9.4 SR 04-19-2021Request for Action
To
Item Number
Mayor and City Council
9.4
Agenda Section
Meeting Date
Prepared by
Consent
April 19, 2021
Gary Lore, Building Maintenance Supervisor
Item Description
Reviewed by
Discuss Additional Custodian
Justin Femrite, P.E., Public Works Director
Reviewed by
Calvin Portner, City Administrator
Action Requested
Discuss and consider the hire of an additional fulltime custodian.
Background/Discussion
Over the past year, the city has witnessed a significant increase in cleaning requirements due to the COVID-19
pandemic and has added additional square footage of building space from new construction. Further, the city
continues to add amenities that impact our building services staff.
Since last year's budgeting process, office space has been built out on the second floor of the Public Safety
Building, Fire Station #2 has added hot to cold transition space with restrooms, showers, and equipment cleaning
space. Later this year, Fire Station #3 will go online.
The city has also added restrooms at Lion John Weicht Park and soon to include Orono Park and Youth Athletic
Complex. These additions resulted in the re-evaluation of our building custodial service levels. After evaluation of
industry standards and our own facility needs, we request the City Council to consider the addition of one full-
time custodian to meet the new demand.
The addition will maintain a workload for each custodian that remains in excess of industry standards for similar
facilities. However, we believe the physical condition of our assets and the efficiency of our staff will result in a
cleanliness level within reasonable expectations. We will re-evaluate our service levels once all spaces are fully on-
line for the 2023 budget cycle.
For the 2022 budgeting process, we will complete a similar evaluation of our building maintenance personal and
the division structure to assure our staffing levels are appropriate for the size and condition of our system. The
current custodial needs are more of an imminent concern than maintenance at this time.
Financial Impact
If approved, the position would take a number of weeks to fill resulting in nearly a half -year position. The city
administrator believes we can absorb these costs in the 2021 General Fund with savings from other budgeted
vacancies. The full costs would be accounted for in the 2022 Building Maintenance budget.
The Elk River Vision P 0 W E e E 0 0 V
A welcoming community rvitb revolutionary and spirzted resourcefulness, exceptional NATURE
service, and community engagement that encourages and inspires prosperz[ Updated. August 2020
Mission/Policy/Goal
Meet changing needs - Agile
Attachments
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