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c s ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—MARCH 15,2010 3 1.A 2010 Engineering Work Pan Mayor Harpstead encouraged staff to work with the engineers to work on shifting some of this work away from the engineers to an administrative support position or to public works going into the future. He stated the City should also be building a relationship with a plant supplier to assist in this area. Public Works Director Hoag indicated one of the maintenance employees did have a horticultural background and could assist with the rain gardens. Mayor Harpstead stated Councilmember Holmes would be disappointed that Valentine Lake - Subwatershed Drainage Study/Improvements would be shifted to 2011. Councilmember McClung expressed concern in that the 2010 work plan had a capacity issue and- should be discussed, while the public works department had a structural concern. The City would need to find additional capacity or reduce the number of items on the 2010 work plan. He suggested the City address the capacity issues and possibly hire staff internally. Councilmember Grant indicated in the past, the City did not used to complete PMP projects in consecutive years, which has created a need for increased engineering staff. Mayor Harpstead agreed,but the items were approved by the Council for the 2010 work plan. Councilmember Holden added that the I&I requirements have added additional hours as well and was state mandated, along with other maintenance issues in the City. Councilmember McClung explained that the pedestrian overpass, CP Rail Bridge and Safe Routes to School projects all required a vast amount of engineering time even though grants were tied to the projects. City Engineer Bloom stated the proposed 2010 work plan took into account the need for specialized technicians and engineers that would be difficult to complete with the hiring of a single City Engineer. Councilmember McClung indicated the City could hire on a Public Works Director/City Engineer and continue the joint powers agreement with the City of Roseville to assist Arden Hills with additional technician capacity. He explained the City spent $463,924 for engineering in 2009, which was a large amount of money. Councilmember Holden stated she didn't see the need for a Public Works Director/City Engineer. She would rather have the public works department completing the workload for the City and not managing the projects. She recommended the joint powers agreement be amended to allow Roseville to hire a part time engineer to better serve the needs of the community.