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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br /> Monday,January 23,2017 <br /> 7:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> 7. SENIOR PLANNER RECRUITMENT (continued) <br /> Barnhart stated currently building perxnits take six weeks and that he hopes to get it down to ten days. <br /> Barnhart stated if they take away the extra people,even if the process is improved, they will not get it <br /> down to ten days. <br /> Seals stated other cities are able to do it with less people. Seals noted Wayzata, if you doubled their work <br /> load,would have two planners. <br /> Barnhart stated they also do not have the work load that Orono has. Barnhart noted their building official <br /> does all code enforcement and that they have other people that help with different aspects of the planning <br /> department. Barnhart stated Wayzata employs a building official and an outside building inspector and <br /> Orono uses a consultant. <br /> Barnhart indicated he does understand the cost concerns with filling the position but that he wants to <br /> make it clear that it will be very difficult to maintain the level of services that is already considered to be <br /> poor. <br /> City Administrator Loftus stated what might end up happening is that the Community Development <br /> Director will have to use his time up on land applications and that the City will be paying someone 30 <br /> percent more than a planner. Loftus stated Jeremy's time is best spent on code changes, figuring out a <br /> new process and implementing it, which takes time and Staff encouragement. Loftus stated if he is <br /> spending his time processing land use applications the last six months of the year,those code changes and <br /> process changes will not get done and that there is some risk in trying it without hiring another planner. <br /> Seals stated she is wondering where else in the City offices there are other opportunities to streamline the <br /> process,which is a discussion for another time. Seals stated the Community Development Director is an <br /> expensive resource and that she wants him to be focused on how to change codes and make the process <br /> easier. Seals indicated she works for a corporation and that they are constantly looking at how they can <br /> become more efficient and where the resources should be used. Seals stated since it involves citizens' <br /> money, she is trying to be responsible and look at the bigger picture. <br /> Crosby stated another point to think about is if the process does get easier,the number of applications <br /> received might increase and another planner might need to be hired at that point. Crosby stated refming <br /> the process to make it easier will be helpful overall. <br /> Walsh stated they need to work on response time to the residents and that he would like to get a better <br /> perspective on it. <br /> Seals stated there perhaps should be a needs assessment of what must to be done as well as what each <br /> employee is doing. <br /> Walsh stated he would like to discuss this further and review how the process can be made simpler and <br /> more efficient. <br /> Seals commented she does support Staff but that she is hesitant to put another person in there when they <br /> have a person in there currently and they are not getting the responses they would like. <br /> Page 11 of 15 <br />