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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION NOVEMBER 12, 20132 <br /> <br />Community Development Director Hutmacher <br />explained that her department is extremely <br />busy. She noted that for a number of years during the recession, the City only had a Planner and a <br />Director. However, at this time, there is more development in Arden Hills as well as the <br />upcoming redevelopment of the TCAAP site. She then discussed the work being completed by <br />the Community Development Intern and noted that the position is necessary to maintain the <br />current level of service and response to residents, businesses, and developer inquiries. <br /> <br />Mayor Grant <br /> stated that the annual impact to the budget for the Community Development Intern <br />position is $33,460. He questioned the impact of the proposed Finance Intern. <br /> <br />Director of Finance and Administrative Services Iverson <br /> explained that a regular part-time <br />employee in the Finance Department would actually decrease the General Fund expenditures by <br />$70.00 over 2013 as 1.5 FTE positions were being removed; but the proposed position would be <br />allocated across funds and would result in an overall increase of $9,460.00 over all funds. This is <br />due to the fact the Finance and Administrative Intern positions were removed from the budget. <br />She then reviewed the year-to-date expense for the Engineering Intern position. She reported that <br />last year a portion of reserves was used to balance the budget. This would be done again this year. <br /> <br />Councilmember McClung <br /> stated that it was his goal to get the Council to a 0% levy increase. <br /> <br />Mayor Grant <br /> recommended that staff use this as a take away and report back to the Council at <br /> <br /> <br />Councilmember Holden <br /> indicated that she did not support the Finance part-time position in 2014 <br />and recommended that this expense be removed from the budget. She questioned if the full-time <br />Community Development Intern position is necessary when the City just hired a full-time City <br />Planner. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holden <br /> inquired if the City had a policy regarding staff attending conferences. <br /> <br />Councilmember McClung <br /> stated that the expense for the Finance Intern and part-time position <br />should be reduced. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holmes <br /> was in favor of keeping all of the proposed staff, given the level of <br />development taking place in the City. She suggested that the technology portion of the budget be <br />reduced. <br /> <br />Mayor Grant <br /> supported the elimination of the Finance Intern/part-time employee from the 2014 <br />budget. <br /> <br />Director of Finance and Administrative Services Iverson <br /> reported that eliminating the Finance <br />Intern/part-time employee may lead to the City needing to file for extensions on certain items due <br />to the reduced staffing level in the Finance Department. <br /> <br />Councilmember McClung <br /> did not see adequate justification to keep any of the three interns/part <br />time employees. He would like to see the Community Development Intern continue his <br />employment with the City; however, at some point, choices have to be made. He supported all <br />