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Memo City Council Committees & Appointments 2 . There are also benefits to continuing to contract engineering services. As outlined in the budget presentation materials, there is a depth and variety of experience available when contracting with a firm, The current engineering firm has a familiarity with the staff and community, However, since the in-house position would not be able to perform all engineering functions, we would still contract for some services and these advantages would still be available to us as needed, It is important to remember that the benefits of the position can change year-to-year, depending on the priorities we (staff and Council) set for the position and the types of projects that are undertaken. For example, if we take a more customer-service approach, the cost savings will not be as direct. If the goal is to enhance cost savings, then the focus will be on performing tasks that are "billable". Obviously, there will be a mix of both, but how that balance is achieved can vary depending on priorities and projects. In either case, it is believed that the benefits outweigh the costs and that the addition of a civil engineer position would positive for the City of Arden Hills. To be very clear, I am not willing to guarantee that this will be a "break-even" position, lfthat is the direction of the Council, we will be unable to assign work to this position unless it is an assigmnent we can directly bill for, or something that we would otherwise have to bill our contracting engineer. In addition, the type of work that can be done will be somewhat dependent on the candidate we are able to recruit. Engineers can have different areas of expertise and level of abilities. All of which can affect the workload that we can handle intemally, . I also want to emphasize that the market for this position is very tough. I am not sure what kind of candidate pool we will be able to tind with the salary range we've established. We may need to revisit the expectations for the position or other topics such as salary depending on how our recruitment process proceeds. Direction ReQuested Absent any changes desired by City Council, staff will proceed with recruitment as authorized this past March. \\EarthlAdmin\City Administrator\l'viemo'120031.09-15-04 Memo to Council RE Civil Engineer. doc .