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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,August 19, 2013 Page 19 Mr. Trudgeon opined that it provided fairly good merit as a framework for the policy. Mr. Trudgeon reiterated that, from his perspective, regardless of the fu- ture application, it was important to get employees up to 100% and define the pa- rameters to get there and then how and when to address it in the future; all points worthy of discussion. Human Resources Manager Bacon concurred with the comments of Interim City Manager Trudgeon, that the draft policy provided a good start in outlining the pa- rameters. Ms. Bacon opined that it was important to understand that it is a policy and guideline, and within the City Council's prerogative to change, update, abide by or not; and to fully recognize that it was not a statute,but a guideline and place to begin. Ms. Bacon advised that her only initial concerns were making sure eve- ryone understood the flexibility needed and if asking that exact matches be found in the market place, it would prove extremely problematic or like seeking a needle in a haystack. Ms. Bacon noted that, even though comparable peer employers, they each were separate entities offering different services, and finding such an exact match would prove quite a task. At the request of Mayor Roe, Ms. Bacon recognized that "comparable" addressed a portion of that; but reiterated that she didn't want the City Council to have the impression that she could go to the marketplace to find exact job comparisons. Mayor Roe opined that past discussions should provide that evidence. Ms. Bacon noted that, while the proposed policy did not follow the format of the City Employee Handbook, it would be easy to reformat it to do so; and further noted that implementation was typically separate from the actual policy. Ms. Ba- con advised that, overall the draft policy followed her understanding of previous City Council feedback and discussions. Mayor Roe clarified that the draft policy followed the format of other City.Coun- cil policies (e.g. financial policies) and suggested that format be retained based on that model versus the handbook policy; further suggesting that it eventually be adopted along the same lines as the City's financial policies in City Council for- mat and record systems. Councilmember Willmus thanked Mayor Roe for taking the initiative to draft this policy for discussion. Councilmember Willmus advised that he had only one concern regarding the process to-date, and focus on communities with similar job descriptions while not taking into consideration the different tax capacities and demographics. Going forward, Councilmember Willmus opined that it was vital- ly important to do so, if the City was intent on looking at a 100— 102%policy. Ms. Bacon clarified that the most recent study compared the ten (10)most compa- rable peer cities,not just individual positions.