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S ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION —MARCH 15, 2010 6 1.A 2010 Engineering Work Plan It was the consensus of the City Council to direct staff to move forward with a request for proposal to allow the City to hire an individual engineer to provide approximately 800 hours towards the 2010 work plan. Staff would work with the City Attorney and the City of Roseville on this issue to provide the proper level of structure. City Engineer Bloom thanked the Council for the input provided at tonight's meeting. B. Public Works Maintenance Staffing and Workload Mayor Harpstead explained the structure and capacity of the engineering staff was somewhat intertwined with the staffing of the public works department. Staff recommends discussing the working foreman versus the public works superintendent while also addressing the capacity issues. Public Works Director Hoag stated the public works department staffing has been an ongoing concern since May of 2008. Staff would like to gather Council comments and give the department a final decision on the supervisory responsibilities. Councilmember Grant questioned if the current acting foreman was being supported by Staff. Public Works Director Hoag stated he was supporting and honoring the acting foreman but that the position was still in flux. The department needed a final decision for the department. Councilmember Holden suggested the current acting foreman follow through with his specified responsibilities despite the flux within the department. Public Works Director Hoag indicated that the acting foreman was making policy recommendations to staff. However, these suggestions could be handled by a superintendent. Councilmember Holden questioned how many of the 500 hours of overtime were from a shortage of staff. Public Works Director Hoag explained the overtime, for the most part, was due to an emergency needs, like snow plowing, or watermain breaks. He noted there would still be overtime hours in the public works department even with an increase in staff. Mayor Harpstead suggested the contract with the union be modified to allow for full time staff on the weekends to avoid paying overtime wages. Public Works Director Hoag stated this could be accomplished with the union. Councilmember Holden asked how many hours and staff members were required to clear the ice rinks.