HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-03-06 PACKET 05.A.REQUEST OF CITY COUNCIL ACTION COUNCIL AGENDA
MEETING ITEM #
DATE 3/6/2013
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PREPARED BY: Administration Ryan Schroeder
ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT HEAD
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COUNCIL ACTION REQUEST:
Receive Response to Previously Raised Open Forum Issues regarding contracted services.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Receive response.
BUDGET IMPLICATION:
BUDGETED AMOUNT ACTUAL AMOUNT
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS
� MEMO/LETTER: Letter from Ryan Schroeder.
❑ RESOLUTION:
❑ ORDINANCE:
❑ ENGINEERING RECOMMENDATION:
❑ LEGAL RECOMMENDATION:
❑ OTHER:
ADMINISTRATORS COMMENTS
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City Administrator Date
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COUNCIL ACTION TAKEN: ❑ APPROVED ❑ DENIED ❑ OTHER
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February 25, 2013
Mr: Paul Ravn
8527 85 Street.South
Cottage. Grove, MN 550�.6 `.
Dear Paul,
You spoke at the February 20, 2q13 Open Forum portion of.the City Council meeting providing input
Cegarding contract. services being provided to.the com.munity inJieu of those services being provided by
Public Works personnel,
We contract with outside per.sonnel throughout the organization wfien we have noted that:we either d.o
not have in-house expertise or do not have the equipment, teehnology, or.ability to allocate sufficient
resources for short term projects using existing staff. Included would be general lega.l and prosecution
as contracted services. Also included would be general contracting for major const_ruction projects such
as new subdivisions, pavement reconstruction, and new construction or major remodeling of City
facilities. We also collaborate with other governments for services and. products such.as.800 mhz.radio
communications and p.ubl.ic safety records. We outsource for most utility billing services as welt as
electrical inspections and engineering, design and inspections for construction projects. We do not self
insure for property/casualty, workers, compensation or. medical r.isks/coverages and therefore we _
receive vendor services for each of those spending categories. We contract with Washington County for .
property value appraisal and.we contract .with an independent entity when we require special benefit .
appraisals. I could provide myriad other examples as welL For every one of these examples this
organization; and therefore the taxpayer, receives a benefit by tfie City outsourcing rather than hiring
the staffing and/or acquiring the technology%equipment necessary such that we could avoid
outsourcing. .
The examples y.ou provided to the Gity Council, including televising of sanitary and storm mains,.
manhole repair, herbiscide treatments and water main repairs are all services that have been
transparent purchases: All have been approved by the City Gouncil through adoption of budget
allocations. For larger projects planned in advance such as street sweeping, sealcoating or cracl<filling
there have been specific purchase requests approved by Council at a regular meeting of the City Council
in. accor'dance with adopted purchasing po(icy. Further, as l believe you are aware, we coordinate these ...
latter services for Denmarl<Township, Afton, St, Paul Park and Ne.wport as well which result in
significant savings to taxpayers throughouf southern Washington County.
You noted an example of a water main break during which Public Works personnel were appearing less
productive than you expect as a taxpayer. I cannot specifically address that example as I do not know .
whether our personnel were providing a safety or inspections role (which is part of any confined space .
operation as required by OSHA) or if our personnel had material fiauling,responsibilities (which. dictate
that their role cannot liegin until a prior part of the repair operation is completed but they still must
remain on site): V1/hat l can address is that our current expenditures between 2005 and budgeted 2012
across the organization have increased only 5.51% over that seven year period. . Further, specific to
CITYOF.COTTAGE GROV.E � 12800 Rayine Pa,rkway �.C.ottage Grove, Minnesota 55016. .
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Public Worl<s their expenditures over that same seven year period have increased only 2.36% (about 1/3
of 1% each year on average). Year in and year out our per capita operational spending is within the
lowest quartile among the 35 Twin Cities suburbs to which we compare. I would hope that our
spending performance in total would meet your expectation regardless if you can find one or two or
even more examples of what would appear as "shovel leaning" on one project or another throughout
any given year.
1 tal<e great pride in the operating performance of this organization. We have very good, very dedicated
personnel who provide services to the public which are often tal<en for granted. We all know, however,
that there is always room for improvement and we will continue to strive for operating improvements
going forward. A part of what we will continue to do is to examine how we deliver products and
services to the public and we will continue to seel< ways to deliver those products and services as cost
effectively as we can while maintaining the service quality that our taxpayers have come to expect.
Thanl< you for your input.
Sincerely,
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Ryan R. Schroeder
City Administrator