 The city decided it would be beneficial to create the
position of public works director to oversee the city departments
including streets and alleys, forestry, sewer services, and also to
provide the day-to-day engineering needs of the city.The position
was presented to the council at the first workshop meeting in May
with a copy of a job description and a draft copy of a resolution
that would be needed in order to create the position.
Since then, aldermen have been reviewing those documents and
asking questions as needed of city administrator Sue McLaughlin and
Mayor Keith Snyder.
The job description includes a list of responsibilities that
says:
"This is a highly
responsible, administrative and profession(al) work in the
direction, organization, and management of the City of Lincoln's
Public Works department.
"This work involves
responsibility for planning, organizing, directing and coordinating
the activities of the Departments Street, Forestry, Sewerage
Collection, Fleet Maintenance, Engineering, and Building Maintenance
functions.
"Through
subordinate supervisors, direction is give(n) to a staff of
paraprofessional, technical, skilled and unskilled employees.
"Work performed
under the general managerial direction of the City Administrator who
reviews the work through conferences, reports, records and
evaluation of program effectiveness as well as through personal
consultation."
Basic job qualifications include a bachelor's degree in
engineering and seven years of "progressive experience in management
of public works and/or engineering functions with a significant
portion of such experience in a public setting."
During discussions in council chambers, McLaughlin shared with
the council that this was going to be a highly qualified person who
will fill this position. As such it will demand a very competitive
salary. However, she said the amount anticipated is going to come in
less than the city is currently paying Prairie Engineers for their
city engineer services.
In a separate conversation, Snyder explained that Prairie
Engineers is going to step out of the position of city engineer in
the near future.
The position of public works director will include city
engineering services, so that position is not going away; it is
being added to, to create the new position.
Darren Forgy of Prairie Engineers spoke about the firm's decision
to step back, saying it was a decision he and his wife and business
partner, Lisa Kramer, felt was best for their company.
Forgy said the firm is growing and doing well, but as co-owners,
he and Kramer have decided it is not in the best interest of their
continued success to have one of the partners fully involved in the
role of city engineer. He said the firm hopes to continue its good
relationship with the city and looks forward to working with the
city on future projects.
Snyder echoed this and added:
"Darren and Lisa
actively sought the appointment as City Engineer after Mark Mathon
left, and Prairie Engineers have done a good job with that task.
They completed the road condition index and the five-year capital
improvements plan as City engineers, something that was much needed,
but that the City had not been able to complete before. As their
business, expanded, however, they have come to the realization that
the business would be best served if Darren could focus on business
growth and development issues at P.E. as opposed to being needed to
provide day-to-day oversight of City engineering functions."
Both Forgy and Snyder emphasized that Prairie Engineers is in no
way severing ties with the city of Lincoln. Both said that the firm
will continue to be active in specific projects.
Snyder outlined how the new position will affect the city
departments. There will be no changes in the current supervisors.
The change will be that those supervisors will now be working with
and for a director who will oversee all the activities of the city
departments.
[to top of second column] |
Snyder explained this in detail:
"In those
departmental oversight roles, Tracy Jackson will be reporting to the
PWD as his supervisor and so will Tim Ferguson of the sewer
department. Jackson will continue to plan the daily tasks and
oversee the work of the Street Department crews.
"Some of the Street
Superintendent's more strategic tasks, such as long-range planning,
and budgeting, will be moved to the public works director, The
Street Superintendent will handle tactical tasks. The PWD will
oversee the Street Superintendent and work with him to manage and
deliver the overall Street Department tactical operations.
"The PWD's
supervision of the Sewer Department will be a bit different,
obviously, because of the City's contractual relationship with
EMC/Illinois American Water.
"The City's
contract with EMC/IL-AM expires in less than two years (April 30,
2015). It is in the City's best interest to get someone on board who
is not under contract with the firm managing the sewer treatment
plant to fully learn those operations and to guide the City through
an evaluation of the current arrangement and what is best for the
City going forward.
"We'll look to the
public works director to:
1) evaluate options like having the City taking back over operations
of the plant
2) manage the process of getting bids for the continued contractual
operation of the plant, and 3) evaluate a hybrid of in-house and
contractual operations such as "managed competition.
"I think there is a
strong sense on the Council and in City government that we must
consider all competitive options in the operation of our sewer
treatment plant when the current contract expires. Getting someone
on board nearly two years before the contract expires will afford
the person plenty of time to learn the current operations and fully
evaluate all other options."
Snyder also said that indeed the cost of hiring a public works
director will be less than the annual contract with Prairie
Engineers. However, he stressed that the financial benefits take a
back seat to the need for the position.
Snyder said that for the current fiscal year, the city's contract
with Prairie Engineers came in at a cost of $146,800. Included in
that was the day-to-day program engineering, which includes basic
engineering oversight for general city infrastructure projects,
oversight of the capital improvement plan, review of developer plans
and specs, coordination with agencies such as the Illinois
Department of Transportation, and coordination with the street and
sewer departments. Snyder noted that this amount was less than the
city was paying EMC/American Water for the services of Mark Mathon
two years ago.
In order to hire the right person with the right education and
experience, Snyder said the city is anticipating that it will cost
$85,000 to $90,000 per year in salary. With benefits, the total will
come to approximately $122,800 to $129,500 per year to have this
person on staff.
He said there would also be some office and administrative costs
involved, but they will nominal. This is one point that was
discussed before the vote last week.
Prairie Engineers staff members have been working out of their
own business offices. But prior to their taking on the position,
there was an official office space for the city engineer in the
street department building on Third Street. At last week's meeting
Snyder said that with that office already set up, there would not be
a great deal required to get the new office established.
Snyder in his discussion with LDN concluded that while this is
another big change in the city of Lincoln, it is a crucial change
that will help the city to better align with its goal of continued
growth in a tough economy
Snyder concluded:
"I wholeheartedly
believe this is the right step for the City to take at this time. We
have the opportunity to bring in a highly skilled and experienced
professional to oversee the public works within the City. At a time
when our infrastructure dollars are stretched tighter than ever and
regulations are ever increasing, we have to make sure we are
planning our operations strategically and expending the taxpayers'
dollars wisely and efficiently."
[By NILA SMITH] |
