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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03.21.22 Work Session Minutes City of Farmington City Council Work Session Minutes March 21, 2022 1. Call to Order Mayor Hoyt called the work session to order at 5:00 p.m. Present: Hoyt, Bernhjelm, Lien, Porter, Wilson Also Present: Joel Jamnik,City Attorney; Leah Koch, City Attorney; Lynn Gorski,Assistant City Administrator;Chris Regis, Finance Director;Gary Rutherford, Police Chief; Justin Elvestad, Fire Chief;Samantha DiMaggio,Community Development Director; Kellee Omlid, Parks and Recreation Director; Peter Gilbertson, IT Director; Matt Decur,Assistant City Engineer; Cynthia Muller,Administrative Assistant Audience: Kara Hildreth, Reporter 2. Approve Agenda Councilmember Wilson asked to add an item to the agenda that is on the regular meeting agenda for tonight regarding the TH3 construction projects. MOTION by Bernhjelm, second by Wilson to approve the agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 3. Discussion Items a. Approve Addition of Two Full-Time Parks Maintenance Workers Staff is requesting to add two full-time Parks Maintenance Workers as soon as possible. Requests will also be made in the 2023 and 2024 budgets for an additional Park Maintenance Worker in each year. This is subject to change based on the results of the 2022 referendum. Parks and Recreation Director Omlid explained in the summer we have four full-time employees and in the winter we have three full- time employees, because one works for building maintenance in the winter. She explained the duties that each of them performs. Personnel have not been added to Parks Maintenance since 2006, even though the city has added numerous parks and miles of trails. Staff would like to put these positions on the April 4 council agenda for approval and post the positions on April 5, 2022. Councilmember Wilson supports adding the positions. Councilmember Bernhjelm recognized we are short staffed, but was concerned with adding positions when it is not budgeting time. We prioritize staffing across all departments at budget time. She would prefer to wait until determining the budget for the full scope of the year. Councilmember Lien would like to see a projected layout of staffing. Councilmember Porter asked how seasonal staffing compares to last year. Parks and Recreation Director Omlid was not here last summer, but heard we hired everyone that applied. Councilmember Porter stated then we could risk not having qualified candidates. Staff would make it a point to go after the skills we are lacking. Councilmember Porter stated there is a fear we will not be able to be selective. She supports the need. Mayor Hoyt stated he struggles when we look at population based comparisons and not the actual work. He agreed park and recreation staffing has not been sufficient. The positions are warranted and needed, but we need to look at staffing and the organization as a whole. There are more parks and we need Council Work Session March 21,2022 Page 2 more staff and equipment. If we look at hiring seasonal staff versus full-time, seasonal has no benefits, but with full-time we are not retraining each year. Mayor Hoyt stated staff should bring this forward for a vote at the April 4 council meeting. He recommended a follow-up in the weekly update. Councilmember Bernhjelm noted what if someone else needs a position next month? Councilmember Wilson noted councils in the past have acted favorably for adding to police and fire and parks and recreation has been pushed aside. Councilmember Bernhjelm noted adding staff does permanently add to the budget. The need is there, but we don't know what else is coming. Assistant Gorski stated staff is reviewing the referendum survey responses and there are several comments that we can't keep up with what we have and now we want to add more. Mayor Hoyt stated if we want the referendum to pass, we need to make a move showing we can take care of things. Councilmember Bernhjelm stated if we go above 5%on the tax levy, we will kill the referendum. Mayor Hoyt asked staff to present the item on April 4. If any councilmembers need more data,they should advise staff before April 4. Councilmember Porter suggested in communications regarding the budget, we should break down what the tax dollars are going for. Councilmember Lien asked if staff sees any depreciation in value on the equipment because we don't have enough staff to maintain it. Staff agreed that is happening. b) Discuss Appointment of the City Administrator Position Mayor Hoyt stated we discussed this item two weeks ago. Since that time, council has weighed the long-term risks and talked with staff. We need to concentrate on the stability factor. Assistant Gorski may not be the best city administrator applicant, but her skill set, affect on the culture here all make an effective leader. Rather than spend money, we should use who we have. Assistant Gorski should be our next city administrator and we need to make a path to make that work. There are alot of details, such as replacing the assistant city administrator position. City Attorney Koch stated she has done some research on search firms and the price is going up to hire a firm. Mayor Hoyt had contacted her to put a motion on the agenda for tonight's meeting to appoint Assistant Gorski as city administrator. The items that need to be taken care of are: - Signature authorization for checks and contracts - Increase her wage to step 8 for the city administrator position - Negotiate an employment contract Mayor Hoyt added he and City Administrator McKnight were under the impression there were very few things the assistant city administrator would not be able to do. We found out that was not the case. Councilmember Bernhjelm stated it is very clear Assistant Gorski has earned everyone's trust and respect in the organization. Councilmember Lien stated he spoke with staff and residents. Many residents didn't know City Administrator McKnight was gone. He spoke with staff and 100%of them wanted to work for Assistant Gorski and have stability. He also heard from staff that the last search process was a nightmare and they did not get strong candidates. Councilmember Wilson has been super impressed with Assistant Gorski. When City Council Work Session March 21,2022 Page 3 Administrator McKnight announced he was leaving, Assistant Gorski stayed calm and organized a communication plan as to what will be done. He was also impressed with her coordination with community development on revising the development process. The biggest impact was having every department head show up at the work session because they believe in Assistant Gorski. We are heading in an exciting new direction. Councilmember Porter also supported Assistant Gorski. Councilmember Lien asked about re-working the city administrator job description to factor in what the assistant city administrator will be doing. Mayor Hoyt stated in the next 30 days we will create benchmarks and see about changes to the job description. 4. City Administrator Update Assistant Gorski thanked everyone at the table. She stated she is so proud of everyone and how we work together. We are ready to move on. She thanked staff for their confidence in her. There will be a work session on April 18 prior to the EDA meeting to discuss the police department and leasing. a) TH3 Construction Project Councilmember Wilson stated there is a mutual funding agreement on the agenda for approval tonight. He asked if this covers the Akin Road project and TH3? Staff explained there is one bond for street projects on Spruce Street, Akin Road and TH3. The $95,000 is included in the GO bonds. Councilmember Wilson asked what actions are coming to council for TH3? Staff explained the agreement includes the $95,000, and maintenance costs for landscaping, storm sewer and trails. There is also a limited use permit allowing the city to maintain utilities within the MnDOT right-of-way. There was a discussion about the city having to maintain the new trails along both sides of TH3 which will be in Empire Township. That occurred because the city was the lead agent in applying for local dollars for the project and became responsible for maintenance. Councilmember Bernhjelm stated if Empire incorporates, trail maintenance needs to go to them. Staff noted the trail on the west side will go from Willow Street to 205th Street; the east side trail will go from CR66 to 209th Street. If Empire is not paying the city for maintenance, then we shouldn't maintain the trails. Mayor Hoyt was concerned about liability if there is an accident. He asked if by not taking action tonight are we prolonging the project. Staff noted the bid opening is April 22. Council agreed to pull the item from the agenda and bring it back on April 4. Mayor Hoyt stated we have to look all the way down into the details with contracts. Councilmember Bernhjelm suggested creating a cover page for contracts for all parties involved to sign off. Councilmember Wilson asked that anything to do with projects and construction be a presentation item on the agenda. Council Work Session March 21,2022 Page 4 5. Adjourn MOTION by Wilson, second by Porter to adjourn at 6:26 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Cynthia Muller Administrative Assistant