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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br /> April 24,2023 <br /> 6:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> The general fund expenditures at the end of the first quarter are at 22.4 percent which is on target for the <br /> year. There are a few departments that are tracking over budget. The first one is the Mayor/Council due to <br /> the fact that member services in organizations like the League of Minnesota Cities are already paid for the <br /> year. There has also been a higher-than-normal utilization of trainings available to the Council.The next <br /> is legal services resulting from a number of lawsuits which have a cost of$80,000 to date. Staff is <br /> considering recording these expenses to the insurance fund as a way to keep the department at a budgeted <br /> level for the year. The next is fire protection which has already been discussed. Engineering is at 50 <br /> percent right now. This is for the overage for GIS as the City continues to improve the cartograph <br /> database. The department is a very small piece of the general fund budget, she said,and staff will monitor <br /> this department budget through the rest of the year.Building permit revenue increased in January and <br /> February and decreased slightly in March with an overall first quarter increase in building permit revenue <br /> of 3.6 percent from last year. The City's investments have earned interest of$71,924 the first quarter of <br /> 2023 compared to$20,300 for the same period last year. <br /> Olson reported the auditors will start their audit next Monday at City Hall. <br /> PUBLIC WORKS REPORT <br /> 11. POSITION DESCRIPTION AND RECRUITING APPROVAL/UTILITY MAINTENANCE <br /> Edwards said Public Works is looking at some organizational changes bringing forward the creation of a <br /> utility worker position.This does not change the overall number of employees in Public Works,but <br /> would reclassify two of the positions from general maintenance workers to utility workers.He said <br /> reasons include recognizing the additional licensing and expertise required by utility workers with the <br /> ever-increasing technology base within City utilities. It would bring some of the things that the City <br /> currently has to outsource to contractors in-house after sending a couple of the workers to required <br /> trainings. It would also create some growth opportunities with the department. Currently if you come in <br /> as a maintenance worker,the only opportunity you might have for some kind of increases is if one of the <br /> two supervisors was to retire,you might be able to apply for those jobs.Edwards said if the most senior <br /> employees were selected for these positions the budget impact is estimated at a$5,700 difference for each <br /> position which is easily within the budget. It is also important to recognize that those two positions would <br /> be budgeted out of utilities,which are enterprise funds. So it's just one more piece that we're trying to get <br /> focused,to get a more skill set within the utilities. That doesn't mean that the individuals will not be <br /> helping on the streets or parks.But their primary focus will be on the utilities. We have 52 sewage lift <br /> stations that we maintain,a number of fire hydrants,three water treatment facilities,and it's becoming <br /> more focused in those areas on preventive maintenance. <br /> Walsh pointed out that some years ago none of those 46 lift stations had backup generators and now most <br /> do. And by doing that,you've got more preventative maintenance.We outsource that,and now we're <br /> bringing it in-house. So I think it's a smart thing to do. <br /> Johnson said he likes hearing that we are finding ways to train our own people and outsourcing less.And <br /> that's part of what this will allow the City to do. <br /> Page 4 of 10 <br />