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Regular City Council Meeting <br /> Monday,June 16, 2014 <br /> Page 20 <br /> To preface the discussion, Mayor Roe noted that the City Council had previously <br /> received specific items recommended by staff: a Public Works right-of-way tech- <br /> nician (fee supported); a Public Works customer service position (utility fee sup- <br /> ported); transition of the Fire Department to six full-time firefighters in 2015; two <br /> Police Department commercial patrol officers; with no new positions requested in <br /> the Administration, Community Development or Parks & Recreation Depart- <br /> ments. <br /> At the request of Councilmember Willmus, Mr. Miller provided comparison <br /> FTE's, with 167 budgeted in 2013 and 174 budgeted in 2013; and an additional <br /> 11 FTE's proposed for 2015; at a forecasted tax-supported levy impact for those <br /> 11 FTE's at approximately$400,000. <br /> At the request of Councilmember Etten, Public Works Director Duane Schwartz <br /> advised that the right-of-way technician would be supported by fees from a com- <br /> bination of utility companies for right-of-way permits and other engineering ser- <br /> vices provided to the City of Falcon Heights. Mr. Schwartz advised that other de- <br /> velopment fees (e.g. plan review and construction oversight) would supplement <br /> that support; and would essentially remain at fee levels now set. Mr. Schwartz <br /> noted that there would be a slight increase to utility fees to support the customer <br /> service position in the utility area. <br /> Councilmember Etten advised that he would support the right-of-way technician, <br /> but not the customer service position, since he wasn't sure if he felt comfortable <br /> increasing utility fees at this time. <br /> At the request of Councilmember McGehee, Mayor Roe clarified that the utility <br /> increase would be across the board for all City utilities. <br /> Councilmember Willmus opined that, at some point, the City Council was going <br /> to have to reconcile the number of people with pay adjustments; and advised that <br /> he could not support any additional positions at this time accordingly. <br /> Councilmember Laliberte advised that she was generally supportive of the Fire <br /> Department transition, but reiterated that for her, some of these discussions need- <br /> ed to come in the bigger context. While being in support of adding here and tak- <br /> ing out from other areas, to address things the City was mandated to do on a regu- <br /> lar basis, Councilmember Laliberte advised that, she continued to hear about <br /> things needing maintaining or increased, but never where they could be reduced <br /> or eliminated. <br /> Councilmember McGehee advised that she was happy to support the right-of-way <br /> technician. While supporting the Fire Department business model conversion in <br /> general, Councilmember McGehee opined that she was not sure she could support <br />