HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Packet 04-05-1993 SpecialCITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION
MONDAY, APRIL 5, 1993
5:00 P.M.
5:00 P.M. I. CITY CENTER EXPANSION
H. VACATION POLICY
CITY OF PLYMOUTH
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MN 55447
DATE: April 1, 1993
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Dwight Johnson
SUBJECT: Summary of Events
Wal-Mart hearing. The joint planning commission meeting between Plymouth and
Minnetonka met until about 11 p.m. on this issue. The developers had about 10
consultants to make very detailed and lengthy presentations. After 1 1/2 hours, the
chair of the meeting stopped the developers presentation to allow the public to have a
chance to speak. By then, up to a dozen citizens had already left, despairing of hope
that they would get a chance to speak. Probably 50 citizens were present, all opposed
to the project. No really new issues came up. It seems clear that traffic will be a
strong issue. Noise, lights, and aesthetics will also be important issues. No action was
taken. Our Planning Commission will meet to consider the application further on April
14th.
Split dollar insurance repayments. Jerry Sisk has called Dale Hahn and indicated
that he will be bringing in his repayment check. Virgil Schneider asked for, and was
granted, an extra week to consider the matter.
Monday's Study Session. A carryover item for Monday's agenda is our vacation
accrual policy. We heard that 20 or more members of the clerical/technical employees
union were going to show up for the meeting. Apparently, they thought that we were
scheduled to discuss the status of union negotiations, which was never our intention and
was never on the agenda. We did inform the union representative of this, and he
indicated that they would call off coming to the meeting. However, it is still possible
that some will attend anyway. Although our vacation policy report was meant to cover
all City employees, it may have specific application to our bargaining with this group
in the coming weeks. We have the choice of going into closed session to discuss labor
strategy under certain procedures, which include taping the meeting and making the
tape public after all labor contracts are eventually settled. Since my discussion of
annual leave was intended to be general and philosophical, I am not necessarily
uncomfortable discussing all matters I planned to discuss in public session. But
Council may wish to ask more detailed questions that may get into negotiation strategy.
I don't think we need to decide this before Monday evening.
Employee benefits. While researching mileage allowances paid to staff, I have
discovered that some non -uniformed employees have been paid clothing allowances in
the past and that some employees have been paid for eyeglasses in the past. Also, a
few employees beyond those reported to you on March 29th have received once a year
mileage payments in the past. I am not aware of any council policies on these matters.
I am told that Frank Boyles ended all three of these practices during his term as Acting
City Manager. I will not renew these practices, and it is my interpretation of the role
of my position that all employee benefits should be paid according to council -adopted
policies.
DATE: March 23, 1993
TO: Dwight D. Johnson, City Manager
FROM: Jeanette Sobania, Personnel Coordinato
SUBJECT: PLYMOUTH VACATION POLICY
The current vacation accrual policy for city employees as stated in both the Personnel Policy
and in the various contracts is as follows:
An overtime exempt employee may retain a maximum of two times his/her annual accrual rate
of vacation.
An overtime eligible employee may accrue up to one and one-half times his/her annual accrual
rate of vacation.
The accrual rate for vacation starts at two weeks for an entry level employee, the maximum is
four weeks accrual for an employee who has over fifteen years of employment with the City.
The following table illustrates the number of hours which can be accrued as a maximum by
various levels of employees.
MAXIMUM ACCRUAL
Annual Accrual
Rate in Hours 1.5 Times 2.0 Times
2 weeks
80 hours 120 hours 160 hours
3 weeks
120 hours 180 hours 240 hours
4 weeks
160 hours 240 hours 320 hours
PLYMOUTH VACATION POLICY
March 23, 1993
Page 2
There are 38 employees who are overtime exempt; seven sergeants are also eligible for the two
times maximum accrual rate. Thus, there are a maximum of 45 people who can accrue up to
320 hours if they have the requisite number of years with the City, i.e., fifteen. The
remaining 130 employees who are eligible for vacation and who are also overtime eligible may
accrue up to a maximum of 240 hours of vacation. They, too, must have worked for the City
for over fifteen years to have this maximum accrual rate.
It is permissible under the personnel policy to accrue a larger number of maximum hours with
the express approval of the City Manager. There are currently six employees who exceed their
maximum accrual rate. My understanding is that some of them have the express permission of
the City Manager and others have just retained the numbers on the books with no express
permission.
Below is a table which illustrates the vacation accrual maximums allowed by a number of other
cities in the metro area. Some allow a waiver and some do not, as illustrated by the second
column. As illustrated by the table, the City of Plymouth is at the upper end of accrual
allowances for both overtime exempt and overtime eligible employees. One reason which
might be cited for these higher maximum levels is the much more stringent sick leave policy of
the City. Since it would take an employee approximately twelve years of never being sick to
accrue sufficient sick leave hours to cover the time from the onslaught of an illness to the time
at which they would be eligible for the long-term disability insurance coverage, it is prudent
for an employee to accrue some vacation to cover that type of eventuality. An employee may
use vacation to cover a long-term illness.
Vacation Accrual Maximum
City- Waiver Maximum Accrual Balance
Apple Valley N 320
Brooklyn Center Y 200
Blaine Y 200
Cottage Grove N 240
Columbia Heights Y 240
Fridley Y 240*
Golden Valley Y 400
Maple Grove N 200
Moundsview Y 120
New Brighton Y 160
New Hope 160
Ramsey N 320
Robbinsdale Y 200
Richfield Y 240
Woodbury Y 160
Combines vacation and sick leave.
PLYMOUTH VACATION POLICY
March 23, 1993
Page 3
The average accrual maximum is 226 hours. The maximums most frequently cited were:
160-3
200-4
240-4
320-2
We should take immediate steps to reduce the maximum accruals which exceed the rates
allowed by the Personnel Policy and contracts. We can do this by notifying employees that
they must by the end of 1993 have reduced those maximums or lose that additional vacation.
A second step which might be prudent is to reduce the maximum accrual balance to 240 hours
for all employees. This would significantly reduce our exposure and liability for vacation
accrual. If we chose to reduce the maximum allowable accrual to be 240 hours, the effect
would be to place an additional seven employees over the maximum.
Another alternative which I have been exploring is the possibility of introducing an annual
leave policy which would combine sick leave and vacation. Both Fridley and Shoreview
currently have such a policy.
In a nutshell, an annual leave plan does the following;
1. Replaces present sick leave, vacation, emergency funeral leave, and injury -on -duty
leave with a universal and personal leave concept.
2. It does not replace holidays, military leave, jury duty leave, or any other paid leave
required by law.
3. Annual leave combines the accrual rate of vacation and sick leave at approximately
the following rates:
a. One through five years at 14/15 days per year.
b. Five through ten years at 19/20 days per year.
c. After fifteen years, 24/25 days per year.
4. Annual leave takes two forms;
a. Planned leave which is will be scheduled in advance with supervisor approval.
b. Emergency leave which will require notification of the department within one-
half hour of the employee's scheduled working days if the employee is not at
work when the emergency occurs.
PLYMOUTH VACATION POLICY
March 23, 1993
Page 4
5. The maximum total accumulation of annual leave for any individual employee at the
end of any given year will be 30 days (240 hours).
6. Upon separation from employment, an employee will be paid one day's salary for
each day of accrued annual leave remaining in the employee's balance. This
maximum would be 240 hours for all employees.
7. The City will provide short-term disability (STD) for each employee who has
successfully completed his/her probationary period. STD applies to physician
certified illness or injury whether on or off the job.
8. STD insurance coverage will commence on the 21st consecutive working day on
which an employee is absent due to a physician -certified illness or injury and will
continue until the employee returns to work able to carry out his or her duties, or
through the 110th working day of absence, whichever occurs first.
9. STD insurance will assure continuance of the employee's regular rate of pay at the
time of the disabling incident. This amount will be reduced by any payments made
from worker's compensation insurance, PERA retirement association disability
insurance, or social security disability insurance.
10. An employee receiving payments under the City's STD insurance plan will not accrue
annual leave.
11. Coverage under STD insurance will extend for a maximum of 90 days for any single
illness or injury regardless of the number and spacing of episodes.
12. The City will assure that any employee who is out for more than 20 working days in
succession is able to come back to work through the use of a physician certification
program. The City may also wish to verify that someone is indeed ill through the use
of their own physician.
13. The City will continue to provide the long-term disability (LTD) insurance that it has
in the past.
The current sick leave plan is one of the most frequently criticized aspects of employment at
the City of Plymouth. Various features of the plan make employees feel that they are assumed
to be abusers, even when they are legitimately ill. The rate of accrual is so slow as to virtually
ensure that anyone who is seriously ill, even after many years of employment will be unable to
cover their entire illness with accumulated days of leave.
Finally, there is a great incentive to come to work sick so as to ensure that one accrues as
many days as possible through the doubling at the end of the year.
PLYMOUTH VACATION POLICY
March 23, 1993
Page 5
The beauty of the new plan, is that it allows an employee a great deal more freedom, but also
provides an incentive for them to manage their days off so as to assure coverage of their
illnesses and their other needs for time off.
Conversion to such a program would require negotiation with the four bargaining units, as
well as a meeting with the non-union represented employees to explain the features of the plan
and to solicit their input and support. Since some employees have extremely large sick leave
banks, most of which were accrued prior to the current sick leave policy, some employees
might wish to remain on the current sick leave program.
My recommendation is that we draft such a plan and present it to the clerical/technical
bargaining unit, as well as the non -represented employees with the intention of adopting the
plan for 1994. We can also provide the plan to the other bargaining units and negotiate the
change to their contracts for 1994 if they so choose.
JS:keb
CITY OF PLYMOUTH
3400 PLYMOUTH BOULEVARD, PLYMOUTH, MN 55447
DATE: March 29, 1993
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: Dwight Johnson, City Manager
SUBJECT: City Center Expansion Alternatives
Background. The City Council reviewed cost estimates and plans for a City Center
expansion project on January 25, 1993. The cost estimate presented at that meeting
was $3,168,300 which included a 13,500 square foot addition, a link to the Public
Safety Building and renovation of the existing approximately 17,000 square feet of
office area.
The January proposal was based upon a needs analysis begun in 1990 by the firm of
Polson/ Trossen/ Wright. A 20 year planning timeline was used The Council voted to
authorize the architects to proceed with design and specifications at the January
meeting. Assurances were received that the plans would not rapidly become dated.
Even though the Council voted to proceed to the next step, a number of questions were
raised about the complete utilization of the space vacated by Public Safety, the possible
use of space in other City buildings, and the long term financial implications relating to
spending $3.2 million for this purpose in 1993-94. Staff has reviewed a number of
options during the last two months as shown on the attached chart.
Alternatives and Discussion. A very large number of configurations of office space
are possible, especially if other buildings such as the Fire Stations or the Public Works
garage are included. We have visited Fire Station 3 and the Public Works garage to
examine the possibilities for relocating some City functions in these spaces. According
to the needs survey, the two smallest departments in terms of space needs are
Administration and Parks and Recreation with 1991 identified needs of 2,150 and 2,560
square feet respectively. Neither Fire Station 3 nor the Public Works garage appears to
have more than 1,000 square feet in any particular location. Also, difficulties with day
to day communication and coordination would exist with a department of the City
located so far away from the City Center. It would be preferable to remain as we are
for a while longer than to move a department that far away. Accordingly, no options
considering those two locations were studied further.
The accompanying chart shows the options that were considered further. The 1991
needs study was projected for 1994, 1999, 2004 and 2014 by simply assigning the
average annual increase in the needs study to the future years. We then determined the
percentage of our need that would be met in each year under the various options.
Options 1 and 2, which use existing public safety space in the lower level and transfer
some offices (probably Administration) to the new Public Safety Building, do not even
meet our space needs over a five year time frame, although at least Option 2 would
provide an immediate and noticeable improvement.
Option 3 does not provide much more immediate help than option 2, but costs more in
the short run.
Option 4 provides all of the space needs for many years, but postpones the renovation
of existing spaces. This is a realistic option if it is important to phase the project for
financial reasons. Space is a greater need at this time than renovation.
Option 5 provides for all of the expansion and renovation needs for the next five to ten
years while still saving $425,000 in the immediate cost. The City Center would have
to be re -configured once again within the five to ten year time frame, but the extra cost
is not too great to do this. This option also allows us to review how fast our needs are
growing before finishing the last 6,500 square feet in the lower level.
Option 6 is the original proposal to both expand and renovate the entire City Center.
While it provides more space than we need right now, it has the advantage of finishing
the project at one time and giving the City several options to use in-house staff in the
future where consultants or contract work is used now.
Option 7, buying a whole new building, was presented to us by a commercial broker
who was following our discussions on the City Center expansion. Several staff
members inspected a local office building complex. No building was ever offered for
sale and no price was quoted. We can, however, estimate the reasonable selling price
from information in the Assessor's office. We can also estimate the reasonable
renovation costs based upon the estimates for our own building. It appears that Option
7 may not be as cost effective as staying where we are. In addition, there are many
intangible reasons to stay where we are: proximity to Public Safety, the new library,
and the post office; citizen identification of our location; and general support for the
downtown area of Plymouth.
Option 8, do nothing, would leave us at about two-thirds of our present need. I would
not rate the current situation as critical. There may be some deterioration in staff
efficiency due to office noise, shared offices, lack of storage space, etc. Also, the
current situation does not allow for the possibility of doing more work in-house instead
of through consultants. In Shoreview, I was able to save the taxpayers over $100,000
per year by doing more in-house engineering of routine on-going efforts such as
neighborhood street reconstruction and trail construction. But this was not possible in
Shoreview until more space was acquired in a new City Hall.
Option 9, improving the cable TV capabilities in the council chambers, could be
considered as a separate project paid with accumulated cable TV funds. A number of
cities have improved their presentations to the public and the TV viewers by having
visual materials shown on large monitors closer to the audience compared with our
current system of overhead projection. These systems also allow the speaker to use
visual materials without leaving the podium or engaging a helper. .
Financial Impact. At the January 25th meeting, the question was raised about what
future possibilities for projects would be forestalled due to spending on the City Center
project. Attached is a chart showing the existing balances in those funds that could
support general capital improvements. Also shown is a forecast of revenues for the
new Community Improvement Fund (CIF) established by the City Charter. These
revenues are derived from left over balances in retired bond funds and continuing
inflows of special assessments for projects where the bonds have already been retired
by prepaid assessments. Prepayments of assessments, interest earnings, and the 5 %
bond reserve requirement all are factors that make these revenues available. All such
special assessment revenue must be assigned to the CIF. The other funds shown will
have relatively minor revenues.
The financial chart shows that significant cash balances amounting to over $5 million
exist in several funds that could be used for general capital improvements. Also, the
CIF will receive substantial cash revenues in 1995 and 1996. The CIF balance should
exceed $12 million by the end of 1996 and continue to increase by an additional $1
million per year in the ensuing years. No plans exist for these funds at this time. All
of these estimates already assume that the full amount of $3,168,300 will be spent on
the City Center project.
While no large project could be undertaken for several years after a major City Center
expansion, all but the very largest imaginable projects would appear to be possible
within the following three year time period.
Operating costs for the added City Center space, assuming the entire expansion is built,
will amount to an estimated $19,000 per year.
Summary and Recommendation. The City has met its basic capital needs for the
core operating services during the last few years. Fire stations have been built and
renovated. A new public safety building is now open. The public works/park
maintenance garage has been expanded. Major new play fields have been built and
park dedication fees are earmarked for future park and trail improvements. New water
towers, essential utility services, and major street improvements have been provided for
in the capital improvements program. Funds have been transferred to revitalize the
street reconstruction program and the park facilities. In short, we have been doing
many things right, and in about the right order.
While expanding the City Center may not seem to be in the same category of
importance as some of the above projects, it has reached the point where it should be
considered before other major projects are initiated of a more optional nature such as -
those projects that would improve the community, but do not represent a vital core
service of the community.
Options 4, 5, and 6 all would provide the space needed for some time. Option 4 has
no renovation, while Option 6 builds more space than we need anytime soon. Option 5
seems to be a good combination of providing needed space for a reasonable time period
while still renovating the existing space which is 15 years old. Option 5 saves
425,000 in the short run compared to the original proposal (Option 6) and allows us to
re-evaluate our needs at some future date without building too much building now.
However, Option 5 would cause some extra expense in revising office layouts. which is
estimated to be under $10,000. Overall, Option 5 appears to be the best option at this
time. It is recommended that we proceed with City Center expansion according to
Option 5 with alternate bids prepared for Options 4 and 6 so that we can verify this
analysis with actual bids and make a final decision on which option to pursue at that
time.
CENTERALS
Page 1
ew ni is o
0 P T 10 N S Sq. Feet Cost Need Need Need Need
1 Use existing ps space plus 3,066 80,000 ac 91% 72% 66% 55%
space in new ps bldg.
2 Use existing ps space , jail 4,719 336,000 99% 79% 72% 61%
space & new ps bldg.
3 Expand city center but only 6,750 1,823,300 98% 88% 80% 68%
finish upper level. No
renovation.
4 Expand city center, finish 18,219 2,358,000 153% 137% 125% 105%
both floors, no renovation
5 Expand city center, finish 9,566 2,743,000 111% 100% 91% 77%
only upper level, renovate
all spaces
6 Expand city center, finish 18,219 3,168,000 153% 137% 125% 105%
both levels, renovate
existing offices (original
proposal)
7 Buy an existing office bldg. 18,219 3,428,000 153% 137% 125% 105%
and sell City Center offices
8 Do nothing 0 0 66% 59% 54% 45%
9 Optional upgrade of cable nla 50,000 -
tv facilities in council 200,000
chambers
I includes space in new Public Safety Building
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CIF.XLS
Page 1
Beginning Balances of Special Interest Ending Project PIR TOTAL
YEAR Balance Maturing Assessment @ 3% Balance Adm Fund Fund FUNDS
CIF Bond Funds Collections CIF Balance Balance AVAILABLE
1993 0 439,600 616,154 0 1,055,754 3,237,858 741,680 5,035,292
1994 1,055,754 0 569,712 31,673 1,657,139 3,334,994 763,930 5,756,063
1995 1,657,139 2,246,000 519,520 49,714 4,472,373 3,435,044 786,848 8,694,265
1996 4,472,373 3,501,000 235,730 134,171 8,343,274 3,538,095 810,454 12,691,823
1997 8,343,274 250,000 190,692 250,298 9,034,264 3,644,238 834,767 13,513,269
1998 9,034,264 600,000 178,709 271,028 10,084,001 3,753,565 859,810 14,697,376
1999 10,084,001 750,000 160,181 302,520 11,296,702 3,866,172 885,605 16,048,479
2000 11,296,702 0 104,434 338,901 11,740,037 3,982,157 912,173 16,634,367
2001 11,740,037 0 40,196 352,201 12,132,434 4,101,622 939,538 17,173,594
2002 12,132,434 400,000 31,570 363,973 12,927,977 4,224,670 967,724 18,120,372
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