert Schoen, City Administrator at 763-479-0516. Thank you!
19
Embed
AGENDA MAPLE PLAIN CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP MAPLE …• Assisting with utility billing and issuance of building permits ... This position functions and performs duties typically performed
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
AGENDA MAPLE PLAIN CITY COUNCIL – WORKSHOP
MAPLE PLAIN CITY HALL JANUARY 22, 2019
5:30 p.m.
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. ADOPT AGENDA
3. STAFFING STUDY FOLLOW-UP
4. COMPOST SITE DISCUSSION AND UPDATE
5. CITY HALL DISCUSSION
6. MN LEAGUE OF CITIES TRAINING
7. SET ADVISORY COMMISSION INTERVIEWS
8. SUMMER RECREATION PROGRAM
9. CITY COUNCIL COMMISSION ASSIGNMENTS
10. UPCOMING TOPICS FOR CITY COUNCIL
11. WEEKLY UPDATE
12. ADMINISTRATIVE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES
13. OTHER BUSINESS
14. ITEMS FOR NEXT WORKSHOP
15. ADJOURNMENT
If anyone has any further questions regarding this agenda, please feel free to call Robert Schoen, City
Administrator at 763-479-0516. Thank you!
5050 INDEPENDENCE STREET | MAPLE PLAIN, MN 55359 Phone: (763) 479-0515 | Fax: (763) 479-0519 | www.mapleplain.com
Memo: Maple Plain City Council
From: City Administrator Schoen
Regarding: Staffing Study
Date: December 10, 2018 (Update January 14, 2019)
Note: All conclusions or recommendations shared under each discussion topic is word for word from the staffing
study. Each conclusion and Recommendation are shared and can be found on the last two pages of the Staffing
Study under section 6. Conclusions and Recommendations.
Administrative Office Analysis:
The following are duties that were collected and laid out in the staffing report. These duties give a very accurate
description of the current work load for City Staff.
City Administrator Position
The City Administrator is responsible for a wide variety of activities including.
• Supervising and providing direction to City staff
• Managing daily operations
• Developing the annual budget for approval by the Mayor and City Council
• Managing the annual budget after approval.
• Preparing City Council and Planning Commission Packets (researching agenda items, writing memos, compiling agendas,
coordinating contract staff, coordinating guest speakers and presenters, reviewing claims, organizing and printing packets,
etc.)
• Responding to phone inquiries and general questions from the Mayor and City Council, residents, vendors, contract staff,
and other governmental entities
• Attending meetings with staff, City Council, Planning Commission, and EDA, and others
• Working on capital & "long-term" projects (policy research & development)
• Discussing current projects, agenda items, & issues with City Staff in house
• Serves as the City’s economic development professional
He also fills in for the Assistant to the City Administrator and the Deputy City Clerk answering phone calls, staffing the front counter, and other required duties when they are not available.
The Assistant to the City Administrator duties include:
• Posting meetings and news on City Website
• Assisting with utility billing and issuance of building permits
• Assisting the City Administrator in preparing items for the Mayor and City Council and for City Commissions
• Code enforcement for violations like: o Long grass
o Signs
o Building permits
o Junk in yard
• Drafting ordinance updates, resolutions, and other documents
• Staff liaison to the Parks Commission and to the Planning Commission
• Planning City Events
• Taking minutes at council meetings and work sessions
• Fills in for Deputy Clerk when she is on vacation or out sick
• Staffs front desk on Fridays
• Prepares communications and correspondence
• Sends out special assessment notices and planning and zoning notices
This position functions and performs duties typically performed by the City Clerk in most cities we have worked with.
Deputy Clerk Position
The Deputy Clerk’s position is a part-time position working four days per week. Her primary duties
include:
• Answer phones
• Staff the front counter
• Utility billing
• Issue building permits
• Coordinate employee payroll o Payroll taxes and retirement (P.E.R.A.)
o File quarterly and year-end reports
o Process year-end tax statements
• Process checks for payment of City bills and invoices
• Receipt and record payments received into accounting system
• Filing documents
• Ordering supplies
• Elections
• Re-enters Fire Department reports into required state forms
This position provides the accounting and payroll function needed for the daily operation of the City.
Topics of discussion:
1. Hours of Operation
a. Staff feels that the hours of operation are adequate but are not opposed to changes
to the hours of operation. It is important to remember that just because the
window is closed does not mean the work load has decreased. Staff has no
recommendation on what the hours of operation are, but if the hours are reduced
the service to the community also decreases as availability is not present. Staff
also will serve a person that stops by, even with the window closed, as it would be
impolite to not help that person. Below are the hours of operation for the cities
The operating hours for City Hall are a policy decision of the City Council. Hours could be set to have the
City Hall only open when all three-office staff are scheduled to be working. That would prevent the City
Administrator from having to spend time staffing the front counter, answering calls, issuing permits and
other duties not germane to his position allowing him to focus on the broader policy and management
issues of the City.
Proposal from staff
Monday 7:30 A.M. to 7:00 p.m.
Tuesday – Thursday 7:30 P.M. – 4:30 P.M.
Friday 8:00 A.M. – Noon
This would allow the City to have the window open 42.5 hours a week and reach people who work an
8:00 to 5:00 job.
2. Fire Department Software
a. Currently City Staff has a redundancy with entering in fire reports into the State
data base. As a result, staff would like to purchase the correct software to fix this
redundancy and free up the deputy clerk from taking these reports home to do.
Recommendation from Staffing Study
The City should work with the Fire Chief to explore the purchase of software that would enable the
firefighters to enter data directly into the state system. The cost of software should be evaluated against
the hours of time that could be saved by eliminating the need for the Deputy Clerk to re-enter the data into
the State system.
Staff spends an average of 100 hours a year entering Fire Department reports. The new software costs
$3,500 per year and would save staff 100 hours a year. Currently, Sharon works her normal Monday
through Thursday job and ends up bringing home reports to enter in over the weekend. Staff has
purchased this software to cut back on Sharon’s hours above and beyond her normal work week. This also
helps the Fire Department efficiently.
3. Minute Policy
a. Currently Staff has a drafted minute policy that has gone before the Maple Plain
City Council. City Council directed Staff to clean up the policy from a grammar
stand point and bring that policy to the next business meeting on December 17th.
Recommendation from Staffing Study
The City Council should develop a guiding policy that clearly states the data to be included in the
minutes. Once adopted, the policy should be carried out by the City Administrator and staff.
City Council has recommended guidelines for staff to follow for minute taking. Staff will abide by these
guidelines
4. Council and Administrator Roles
a. Staff is working with the league of Minnesota Cities and will have a training from their
staff out this January to help break down staff and City Council roles. I recently had a
conversation with the City Administrator of Mora who brought in the League of MN
Cities for a similar training.
The City has this topic on the agenda further down and will be discussed at that time.
Recommendation from Staffing Study
The Mayor and City Council should revisit the City Administrator’s duties and affirm they are still valid.
They should subsequently review and discuss them with the City Administrator establishing their
expectations for him to carry these out.
5. Contracting out Utility Billing and City Financials.
a. Staff is still waiting on information regarding costs from many businesses. Staff
will have this prepared for the next workshop in January.
6. Overall Levels of Office Staffing
a. Staff strongly feels the level of staffing in the office is adequate. We feel it is
important to produce the best level of service to the community. Given the
projects that have been going on (Elim Care Development, Downtown, Stoplight
addition, Park project, Comprehensive Plan, I and I Ordinance and residential
camera, City Blight, and etc.) staff feels reducing the staffing will shift a work
load onto existing employees that would take away from these projects.
Conclusion from Staffing Study
It is our opinion Maple Plain’s city hall is staffed at an appropriate level. However, staffing could be
reduced if the resulting reduction in service levels were acceptable. There is also a risk that current
affected staff would look for another position.
Public Works Analysis:
The Public Works Workers are responsible for the operation and maintenance of the City’s streets and
other infrastructure, City facilities, parks, water and sewer utilities, and storm water system. Typical job
functions performed include:
• Snowplowing
• Pothole patching
• Traffic markings
• Repairs to curbs and gutters and sidewalks
• Street sweeping
• Building maintenance
• Mowing parks, right of ways and City property
• Maintain parks and parks facilities
• Maintain trucks and equipment
• Tree trimming and brush cutting
• Meter reading
• Operation of water treatment plant (including weekend water testing)
• Maintenance of water distribution and storage system
• Maintenance of sanitary sewer, storm sewers, and drainage ditches
• Maintenance of lift station
• Utility locates for Gopher State One Calls
• Traffic signs
The Public Works staff consist of two full-time employees and a part-time-seasonal employee who mows grass in the summer. Some work is contracted out like repair of watermain breaks, crack sealing and filling, sewer cleaning, and major repairs to trucks and equipment.
Topics of discussion:
1. Scheduling
a. The current Public Works staff does not want their schedule to change, but as the
City Administrator I think it is very important to stagger their schedule. I think
there are two options for there schedule that make sense. The first is a
recommendation from the staffing study
“The City should consider a Public Works schedule that has one employee working Sunday through
Thursday and the other employee working Tuesday through Saturday if it desires to reduce overtime
costs. “
The second option is to stagger their schedule Monday through Friday. An example that
might work is having one Public Works employee work from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and the other Public
Works employee work from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Staff has no strong recommendation but would learn towards option 2 with the Monday though Friday
staggered schedule. Staff believes this could reduce some overtime costs.
Conclusion from Staffing Study
Overtime costs in the Public Works Department do not seem excessive based on our experience.
2. Hiring a Public Works Supervisor
a. The Staffing report shares that the Public Works study is understaffed, and the City
Administrator needs training on Public Works operations. Staff would recommend
moving forward with a working Public Works director that can adequately fills the
staffing needs, but also help build a better culture in Public Works and get more out of
our current employees.
Recommendation from Staffing Study
The City should hire a Public Works working supervisor. If the City chooses not to increase Public Works
staffing, it should establish a priority listing for Public Works services with those service that affect the
health, safety, and welfare of the resident given the highest priority. It should also provide training in
Public Works to the City Administrator.
Conclusion from Staffing Study
The benchmark comparisons show that Maple Plain is understaffed in its Public Works Department.
3. Contracting out Water Treatment Plant Services
a. Staff has contacted and talked with two Water Treatment Companies Veolia and
PeopleService. Both companies have shared that they are fully capable of taking
care of the water distribution system and treatment plant. Both companies are also
able to maintain the one City operated lift station. The rough estimate that I have
received is a cost of 75 thousand to 90 thousand dollars per year and do not
include any emergency or after hour service.
b. Staff currently has two employees with a water license. The work of the Water
treatment plant is 0.8 FTE’s per the staffing study. It is currently cheaper for the
City to not contract out the Water Treatment Plant and staff would advise against
doing so. Staff would advise that with the proper staffing level of 3 FTE’s in the
Public Works department the City would run more efficiently both with work
accomplished and dollars spent.
c. The cost of a working Public Works director could be cheaper than contracting
out the Water Treatment Plant and Water Distribution system.
There are no conclusions or recommendations that support contracting out the Water Treatment
Plant from the Staffing Study.
4. Conclusions that fit multiple or no recommendations
The City Council can establish service levels that will either increase staffing levels and/or enable staffing
reductions.
There is a perception that the City has a negative culture. The sense is that some folks see the glass as half
empty and focus on what they believe is wrong with the City’s rather than seeing the positives and
working to develop a plan to improve those areas where the City is not meeting their expectations.
The Public Works Department is under a microscope. It is clear that there is a breakdown of
communication and trust between the employees in is department and the rest of the City.
Questions asked to City Council
The following questions were asked and answered by City Council. Below each question is listed with
responses from the City Administrator.
Disclosure: All the thoughts and answers to the following questions are my thoughts and mine alone. As
the City Administrator of Maple Plain these views may not align with City Council. I want City Council
to know that I will execute my job no matter what direction or decision City Council decides.
1. Do you feel the data in the Study done by Springsted was good data?
Springstead has been providing public sector expertise for over 60 years. The data collected is from a
reputable source. Springstead’s mission statement is as follows; “The Springsted Group provides high
quality, independent financial and management advisory services to public and non-profit organizations,
and works with them in the long-term process of building their communities on a fiscally sound and
well-managed basis.” I do feel that this data is good data to base future decisions for Maple Plain.
2. Before the Study was done, what were your thoughts on City Staffing?
Staff had prepared multiple staffing level reports to City Council. One office staff report looked at all
cities in the State of Minnesota with a population within 1000 people to Maple Plain. The average FTE’s
for those cities was 2.86. Currently, the Maple Plain Office has 2.8 FTE’s. Before this study I felt the
office Staff was staffed properly. I also felt the Public Works staff was staffed properly prior to this
study.
3. Now that the Study is complete, what areas of the Study do you think we should focus on first?
I think two areas need to be focused on. The first would be the roles of City Council and the City
Administrator. I hope to tackle this by Mid-January with training provided by the Minnesota League of
Cities. The second area would be hiring a Public Works director that brings Public Works up to the 3.0
FTE’s that the study found was adequate staffing.
4. What recommendation from the Study do you think is most important?
Hiring a working Public Works Director. The culture within Public Works is not great and some of that
has to do with being understaffed. A working Public Works director would provide more expertise to the
Public Works Department and help with the current work load. I would also recommend to City Council
that if we hire a working Public Works Director a work plan be installed to measure the progress from
our current employees.
5. Public Works was a huge part of the Study. What changes would you make to the Department?
My answer to number question number 4 fits for question number 5 as well.
6. Do you feel we are overstaffed, understaffed, or staffed just right?
I feel that staff is staffed just right in the office. The Public Works Department is under staffed by 1
person currently.
7. What do you want to have happen moving forward regarding staffing?
I would like to hire a working Public Works director and start the current Public Works employees on a
work plan. I would like to move on to other projects within the City not regarding staffing.
Attachments: Recommendations and Conclusions from the Staffing Study
5050 INDEPENDENCE STREET | MAPLE PLAIN, MN 55359 Phone: (763) 479-0515 | Fax: (763) 479-0519 | www.mapleplain.com
To: City Council
From: Robert Schoen City Administrator
Re: City Compost Site/ Lift Station L63
Date: January 14, 2019
Background
The City of Maple Plain has a compost site located at 1280 Poplar Avenue. This compost site is
open to all residents in town for personal use. The City over the past few months has been
discussing clean-up options to remove the material that has been on site for several years. City
Staff has collected information on contracting out all the material on site for the Spring opening.
Recently, the City of Maple Plain was contacted by the Metropolitan Council on expanding the lift
station directly North of the compost site. Please view the attached documents for a visual. The
Metropolitan is looking to purchase the lift station property and additional property directly to the
east of the lift station. Please view the visual two pages down from this one.
The purchase of the property is essential to the expanded sewer services for future homes in
Independence, which would potentially have Maple Plain water supplied. The expansion property
that Met Council is asking to purchase is the current location of the brush pile in the compost site.
If we do sell this property, we will need to limit the use of the compost site. This would mean the
City would either have to spend more money cleaning the compost site more regularly, or we offer
two days a year that residents can bring brush to be chipped from a wood chipper on site.
Staff has received three quotes from contractors to remove all material on the compost site. The
low bid was $14,000.
Staff Recommendation
Staff feels it is important to expand the Lift Station with Met Council for future water revenues
that the City has invest millions of dollars. Staff would look to sell the property asked by Met
Council but find a creative way to keep a compost service available in some capacity to residents.
Popla
r A
ven
ue
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
W
W
W
WW
W
W
W
WW
W
WW
W
W
x
x
W
L
W
L
W
L
WL
W
L
WL
O
E
OE
OE
OE
OE
OE
OE
OE
OE
OE
OE
>>
CP IP
985.89
CP IP SITE3
986.12
CP IP SITE3
986.22
TP
EF
S
S
S
S
S
RD
RD
ET
SB W1-1W
CP IP 32
986.12
SB W1-1U
S
L-63
ABANDONED BELOW
GRADE STRUCTURES
WITH CONCRETE
DEMOLITION WASTE
BUILDING
BRUSH PILE
BRUSH PILE
POND
LEAF
PILE
BITUMINOUS DRIVE
GRAVEL SURFACE
BUILDING
BUILDING
CONCRETE
CONTAINMENT
AREA
DIESEL FUEL
STORAGE
CHAIN LINK
FENCE
CHAIN LINK
FENCE
204'
204'
102'
102'
EXISTING
UTILITY
EASEMENT
30'
REVISIONS
DATEN0 BY REMARKS DATEN0
REVISIONS
BY REMARKS
CHECKED
DRAWN
DESIGNED
PROFESSIONAL UNDER THE LAWS OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA.
BY ME OR UNDER MY DIRECT SUPERVISION AND THAT I AM A DULY LICENSED
I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS PLAN, SPECIFICATION, OR REPORT WAS PREPARED
L M C I T L E A G U E O F M I N N E S O T A C I T I E S I N S U R A N C E T R U S T
Strong opinions can lead to lively discussions and promote the exchange of new ideas and creative solutions. However, when those discussions start to lead to conflict, where can your city turn for help? You can receive guidance from a qualified neutral and experienced facilitator who will meet with your city to provide personalized workshops and facilitated discussions as a part of LMCIT’s Collaboration Services.
When should your city call LMCIT Collaboration Services?• If your city has a conflict. When your city is having issues
with communication and trust, problems understanding rolesand responsibilities, or struggling with complex topics like the Open Meeting Law or data practices, you can work with LMCIT’s Collaboration Services to learn how to work together, engage more respectfully, and get the tools you need to govern more effectively.
• If your city wants to prevent conflicts from forming. When your city needs some extra help understanding tricky topics, wantsto proactively learn communication skills to better engage in discussions, needs to get a leg-up on good governance, or wants to avoid conflict before it starts, LMCIT’s Collaboration Services offers tools to help everyone work toward an integrative solution. Workshops can cover a wide range of topics that will keep your city running effectively.
• If your city needs assistance with specific issues. Cities sometimes experience conflict when a lack of understanding of new and difficult issues causes distrust. LMCIT’s Collaboration Services can provide your city with needed assistance, such as finding a mentor, getting referrals, sharing written resources, and mediation.
For more information visit www.lmc.org/collabservicesinfo
LMCIT is a self-insured membership cooperative that was formed by Minnesota’s cities, with the assistance of the League of Minnesota Cities. In addition to providing workers’ compensation and property/casualty coverage, LMCIT provides a comprehensive loss control program to reduce the risk of employee injuries and the volume of costly claims.