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2023-07-18 City Council Agenda Packet - work session CITY OF MENDOTA HEIGHTS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AGENDA Tuesday, July 18, 2023  4:15 p.m. City Hall  1101 Victoria Curve, Mendota Heights 1. Call to Order 2. Discussion a. City Compensation Study b. Organics Collection c. Snow Equipment 3. Natural Resources Commission Interviews 4. Adjourn Alternative formats or auxiliary aids are available to individuals with disabilities upon request. Please contact city hall at 651-452-1850 or cityhall@mendotaheightsmn.gov. _________________________________________________ City Council Work Session Memo DATE: July 18, 2023 TO: Mayor, City Council, and City Administrator FROM: Kelly Torkelson, Assistant City Administrator SUBJECT: Compensation Study BACKGROUND DDA Human Resources, Inc. (DDA) was hired by the City to conduct a market analysis, calibration and implement recommended changes to the city pay plan. The project will include: • A Market Analysis of council selected and approved benchmark communities. • Determination of current pay in relation to market and discuss desired pay philosophy. • Create pay philosophy and re-calibrate pay grid • Prepare budget implementation to determine payroll costs Benchmark communities are identified as a part of the market analysis from which the consultant will make comparisons to Mendota Heights. These benchmark communities may share a variety of characteristics with Mendota Heights and there may also be significant differences between them. A part of identifying the variety of cities within the analysis is to represent the range of what makes Mendota Heights unique as a city and to best represent the standard from which the city can compare employee compensation. During the 2017 compensation study, population was primarily used as the comparison for benchmarks. In reviewing the market trends within the city as well as within the broader employment market, staff are recommending to expand that analysis to include things such as proximity, service level expectations, tax capacity, tax rate, and expenditures. The project leadership team reviewed initial benchmarks which were then brought to two staff meetings that were open to all staff as well as the city’s unions. These meetings were an opportunity to review the process of the compensation study and to get staff feedback and recommendations pertaining to the benchmarks that would be presented to the city council. The list, including these recommendations is as follows: Anoka Arden Hills Columbia Heights Farmington Hopkins Little Canada Mound Mounds View North St. Paul Robbinsdale Rogers Rosemount South Lake Minnetonka Police Department South St. Paul St. Anthony Village Stillwater Vadnais Heights Waconia West St. Paul White Bear Township Anoka Lake Elmo Apple Valley Chaska Hastings Lakeville Golden Valley Robbinsdale Victoria Eagan Savage Prior Lake Inver Grove Heights White Bear Lake In addition to these benchmarks, the following cities were also identified as Spotlight communities. Spotlight communities are cities or counties that, while you want to know what they are paying their employees, are not necessarily a good match for salary purposes because they are usually much larger. Including the data as a spotlight community allows the client to be aware of what some other cities or counties are paying without distorting the market data from similar communities to their own. The cities that staff are recommending as spotlight communities are: St. Louis Park Edina Woodbury Wayzata Bloomington ACTION RECOMMENDED/REQUESTED The above information is for review by the City Council. The city council should provide their opinion on the suggested benchmarks. In addition, staff would like the city council to discuss pay philosophy for the city to help guide the study’s recommendation for where to place the Mendota Heights’ goal coming out of the compensation study. _________________________________________________ City Council Work Session Memo DATE: July 18, 2023 TO: Mayor, City Council and City Administrator FROM: Courtney Selstad, Recycling Coordinator Meredith Lawrence, Parks and Recreation Manager SUBJECT: Organics Recycling Update INTRODUCTION The City Council will receive an update regarding opportunities to increase organics recycling activities in Mendota Heights. BACKGROUND Knowing that Mendota Heights has a high rate of resident participation in organics recycling and that it is of interest to the City Council, city staff met with Dakota County environmental staff to discuss the possibility of curbside organics collection and other related activities. This meeting also included a representative from the MPCA, as they recently released the draft Metropolitan Solid Waste Management Policy Plan which includes proposed requirements and suggestions for organics management. From this meeting staff learned that while a curbside organics collection requirement is a possible outcome of the draft policy plan, it would not become a requirement until at least 2026. The meeting also included discussion of the various ways to, and pros and cons of, offering a curbside program. City staff have also been brainstorming possible organics recycling activities, outside of curbside collection, that would enhance the use of existing resources for diversion of this material from landfill. BUDGET IMPACT There is a large range of budget impacts based on activity. The biggest expense would be staff time or consulting fees if Council wants staff to further investigate curbside collection. Increased staff time expenses for additional organics recycling activities will be included in the draft budget for 2024. ACTION RECOMMENDED/REQUESTED The City Council is asked to receive the staff’s update and discuss the goals for organics recycling activities. _________________________________________________ City Council Work Session Memo DATE: July 18, 2023 TO: Mayor, City Council and City Administrator FROM: Ryan Ruzek, Public Works Director John Boland, Public Works Superintendent SUBJECT: Snow Removal Equipment INTRODUCTION The City Council is asked to consider the purchase of snow removal equipment to plow streets, cul-de-sacs and trails more efficiently and sustainably. BACKGROUND During and after snow plowing operations, Public Works clears 65.2 centerline miles of streets that includes 110 cul-de-sacs and 27 miles of trails. Also plowed are public parking lots and ice rinks. Historically, the cul-de-sacs have been plowed with pickup truck mounted plows. When the snow berms get large and turn to ice, the following snow plowing operations do not allow the trucks to push the snow to the curbs which creates narrower cul-de-sacs, filling more driveways, and covering up fire hydrants and storm drains. This situation means staff has to come back to the cul-de-sacs with a wheel loader and push the snow back between plowing events. Prior to this last season, Public Works bought a SnoWolf Quattro blade that mounts on the wheeled skid steer, which was used to replace a route and to plow the fire station parking lot. This unit has proved to save time, and enables the operator to shelf snow higher and was able to get near the curb through the entire season, so there was no need to return with the loader to widen cul-de-sacs on that route. When clearing trails, staff switches from their straight blade to a V blade to enable them to get through the paths. This method works until the berms get too high and does not allow the snow to rollover the top of the berm. At this point staff needs to use a snow blower to clear the trails and widen them out between snowfalls. A more challenging problem is associated with all the trails that do not have a boulevard between the street and trail. Not only does the snow on the trail need to be moved, but the snow that is rolled off the road and into the trail needs to be moved also, creating the need to blow the snow rather than plow it. Presently Public Works has 2 snow blowers that run on the skid steers. These blowers are effective, but a travel at a much slower speed. This season found staff using both skid steers, the backhoe, and the wheel loader on a regular basis to move snow between snow clearing operations. Even without a mechanical issue occurring on one of these units, staff would have benefited from additional equipment. Staff did look into leasing a blower during the season, but there were none available. Staff would like to create more efficiencies and prolong the life of all city equipment during snow clearing operations by: 1. Adding additional skid steer/loader operations to the cul-de-sac route similar to the one they have now. This would be done by purchasing another Sno Wolf blade for the newly purchased Toolcat to replace another pickup cul-de-sac route. With this blade, it will eliminate most needs to revisit these cul-de-sacs between snowfalls to move snow back to the curb ($12,000). 2. Purchase a new compact wheel loader with a Sno Wolf blade and snow blower. This would be used to replace a cul-de-sac pickup truck route also. This loader has a faster travel speed that will help in travel between cul-de-sacs, better visibility, a higher lift for stacking snow, and would be used all year for loader operations. It is capable of hooking up to all existing skid steer attachments that the city presently owns for versatility ($196,000). 3. Staff would also like to retain an existing Mack plow truck to add one more route to the street plowing, and/or as a backup for a potential breakdown of one of the other trucks. This would make 5 plow routes instead of 4, which will get the snow off the roads quicker, and help reduce salt usage from less snow compaction from vehicle traffic ($260,000, would be $230,000 if existing truck is used as trade-in). With these proposals, snow removal operations will certainly be more efficient. By using the proposed equipment, the need for pickup truck plows will no longer be needed on two of these trucks, and the wear and tear on the trucks will be minimalized. From December 2, 2022, to March 1, 2023, staff added over 400 hours of use on the 2 skid steers, backhoe, and the wheel loader, along with fuel and time associated with these hours. Some of this time was spent plowing and opening catch basins, digging out fire hydrants, and pushing back areas that will continue to need attention. A majority of the time, however, was spent moving snow back on the trail system and cul-de-sacs. This new equipment will all be more agile, safer and easier on the driver to run than present equipment. By finishing snow operations in a timelier and efficient manner, staff will get the snow off the roads quicker which will alleviate snowpack from forming, and reduce the salt usage even more. City staff also receives complaints from residents that have cleared their driveways prior to the snow plow making a second or third pass which can deposit more snow. The home owners are then upset of having to clear the snow from the end of their driveway again. Having a complete snow removal done in less passes will save on staff time, overtime, staff fatigue, while reducing fuel and salt usage do to less equipment hours and better snow removal. BUDGET IMPACT The cost for the equipment is $12,000 for the new plow, $196,000 for the compact wheel loader, plow, and snow blower, and $260,000 for a new Mack Plow truck with brine capabilities. The plow truck was identified in the Capital Improvement plan as a scheduled purchase. Staff is projecting that this new equipment will reduce the salt usage, staff time, and have back up equipment that can be repaired under standard rates versus paying emergencies rates or not having equipment available. The Mack truck and compact loader will be used year round. ACTION RECOMMENDED/REQUESTED The City Council is asked to provide feedback and if the Council is in support of the proposal, staff will bring a purchase order to the Council to place orders as the equipment is currently not in stock. The compact wheel loader could be available for the 2023-2024 plowing season if an order can be placed in August and the city would take possession in late November. The Mack plow is projected to be a minimum of 24 months for availability. The city is still waiting on the Mack plow truck that was ordered in October, 2021.