2016-02-17 Special Council Meeting minutesCITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS
DAKOTA COUNTY
STATE OF MINNESOTA
Minutes of the Special Meeting
Held Tuesday, February 17, 2016
Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, a special meeting of the City Council, City of Mendota Heights,
Minnesota was held at 4:00 p.m. at City Hall, 1101 Victoria Curve, Mendota Heights, Minnesota.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Krebsbach called the meeting to order at 4:05 p.m. The following members were present:
Councilmembers Petschel, Povolny, and Norton. Absent: Councilmember Duggan.
AUTHORIZE ASSIGNMENT OF LIGHT DUTY
Assistant to the Administrator Tamara Schutta explained a situation of an employee being assigned to
light duty due to a work related injury. If approved, this will be a 90 day extension of the current light
duty assignment.
Councilmember Petschel moved to approve the light duty assignment for up to an additional 90 days.
Councilmember Povolny seconded the motion.
Ayes: 4
Nays: 0
Absent: 1
REVIEW OF ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT STAFFING AND FUNDING
City Administrator Mark McNeill and Craig Ebeling of General Local Government Consulting
presented a report on the review of the engineering department. The overall function of the department
was reviewed, along with the staffing and funding structure.
The department currently has a staffing level of 4.5 FTE's, which includes 3 licensed, registered
professional engineers. The work tasks of the department were reviewed, along with the funding of the
department. It was noted that the department is run as an internal service fund, meaning costs to run the
department are collected from other sources within the City. Charges for services relating to external
work are made for each hour worked by department personnel. The funding challenges of this approach
were addressed.
Performance monitoring and communications between the department and the Council were discussed.
The recommendations from the report included holding the current vacancy open, implement a
moratorium on capital projects until the Capital Improvements Program can be reviewed by an outside
consultant, if changes are to be made to the Capital Improvements Program then implement these
changes into the Financial Management Plan of the City, if long-term capital planning documents
indicated an annual program of $1,500,000 to $2,000,000 then maintain the existing Engineering
Department structure, if the Capital Improvement Program indicates there is not an ongoing program of
capital projects for each year then utilize consultants to meet the needs to implement the projects,
continue with the employee performance review system, discuss a Council policy on Council's
interaction with staff to facilitate better communications.
Councilmember Povolny moved to accept the report, the City to proceed with the planned street
improvement projects for 2016, to hold off on filling the vacant position in the Engineering Department,
to proceed with the hiring of an Engineering Intern for the 2016 summer months, and direct staff to
move forward with a Request for Proposals for a consultant to review the current Capital Improvements
Program.
Councilmember Norton seconded the motion.
Ayes: 4
Nays: 0
Absent: 1
ADJOURN
Councilmember Norton moved to adjourn.
Councilmember Petschel seconded the motion.
Ayes: 4
Nays: 0
Absent: 1
Mayor Krebsbach adjourned the meeting at 5:45 p.m.
andra Krebsbach
Mayor
ATTEST.
Lorri Smith
City Clerk
February 17, 2016 Mendota Heights City Council Page 2