3.0. SR 09-07-1999 - Laserfiche WebLink

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rei ---'\j ( ); -rl}{ . . ITEM #3. MEMORANDUM River TO: Mayor & City Council FROM: Pat K1aers, City ~}rator September 7,1999 DATE: SUBJECT: Joint Sewer and Water Superintendent At the August 9, 1999, City Council meeting, the WWTS Superintendent's resignation was accepted. On 8/9/99, the possibility of a joint sewer and water superintendent position was also discussed plus the Mayor indicated an interest in looking at the entire operation of both the sewer and water departments. (See attached minutes.) As requested on 8/9/99, attached for your review is a third party legal opinion regarding the City and Utilities sharing an employee. This opinion indicates that with a clear understanding of duties and responsibilities that a shared superintendent position is legal. I have had the luxury of reviewing the memo from Bryan Adams on this employee issue and on the issue of combining the sewer and water departments. Regarding combining the sewer and water departments, I believe there is a mistake in the second paragraph of Bryan's memo whereby it should read...that a City Council vote or a petition signed by 15 percent...leads to a public referendum vote. Bryan's report includes a number of his professional opinions and recommendations. Overall, I agree with what Bryan says at the end of his memo in terms of the current systems working well, and we have not experienced any significant problems to speak of in the last number of years. However, I don't necessarily agree with all of the comments in the report, including that a superintendent of sewer and water underneath the City Council's jurisdiction could not have responsibility for the financial management of the departments. I think that an annual audit would review any irregularities, and that this would be an appropriate checks and balance system. Additionally, I was surprised to learn that the Water Superintendent spends 55 percent of his time in the water department, as I was under the assumption that this percentage was lower. It is anybody's guess as to whether or not a combined position would be a manageable situation or cost effective, but I think that there is little doubt that the departments being combined under one jurisdiction would be more cost effective than how they currently operate. The major savings appear to be in the sharing of personnel and equipment. 13065 Orono Parkway. P.O. Box 490. Elk River, MN 55330. TDD & Phone: (612) 441-7420. Fax: (612) 441-7425