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Regular City Council Meeting Monday,January 26,2015 Page 26 Mayor Roe noted that, once the entire restructuring proposal was reviewed and researched, it may indicate more reclassifications are needed. At the request of Councilmember Laliberte, Mr. Schwartz stated that he found this restructuring provided a good succession plan, and in consultation with Mr. Cul- ver, offered his support of the proposed plan. Mr. Schwartz thanked the City Council for their support in other changes to the department over the last few years and in providing funding for those changes, which served to match what was envisioned for changes foreseen. Mayor Roe expressed the City's appreciation in staff having found funding to meet needs within the existing budget when the Customer Service position was not funded. Mayor Roe addressed the benefit of that position on a day-to-day ba- sis for taking calls from the public and connecting them with the right person and providing better management of calls. Mayor Roe stated that he would endorse all of the City's facilities using this model, opining that the minimal cost of ex- panding the contract management to other buildings or facilities may prove negli- gible compared to the cost to hire an employee. Mayor Roe spoke in support of freeing employees to do what they were hired to do in support of the City. Mayor Roe suggested it be tried initially in the Public Works Department and then made available if working to other departments and facilities. Mr. Schwartz advised that, during preliminary discussions he'd held with facility managers, it was a nominal cost to add other buildings, based on the economy of scale; and estimated that adding the fire station would cost approximately $8,000 annually; and to add park buildings, another$8,000 to $10,000 annually. While supportive of the cost for an entry level Customer Service position, Coun- cilmember McGehee asked that staff not lose sight of the importance of having a good, competent and capable customer service representative handling the job. At the request of Councilmember Laliberte, Mr. Schwartz noted that with addi- tional electronic tracking data now available to the City, staff could notify resi- dents when observing variables in utility usage or other issues as that additional information became available, creating a need for more communication with resi- dents. City Manager Trudgeon noted ongoing discussions and support for increased data capabilities, using the civic engagement module. Mr. Trudgeon noted that fre- quently the Public Works Department is initially at the receiving end of that in- formation, whether through the website or phone calls, and as access was made easier and more available, a customer service position served as the first filter to help overall service delivery across the board.