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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03.15.89 Special Council Minutes MINUTES COUNCIL MEETING SPECIAL MARCH 15, 1989 1. Mayor Kuchera called the meeting to order at 7:00 P.M. Members Present: Kuchera, Sprute, Mayer, Galler, McKnight. Members Absent: None. Also Present: Administrator Thompson. 2. The purpose of the meeting was to discuss the City Employee Compensation Plan. 3. Administrator Thompson presented an overview of the plan, noting that by Law, the City must develop and implement a compensation plan that ensures com- pensation based on comparable job values. Mr. Thompson outlined the plan and the status of implementation. Mr. Thompson referred to the annual compensation committee reports to the City Council when noting the problems encountered during the process. Mr. Thompson added that the organizational chart and job descriptions, which are an integral part of the plan, have also been questioned by the Council. 4. Councilmember Sprute stated that the present process of requlrlng a salary committee to review and rate positions has effectively removed three of the Councilmembers from the process. Councilmember Sprute stated that he was only aneof eight votes on the original committee. Councilmember Sprute noted that this concern has been rectified by reducing the number of members on the committee to three, but that he had little input during the past two years because he was not on the committee. Mr. Sprute stated that the entire plan should be reviewed by the full Council so that the entire Council can agree with what is in the plan. Councilmember Galler stated that he agreed that Department Heads should not review and revise the plan, but the Council should seek their input when reviewing the plan because the Council did not know what employees did on a day to day basis. Councilmember Galler added that it was his under- standing the Law mandated that the plans be based on position and not individuals, and he was concerned Council bias towards individuals would hamper the review. Councilmember Mayer noted that the majority of the Department Heads input should come during the review of the job descriptions. Councilmember Mayer agreed that in a small city like Farmington, it was difficult to separate the individual from the position. Councilmember Sprute noted that he accepted the original plan, but the Council never gave it a chance to work, but instead began annually revising it. Councilmember Sprute stated that the"~GoVIlcil' should come up with a plan they can be satisfied with and let i"t"w~\ ~:hJ.~rator Thompson stated that his experience with the plan indicated that\dt was '\\ extremely difficult to come up with a plan that any group is totally satisfied with. Also, Mr. Thompson stated that while the Council may be satisfied with the results, the employees may not be satisfied. Mr. Thompson noted that it appeared that the employees seemed generally satisfied with the plan, but it may post a morale problem if the plan is reopened. Councilmember Sprute stated that if the Council reviewed and revised the plan in good faith, there should be no problems. Councilmember Galler stated that if the Council wished to revise the rating process, it should hire a consultant because staff did not have the expertise to devise a system. Administrator Thompson cautioned the Council that depending on how far the Council wanted to review the plan, it could be extremely time consuming. It was the consensus of the Council that it would devote the necessary time to review the plan. 5. The Council next discussed the review process. It was the consensus of the Council that the following areas be reviewed: a. Organizational Chart b. Job Descriptions c. Part Time Policy d. Policies e. Ratings 6. Administrator Thompson expressed concern that if the Council started rating positions from scratch, it would take several hours. Councilmember Sprute stated that if the Council was going to do a thorough review of the organizational chart and job descriptions, the ratings must also be reviewed based on the outcome. A lengthy discussion followed regarding to what extent the Council wished to rate the positions. It was agreed that the Council would review the organizational chart and job descriptions, and would review the ratings based on the extent of the revisions to the organizational chart and job descriptions. Finance Director Henneke noted that most employees and Department Heads were comfortable with the ratings and starting from scratch would be very stressful and time consuming. Mr. Henneke stated that the Council should decide which jobs they are not comfortable with and concentrate on them. Mayor Kuchera stated that he was not in favor of rating all the positions at this time. Councilmember Mayer noted that his major concern was the job descriptions. Superintendent of General Services Kaldunski stated that it appeared the system was working, noting that almost all positions had been brought to the midpoint. 7. Councilmember Galler drew a flow chart of the review process. It was the consensus of the Council that it hold a special meeting on March 29, 1989 at 7:00 P.M. to fully review the compensation plan. The Council directed each department to review the job descriptions and present proposed and/or updated descriptions. The Council also directed the Department Heads to submit organizational charts of their respective departments including part time workers. 8. MOTION by Sprute, second by McKnight to adjourn at 9:00 P.M. APIF, MOTION CARRIED . Respectfully submitted, ~~7Zr j-' .~..-.-. .'r. .- -~-;- -~~,.- <,,,,-',---~- Larry Thompson City Administrator '^\~\~ ~~