CCP 04-08-2002 - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MARCH 25, 2002 DRAFT 11 Mayor Probst expressed concern about reconsidering this because it had been previously authorized and the staff had worked hard on this restructuring. He asked for further clarification what Councilmember's Aplikowski concerns were. Councilmember Aplikowski stated she was uncomfortable with the structure format, and it was too top heavy, which would separate the City Administrator from the employees. Councilmember Rem asked for a budgetary breakdown as to what these two Directors positions would cost. She indicated she had not been convinced that the new structure would work. Councilmember Rem indicated that Mr. Moore has had his hands too full, and she believed both of his positions were more than two part-time positions and should not be one full-time position. She agreed ifthis new structure was accepted, the City would be too top heavy in management. Councilmember Grant stated if they were going to talk about specific positions, they should do this in a closed session. He indicated this reorganization would provide an extra layer of management, which was an expense to the City. Councilmember Larson stated he believed the City Administrator had previously provided a cost breakdown of what the expense for these new positions would be, and he believed the City had been functioning as it should be. He stated the Council had previously approved this and he did not believe they should reconsider it. Mayor Probst stated he still supported what had been decided last year and encouraged Council to stay with their original decision. Councilmember Aplikowski stated her biggest concern was that the City Administrator was separating himself from the rest of the employees. She inquired as to why this was the best way to proceed. Mr. Lynch replied a lot of discussion had previously gone into this proposal, and that all of the staff had been consulted with. He indicated this was what staff had agreed to at that time. He stated he would not isolate himself from the rest of staff. He indicated this was not his management style. He stated the reason for the two positions was for a greater sense of "team" and to have two people manage those two areas. He stated all employees would meet regularly and would know what was going on. It would be up to staff to decide how to schedule the workload. He stated this would create more of a sense of "team", rather than less. He stated he was listening to the staff, and he did not believe it was fair to do eleventh hour reconsideration. He stated his original intent was organization by function and management by people who were available, including him, and to proceed with the dedication of long-range plans for the City. He noted this would undo work that had taken place to date, including union and staff work. He indicated staff had made a commitment to the structure and this would undo that commitment. Councilmember Aplikowski stated they were not undoing anything at this time. She indicated they had in the past brought in a person to do economic development and things did not get done. She stated she wanted to take another look at this. She indicated this was not the only way to do the restructuring. She stated it would have been nice if Council had the opportunity to talk about this and had heard from staff. She staled if the rest of the Council felt the reorganizalion was the