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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-04-2020 Council Minutes Special Meeting MINUTES OF THE ORONO SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 4,2021 2:30 p.m. ROLL CALL The Orono City Council met on the above-mentioned date with the following members present in the chambers and via electronic means: Mayor Dennis Walsh, City Council Members Richard Crosby, III, Matt Johnson, Aaron Printup and Victoria Seals. Representing Staff were City Attorney Soren Mattick, Community Development Director Jeremy Barnhart, City Clerk Anna Carlson, Finance Director Ron Olson, and City Administrator Dustin Rief(arrived after agenda item 3). Walsh called the special meeting to order at 2:30 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. AGENDA 1. DISCUSS THE EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT AND RESIGNATION OF THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR DUSTIN RIEF Attorney Mattick stated the Council has received Mr. Rief's resignation and noted he does have an employment contract which was forwarded to the Council. Mattick believes the first order of business is a motion to accept the resignation and then they can talk about some of Mr. Rief's requests. 2. ACCEPT RESIGNATION OF CITY ADMINISTRATOR DUSTIN RIEF Printup moved,Johnson seconded,to accept the resignation of City Administrator Dustin Rief. Ayes: 5; Nays: 0. Attorney Mattick said when he sent out the email regarding Mr. Rief's resignation,there were a couple of requests. The Council may recall the City paid $9,500 for moving expenses for Mr. Rief and there was a term in the contract which stated each year he was with the City, a certain amount of the $9,500 would be forgiven. However, if it was before a given amount of time, the City would seek recoupment. Under the terms of the employment contract, given Mr. Rief's resignation in February 2021,the contract calls out a payback to the City in the amount of $3,500. Mr. Rief has requested that the City forgive that$3,500 and Attorney Mattick stated that will be the first item for the City to consider. He continued and said this may have gone away, but Mr. Rief was looking to submit his resignation February 4, 2021 and stay on the payroll for a couple of weeks using PTO. Attorney Mattick and Mr. Rief have discussed it and at this point, Mr. Rief would submit his resignation effective February 4, 2021 and that gives him the 45 days as contemplated by the contract. Attorney Mattick believes Mr. Rief can use a floating holiday so his last day would be February 3, 2021. Under the City's health insurance policy, the insurance for Mr. Rief s family is paid effective the first of the month and covers them through February and Mr. Rief was trying to accomplish being insured through February. Come February 4, 2021, the City would cash Mr. Rief out of all of his PTO and Attorney Mattick does not have an exact number but believes it is around $119, and the item has been cleared up. Before the Council is the $3,500 request regarding moving expenses. Page 1 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 4,2021 2:30 p.m. 2. ACCEPT RESIGNATION OF CITY ADMINISTRATOR DUSTIN RIEF- Continued Seals clarified Attorney Mattick is looking for where the Council sits regarding the $3,500. Mattick said that is correct. Walsh asked to wait on that for a moment, as Johnson had a question and Seals also had a conversation with Mr. Rief. He noted there is nothing big on Rief s calendar and asked if Orono need Mr. Rief to be around until February 4, 2021. He would like to address those issues before they talk about the $3,500. He noted Finance Director Ron Olson will be stepping into the City Administrator role and asked his opinion on the value of keeping Mr. Rief on through that date. Olson noted he has been out on medical leave and his original work release said January 21, 2021 but he has been working from home. He is only working about 5 hours per day at the moment and noted they can increase that but he is currently unable to drive. Walsh said it sounds like there is value in keeping Rief on to get the house in order before he leaves. Olson said that would be his concern, and if the Council is comfortable with him working from home he can do that. Printup stated he is okay with Olson working from home as he has been doing in the interim. He noted at some point they could send out an internal application of anyone interested in taking on the role for a longer term while the Council decides what the process looks like over the course of many months. Seals does not have an expectation that Olson would be in the office every day for eight hours; she noted she also manages a team from her home and said Olson has been with the City long enough to know the ins and outs of what needs to be done and has a strong team that can support him. Seals has always been of the belief that when someone leaves a company or corporation, it is great that they have made that decision, but one foot is already out the door. If the City can pull the band-aid off sooner and jump right in, that may be better if Olson feels he is able to do that. Seals noted health-wise,they do not want to put Olson at risk and she does not think he has to be in the office. She would like to know what big things they would need to accomplish in the next month and the biggest thing she found from conversations are the union negotiations. She noted Mattick is involved with those right now but that would be the most pressing thing. Johnson noted the minute a City Administrator turns in their resignation, in his mind, they turn into a contractor of sorts rather than an employee. He asked if someone resigns, is the City obligated to say yes,they accept that date of February 4, 2021. Page 2 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 4,2021 2:30 p.m. 2. ACCEPT RESIGNATION OF CITY ADMINISTRATOR DUSTIN RIEF- Continued Mattick does not know how they could make it any sooner and explained the reason for February 4, 2021 is because the contract required 45 days' notice. This is a benefit to the Council so the individual does not just leave the City high and dry with a couple days' notice. Johnson said that answers his question. They will leave it at that date and as Rief will be under the City's payroll during that period, he should always be available during normal working operations. Johnson proposed having Rief operate from his home and from a security position, the City should remove access control to the building, the police department, etcetera, now and Rief's point of contact will be through the interim administrator. In that scenario any required communication would go through Ron Olson. Johnson said they have very senior department heads that have been very efficient and he thinks the City can muster through this period and work as a team to get through whatever comes up, including meetings like this one. Walsh said they cannot say Rief must immediately work from home, as he will have to connect with Olson, get into his office, show Olson all the things on his computer, and what is going on. There will be some transition here and Walsh agrees with Johnson but thinks that Rief needs to coordinate with Olson to start going through everything in the office. Johnson agreed and said Olson will dictate what he needs. Walsh noted that on top of just coming back, Olson will have a lot of things on his shoulders and the City must manage that. Printup thinks it is important to note and be comfortable with the fact this is not the first time they have had interims and pointed out that Olson has been interim several times. This is not anything new for Orono and the industry average is approximately 3-5 years for the City Administrator. They've been through it before and will get through it again. Walsh stated Orono is a different city than it was 4, 6, or 10 years ago with much more technology and big-burner items in front of the Council and they cannot let them go for 3-6 months. Everyone must recognize that Olson will have much more on his shoulders. Olson said he thinks they have better department heads now than in the past. Crosby said it will be a lot on Olson's plate and the Council must give him time to get up to speed. Walsh summarized and noted the Council is saying that Rief does not need to come in anymore but needs to be available for a full work schedule through February 4, 2021 to communicate with Olson. Olson will be the point person going forward and effective the termination on February 4, 2021. Walsh asked to discuss the reimbursement of$3,500. Printup asked if they need a motion on that item. Page 3 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 4,2021 2:30 p.m. 2. ACCEPT RESIGNATION OF CITY ADMINISTRATOR DUSTIN RIEF- Continued Attorney Mattick said someone could make a motion now or wait until they sort through the $3,500 issue and have it be one big bulk motion. Johnson stated this is a simple contractual agreement and he would recommend that the Council adhere to the provisions of the contract. That is the reason why they had a contract and in his research there was some concern about the amount of moving expenses and this was a good incentive...if Rief stayed in Orono,they would pay him more. He noted that it did not work out that way, so to Johnson it is a simple following of the terms of the contract agreed to. Seals said that is where she is at, as well. In the beginning, moving expenses were lower and the City increased the number with the"carrot" on the end. She stated it is a written contract and that is the reason the City put it in there. Every company she has been with that has something in place like this—if someone leaves early,they leave early and that is what they signed up for. She agrees with following the contract as by not following the contract,they question the validity of contracts going forward. Walsh takes the opposite approach and said it has nothing to do with the validity of the contract, as anyone can ask to change their portion of the contract. He thinks it is a good faith item because of the family issues that are bringing Rief home to Nebraska and it would well-serve the community because these are public meetings. He said"we are humans as well," and it didn't work out completely, Rief did a good job overall while he was here and Walsh said it would be a small token of sending Rief off for the job that he did. He thinks it would go a long way in their community effort as they look for a new City Administrator and that they have compassion as people on the Orono City Council. Printup agrees on the compassion, but thinks they should stick with the contract and the amendments. Crosby sides with Walsh on this one, he thinks it is a small token to show concern for a member of the Orono family and does not think it is a big price to pay. Walsh said that is the only item truly remaining,they just need to vote on the $3,500 amount that Rief has asked forgiveness on. Attorney Mattick thinks the rest of the guidance works but the vote on $3,500 would be good. Johnson moved, Seals seconded,to keep the terms of the contract for the repayment of a portion of moving expenses. Vote: Ayes (Johnson, Printup, Seals),Nays 2 (Crosby,Walsh). Mattick noted the Council could make a motion to appoint Olson officially as interim. He asked the Council how to go forward with the two union contracts as Rief was in the room with Attorney Mattick and he believes a staff member should be present. Page 4 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 4,2021 2:30 p.m. Walsh said Mattick and Olson can go to work on who will replace Rief. Walsh moved, Crosby seconded, to appoint Ron Olson as the interim City Administrator and to make all those decisions moving forward; Dustin Rief will be available through February 4,2021 on a full-time basis as per the contract. Ayes: 5, Nays 0. 3. DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE ON FILLING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR POSITION(INTERIM/LONG TERM) Walsh said in the past they have utilized a search firm and the process can take 6 months to a year; other options may include advertising and vetting. Staff is looking for guidance from the Council on filling the position full-time. Crosby asked what the cost of hiring the firm was previously. Seals thought it was around $30,000. Printup thought maybe $25,000. Seals' initial thoughts are she was not impressed with the firm they previously used, especially for the price they paid. If possible, a multi-pronged approach with the first being to post the job immediately, connect it with the League of Minnesota Cities, and then have a work committee of Seals and Printup on a weekly basis look at the applications and résumés that come in. The second prong would be if the Mayor and Council still choose to investigate additional firms. Her gut tells her the last time they hired a City Administrator they would have found the person through the League of Minnesota Cities. To Seals, it seems like an expensive waste of funds and it is also a long timeline. She noted they have a pretty savvy group of Councilmembers and Mayor and thinks they could find someone on their own, either internally or externally. Johnson asked Mattick, in dealing with other cities, is there an opportunity for Orono to streamline the process by searching on their own. Mattick said for a community like Orono,the bulk of the candidates will be from Minnesota. If someone is looking on a job they will look at each website for that posting. Many communities hire a search firm to help with the vetting process and put it out there. He said it is 50/50 on whether the City posts it or spends the money. When cities spend the money they avoid doing all of the background, reference calling, etcetera, but does not know if that is enough of a value for what they would spend. Johnson asked the biggest risk of posting it themselves. Mattick replied if the City posts it,the risk is questions about why it did not work out last time and basic questions about the stability of the community in that position. Page 5 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 4,2021 2:30 p.m. 3. DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE ON FILLING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR POSITION(INTERIM/LONG TERM)—Continued Seals noted those questions may come up regardless. Crosby said they could post something on their own, put a job posting on Linkedln and set a timeframe; if the City does not have success, they go to a search firm. He does not know if there was great value in the search firm they hired the last time. Seals has looked at the League of Minnesota Cities website and was pleasantly surprised at the amount of resources they had in relation to this topic. She said if people were willing to commit time to review resumes , get things in front of the Council during work sessions, etcetera(and she is willing), she thinks they could come to a good solution. Crosby thinks they should set a time frame on it, whether one or two months, and if they are not successful at finding a candidate they can hire a search firm. Seals agreed. Walsh said if Printup and Seals are willing to spend the time and energy on this, he would not have any problems spending the first 30 days to see how it ends up. Like anything, he thinks they will get something right away or they will not get anything and then will need the help of a recruiter. He would like a good understanding of what Printup and Seals are willing to do in those first 30 days. Printup thinks Walsh is right, there will be a lot of hits at first and then it just depends on how that trickles down. He thinks there will be a lot of applicants as that has been the trend in the past. If it is a very bumpy ride they will easily know after a month that they will need outside help. A month goes very, very fast and he thinks that is a safe route. Crosby is comfortable with 30 days. Seals asked how they get the job posted. City Clerk Anna Carlson said they could post it on the League of Minnesota Cities first. Seals agreed and said she and Printup can come up with a plan to look at résumés. She noted they could dedicate time at work sessions and could be accountable to the rest of the Council with what they are hearing, seeing, and who the candidates are. Johnson asked when the next meeting is. Page 6 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 4,2021 2:30 p.m. 3. DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE ON FILLING THE CITY ADMINISTRATOR POSITION(INTERIM/LONG TERM)—Continued Walsh would like not only a timeline but also the scope of duties. He said they will obviously have to work with Carlson and Olson on where it all goes, the timeframe, and the feedback. He wants Printup and Seals to be sure it is all good on their end to be the "search committee." Seals stated she is fine with it. Printup agreed. 4. DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE FOR BUILDING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT A. BUILDING OFFICIAL/BUILDING INSPECTOR Barnhart said it is primarily just an update of job descriptions within the department and they drafted a new building inspector job description. They will review one or both of the positions based on the applications and going back to supplement. When Christine Mattson resigned, staff looked at who does what, and when as part of the process. He tried to pare down things they don't do anymore and make sure everyone is adequately depicted in their job description. In their discussion with the union,the understanding is that one of the planners would like to be considered a senior planner. Barnhart said Orono does have a senior planner position, and he took this opportunity to propose some changes which are part the job description they will see in the packet. Today he is looking for an approval of the job descriptions, authorize Staff to advertise the building services positions, and authorize Staff to advertise for the Planning Assistant position. Johnson noted in the chambers,they could only hear every other word as Barnhart's audio was breaking up. Walsh said they are breaking it down to three items: 1) review the job descriptions, 2)put them out for advertisement, and 3) move the Planner to Senior Planner. He thinks they have already decided they need to put the ads out, so the Council needs to look at the job descriptions. He asked under the Building Inspector where it says "supervision received in exercise" it says none —he thinks they need supervision by someone, although he is not sure who, perhaps Barnhart or the Chief Inspector. Barnhart noted the job description for the Building Inspector is accountable to the Community Development Director or the Building Official depending on who is in the seat. He noted they can make that change. Printup asked if the two job descriptions are Building Inspector and Building Official. Walsh stated that is correct. Printup asked if by putting the ads out, they are hired as City employees. Page 7 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 4,2021 2:30 p.m. 4. DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE FOR BUILDING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT— Continued Walsh answered in the affirmative. He said in his meeting with himself and Matt [Johnson] the bids came back on a percentage of fee basis which is unacceptable—they have already gone back to get an hourly basis. In the end,they decided there are three different realms of how this could work. Since the City is spending $210,000 a year already, they could hire a Chief Inspector and a Building Inspector all in-house and maybe cover it all. They could perhaps get only a Chief Inspector and outsource other inspections like they do now at an hourly rate, or they may not find a Chief Inspector and find only a Building Inspector and they can keep as much in house as possible and outsource the rest. He noted they do not know who will apply and are keeping their options open. He noted they asked Barnhart to go back to MNSpect and get an hourly rate because they were the only people that had any wherewithal to even handle this kind of operation. Walsh told them he does not know what Orono will be hiring internally because either way, if they are spending$210,000 and they can control as much as possible, they will look at those options. Printup said they have potential of significant savings for the taxpayers. Walsh said no,they are spending$210,000 and will spend that no matter what. He noted they will not save any money, but rather will have direct control of who they have on Staff, versus outsourcing. It could be a lot, a little, or all of it. They just don't know yet and are keeping all options open. Walsh said they have always had a Chief Inspector and outsourced the rest which was $130,000 but if the City can bring two people in and they are fabulous,the City can do that much less outsourcing and control it. Crosby said they have to see what is available in the marketplace. Johnson clarified they are not approving these positions but rather finding out what options they have to put the City in the best position. Printup said that is a good exercise. Walsh stated part of the exercise is to make sure they have a third party vendor ready to go on an hourly basis that is acceptable to the City Council. Then it is just a matter of how much of the work they receive. He said unless there are any other questions on the job descriptions, he would like to get those out, see what comes in and how they can fill those positions. Johnson moved,Printup seconded, to approve and advertise the two inspection positions as presented. Ayes: 5, Nays 0. Page 8 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 4,2021 2:30 p.m. 4. DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE FOR BUILDING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT— Continued B. REORGANIZATION OF BUILDING & ZONING DEPARTMENT Barnhart said the changes proposed for the "reorganization" is really an update of the job descriptions of the Senior Planner(there is no one currently in that seat),the City Planner,the Planning Assistant, and the Community Development Director. He noted they are subtle changes, they are not changing any grade or steps,just updating the job descriptions based on the services provided. The only reason they are looking at the job description for the Senior Planner now is in anticipation of a request coming forward to have a person take that spot. Barnhart is not advocating any person at this time and they have not received any applications,but he is anticipating that type of question in the future. He explained what he is primarily looking for from the "reorganization" of the Community Development Department is approval of the job descriptions as they are provided, and to authorize Barnhart to advertise for the replacement Planning Assistant. He pointed out they are not elevating that to a Junior Planner, but rather a Planning Assistant job. Walsh does not understand what the ramifications are of elevating someone from "Planning Person"to "Senior Planning Person" and asked Mattick if there are implications from a union standpoint. He assumes it means more money with a different title. Mattick said in moving someone up to a Senior Planner,the request was made as part of a negotiation so perhaps they want to hold off on that specific request. He said yes, it would result in more money. Walsh does not see any reason to make a decision on that right now; he sees no problem in putting out the Planning Assistant advertisement. Everything else he would just pass on right now. Johnson stated they will have a new leader of the City and they want to have the next person that fills that role to be in the position to tell the Council what needs to be reorganized and what does not. Whatever the Council can do to postpone this until they receive input from the person that will be most affected and judged on the performance. If someone is a new leader coming in, they do not want a lot of things that have been newly decided and be told to "go with this." Walsh agrees, but they have also had the discussion of union negotiations and they are done with it. He said they do not need to revisit it right now. He does not see any issues with the job description, so unless anyone else does, he would move to advertise the position with the job description as presented. Printup moved, Seals seconded, to advertise the Planning Assistant position with the job description as presented. Ayes: 5,Nays: 0. Rief noted he came into the Chambers after item 3 of the agenda. Page 9 of 10 MINUTES OF THE ORONO SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday,January 4,2021 2:30 p.m. 4. DISCUSSION AND GUIDANCE FOR BUILDING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT— Continued Walsh summarized quickly for Rief that the Council has appointed Olson as the interim City Administrator; they will have Rief work from home until February 4, 2021and available full-time as the contract dictates for the rest of the weeks. He noted they voted on the $3,500 forgiveness which was voted down and therefore will need to be refunded. Walsh said they approved the job descriptions for the Planning Assistant,the Building Official, and the Building Inspector. The Council has appointed Seals and Printup as the committee to put the position out for the City Administrator for one month to see if they can avoid spending the $20-30,000 for a search firm. ADJOURNMENT Walsh moved,Johnson seconded, to adjourn the meeting at 3:23 p.m. VOTE: Ayes 5, Nays 0. ATTEST: Ljajczejc- Anna Carlson, City Clerk Dennis Walsh,Mayor Page 10 of 10