01-23-2023 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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AGENDA ITEM Prepared By: D. J.G Reviewed By: A. Carlson Approved By:RJO 1. Purpose. The purpose of this action item is announce the retirement for Barry Rathbun of the Public Works Department and to inform the council of efforts to fill the maintenance worker vacancy within Public Works.. Staff would like to hire ahead of Barry’s last day in the hope is to have the new hire on board prior to Barry’s last day to allow for training and familiarization of the job function prior to Barry’s last day.. 2. Background. Mr. Barry Rathbun has announced his plans to retire after 34 years and 10 months of dedicated service to the City of Orono as a maintenance worker. Barry has been on lead water plant operator for many years and has been the go to person for plant operations and maintenance. His date of retirement will be April 23rd, 2023; he will be sorely missed. A resolution of appreciation will be presented for council consideration closer to Barry’s retirement date. 3. Early Retirement. Barry will exercise option 1 of the early retirement plan offered by the City. The early retirement option was offered to any employees in the Local 49 union that are eligible for retirement under PERA during Fiscal year 2023, 2024 and 2025. Option 1: The City offers to pay insurance benefits at the single rate as outlined in the current labor agreement for up to 3 years or until age 65, whichever comes first. Option2: Employees eligible for the phased retirement option under the PERA Phased Retirement Program are encouraged to consider this option. The city would continue to pay insurance at a single rate as outlined in the current labor agreement for up to 3 years and the City would offer up to 500 hours of part time employment at the current rate of pay. 4. Recruitment. The Public Works Department has 7 full time maintenance worker positions with one vacancy. The maintenance worker positions are critical to meet current service needs and are essential to City operations. The selection process for the vacant position will involve advertising the position, application screening, an interview panel and reference checking. Upon completion of the process a candidate will be presented to the council for consideration for appointment. 5. Timeline. The tentative timeline for the hiring process is as follows: When What 23 January 2023 Approve Early Retirement 23 January - 3 February 2023 Advertise Position 23 January - 3 February 2023 Confirm if any qualified runner up candidates from previous recruitment are available 6 - 10 February 2023 Review Applications 13-17 February 2023 Interview and Skills Testing 27 February 2023 Council Approval/Appointment 6 March 2023 New Employees First Day 23 April 2023 Barry Rathbun’s Last Day Item No.: 7 Date: January 23, 2023 Item Description: Approval of Public Works Maintenance Worker Retirement and Recruitment Presenter: D.J. Goman Public Works Superintendent Agenda Section: Consent Agenda