04-27-2020 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,April 27,2020 6:00 o'clock p.m. different companies can do and how they can do it. The ADP proposal,without some of the human resources components, was down$10-11,000. Johnson commented that he read that the program also takes care of HR functions and employee reviews. Olson confirmed there is a built-in employee review software, which is part of the savings indicated. He noted there are yearly licensing fees associated with the HRWize software. Johnson said he was involved with CitizenServe,which was kind of a Cadillac plan,but noted it needed modifications and didn't speak to the Public Works complaint program, etc.This Cadillac plan is being proposed and the City spent money on an HR program before to do the employee reviews,which the City had for over a year before using it. He stated he wants to make sure the City is integrating the big picture of the City's plan and does not feel comfortable signing up for the Cadillac plan,because it will reduce the man-hours needed but then in the next month,they will be asking for a headcount increase. He suggested that a lower-level plan with less expense may be more valuable if the City is increasing a headcount. He asked if the Organizational Committee had any comments. Printup stated in the Work Session there was an Insurance Committee update,and they thought it was a good idea to start some type of Software/Technology Committee because it is like an onion, everything got layered over time. They need to start peeling back the layers but thought, for the time being, a good move is to recommend the payroll software.There is another meeting in a couple of weeks and they can see how things are going. He said the decision did not take place in a couple of weeks; it has been going on for about 2 years. They talked at the meetings about how to become more"lean and mean"and start looking at efficiencies. He asked Staff to let Rief know if they were struggling so the City can utilize part- time workers,because in a time like this,when people have lost their jobs,more efficiencies will be found. People need to pull together as a team. Right now, it seems like there are walls built, and it is the wrong position for the City to be in. He thinks things are in motion and the puzzle pieces are coming together. Walsh stated Johnson's comments are valid, but with ADP and Paychex the City can morph/change its plans, because you can do those things in the private sector. Having said that,when you are having those future conversations about the new position,that should take into account what the City has just done, in addition to the City hopefully bringing people back to work. Seals agreed that Johnson brought up a good point, because the City needs to make sure they are not being redundant and are solving a problem versus creating one. If the point of CitizenServe was to take care of complaints,then all complaints should be in there. She said Printup and herself would probably dig into it. In regard to an additional headcount,he would hear from Printup and herself. She said they are not in the business of adding headcount anywhere. They have always been supportive of moving the paycheck system to a Paychex-type system, and she thinks that will lift some of the weight off the Staff if they are under water. She would look at the leadership of any organization to be the one that really leads their team in this type of situation, and it falls on Rief and then the department chairs. She said she told her team today that they should all be ridiculously happy that they have jobs during this time and work hard to keep what they have. She noted that if someone is struggling, it is the responsibility of the rest of the team to help lift them up. It is usually not the Council's job to do that, and Staff would not want the Council in their business. Page 3 of 16