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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION – MAY 18, 2020 6 <br /> <br />After further discussion on the three cities agreement it was decided that Chief Boehlke should <br />sign the purchase agreement for the Anderson Center property. <br /> <br />Mayor Grant reiterated that Arden Hills won’t be waiving building permit fees, plan review fees <br />etc. <br /> <br />Chief Boehlke thanked the Council for their support. <br /> <br />C. Recreation Staffing and COVID-19 <br /> <br />City Administrator Perrault reported the Personnel Committee directed staff to bring forward to <br />Council information regarding ongoing recreation staffing and COVID-19 implications. At a <br />previous meeting, the City Council directed staff to cancel all recreation programming through the <br />summer season due to COVID-19 concerns. Cancelling programs was not an easy decision but <br />felt it was necessary to protect the health of our residents and staff, and allow residents and <br />seasonal staff to adjust their summer plans accordingly. With summer programs being cancelled, <br />staff brought forward to the Personnel Committee proposed supplemental duties during the <br />summer season for the recreation positions. These duties were not necessarily specific to <br />recreation staff however they provided support or assistance to other departments in the City. The <br />Personnel Committee preferred not to supplement recreation personnel with additional duties, but <br />rather focus on core recreation duties and augment staffing levels to accommodate ongoing <br />operations. With the absence of summer recreation programming, it is anticipated that the <br />recreation duties could be accomplished by the equivalent of a single full-time employee. <br /> <br />City Administrator Perrault explained if the Council directs staff to have recreation only focus <br />on core duties, options that may be considered include reduced hours for both the Recreation <br />Programmer and Recreation Coordinator totaling forty hours per week or temporary furlough of <br />one of the recreation employees until normal operations can resume. At this time staff is <br />requesting Council to consider only temporary options. If Council directs staff to move forward <br />augmenting the recreation employees’ duties, staff would request the flexibility to work internally <br />and bring forward a proposal at a future regular City Council meeting for approval. <br /> <br />City Administrator Perrault noted that budget numbers show there is about a $10,000 loss to <br />the city with the programs being cancelled. That number includes seasonal but not full time staff. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holden thought they had to furlough or lay someone off. She expressed <br />disappointment in the last eight weeks the recreation staff hasn’t produced any online classes like <br />coloring, sing-a-longs, and book reading. She was wondering why the list of potential things to <br />do haven’t been done in the past eight weeks. <br /> <br />Councilmember Holmes added that she didn’t think we’ll have a robust program in the fall. She <br />is disappointed in the information provided for tennis and art classes because it doesn’t include <br />number of students and costs of the programs. While some of the duties on the list are important <br />she thought they could be continued after August. <br /> <br />Councilmember Scott felt with the cancellation of summer programs he didn’t think a second <br />full time staff member could be supported and concurred in furloughing one staff member.