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HomeMy WebLinkAbout15.E.4. Authorize Hiring Three Custodians /5. E, Ll, CITY OF SHAKOPEE MEMORANDUM To: Mayor and City Council CO~JSENT Mark McNeill, City Administrator From: Mark Themig, Facilities and Recreation Director Duane Toenyan, Facility Maintenance Lead Meeting Date: April.6,2004 Subject: Authorize Hiring of Three Custodians INTRODUCTION We have completed the recruitment, interview, and selection process for the Custodian positions. City Council is asked to authorize the appointment of Marvin Melander, Tom McEachern, and Robert Schmit for these positions, contingent upon successful completion of the pre;.employment physical and criminal history check. BACKGROUND In January, City Council authorized staff to proceed with transition from contracted cleaning services to hiring City staff to provide this service (see Attachment A). As part of this action, Council also authorized staff to advertise for the position. Scott County provided the recruitment services for the position. We received approximately 60 applications, and provi~ed with a list of 22 certified applicants. Duane Toenyan, Tracy Schaefer and I interview d the top ten candidates, and re-interviewed four finalists. RECOMMENDATION We are recommending that Marvin Melander, Tom McEachern, and Robert Schmit be appointed to the three custodian positions. Mr. Melander and Mr. McEachern are both retirees from the Minneapolis Public School system who are interested in continuing their career with the City. Mr. Schmit has a considerable cleaning and maintenance background in the nursing home field. We believe that all three candidates will bring skills to the City that will greatly improve our cleaning level-of-service. Since all three finalists have extensive experience in the cleaning field, we are recommending that they be hired at Grade 1, Step C of the 2004 Pay Plan ($14.00/hour; $29,139/year). ACTION REQUESTED: If City Council concur.s, move to authorize the appointment of Marvin Melander, Tom McEachern, and Robert Schmit as custodians at a starting pay rate of Grade 1, Step C of the 2004 Pay Plan, contingent upon successful completion of th re-employment physical and criminal history check \}-\~ Mark Themig Facilities and Recreation Director CITY OF SHAKOPEE MEMORANDUM To: Mayor and City Council Mark McNeill, City Administrator From: . Mark Themig, Facilities and Recreation Director Duane Toenyan, Facility Maintenance Lead Meeting Date: January 20, 2004 Subject: Cleaning Services INTRODUCTION As discussed during the budget process, City Council is asked to authorize staff to proceed with transitioning cleaning from our current contracted service to City staff. BACKGROUND With the opening of the new Library and Police buildings, the City's basic cleaning contract increased to $103,000 for 2004, up from our previous contract amount of approximately $75,000. In addition to the basic service, we anticipate contract costs of an additional $10,000-15,000 for specialized projects like carpet cleaning and floor refinishing at City Hall, the Library, and the Police Building. As you are aware, there are significant maintenance and operational tasks for over 200,000 ft2 of building space that the City now owns. The City has two designated facility maintenance staff to complete all maintenance on City buildings (excluding park buildings, which Public Works maintains): the Facility Maintenance Worker who is responsible for the Community Center, Aquatic Park, and Youth Building; and the Facility Maintenance Lead who is responsible for the other City buildings, as well as providing work directi.on to the Facility Maintenance Worker. We also utilize contractors for specialized mechanical work. Some of you may recall that the Facility Maintenance Lead position was created in 2003 from the former Building Maintenance Worker position. The concept was that this position would coordinate and perform maintenance activities on City buildings and develop a more detailed maintenance program. However, we are learning that these two positions alone are not able to provide the level of service that should be performed with the new and existing buildings in order to maintain them appropriately and ensure their longevity. Also, we have had periodic and ongoing quality issues with our current cleaning contractor. DISCUSSION With the increased cost for cleaning services, ongoing maintenance issues, and cleaning quality concerns, Duane Toenyan, Facility Maintenance Lead, and I began discussing the most effective way to improve cleaning services and maintenance/operation of all City buildings. Mr. Toenyan contacted several other cities to learn how they clean and maintain their buildings. While some use contracted services, those cities that have personnel to provide this service, or have at one time contracted out and now have personnel, indicate that personnel on staff is a preferred method to ensure the best quality (Attachment A). Proposed Staffing In order to improve the quality of cleaning, maintenance, and upkeep for City buildings, we are proposing to hire City staff to conduct this service. Mr. Toenyan has completed an analysis of cleaning responsibilities and time requirements for all City buildings. Based on this analysis, we believe we can provide cleaning and additional maintenance and upkeep by creating three full-time custodian positions (Attachment B). These three positions would cover most City buildings and provide enhanced seven days/week cleaning at the Police building instead of five days/week provided under our current contract. Public Works would prefer to continue to contract cleaning of park buildings due to their seasonal nature. Councilor Helkamp asked that we contact the Workforce Development Center in Shakopee to identify areas where we could integrate their services. The Center provides work opportunities fot individuals in the community, including individuals with disabilities. Mr. Toenyan has been working with Ms. Laura Meyer of the Workforce Development Center. Since daytime activities in most of our buildings necessitate that the majority of cleaning be done after hours in vacant buildings, it appears that their service cannot provide the scope of cleaning we need. However, we are working with Ms. Meyer to identify tasks that could be accomplished in some buildings during the daytime that would allow existing staff to address other maintenance needs. Rod Kelsey, the City's pay consultant, has rated the position description for comparable worth and determined that it should be placed in Grade 1 of City's pay plan: $12.436 to $15.532 per hour (see Attachment C). Equipment Our current contract requires the vendor to provide equipment. Therefore, there would be a one-time equipment purchase of vacuums, floor scrubbers, carpet extractors, janitor carts, mops, buckets, etc. that would need to be made. (Some of this equipment would be needed even if we retained our current contract.) Other Action As proposed, the custodians would work under the direction of the Facility Maintenance Lead to ensure adequate supervision and work direction. However, this position currently does not have direct supervisory responsibilities, so there may need to be an upgrade in the position to include these duties, as well as appropriate compensation. If changes are warranted, funding and pay implications would be brought forward at another meeting. Finellly, Q~ mentioned prevjou:;;ly, the City needs to have both a short and long-term maintenance program for buildings. Mr. Toenyan is completing a comprehensive inventory of mechanical and building systems. From this information, we will be working on developing a maintenance schedule, as well as evaluating our use of mechanical contractors for potential cost savings. BUDGET IMPACT As part of the budget process, Council authorized an additional $35,000 in the 2004 budget for hiring City staff to clean and maintain buildings. This was in addition to $110,000 for contracted services. This would provide for the following: Item Amount 3 Custodians (salary + benefits) $110,000 Additional Cleaning Supplies $ 10,000 Continued Contract for Park Buildings $ 9,500 (estimate) If changes are warranted for any existing positions, funding and pay implications would be brought forward at another meeting. In addition to the staffing costs, we have received preliminary quotes for the cleaning equipment discussed above. It appears that the costs for this equipment would be approximately $40,000. There are funds remaining in the 2003 building operation budget for these costs. Authorization to purchase this equipment would be brought back to Council at a later date if this request moves forward tonight. ALTERNATIVES 1. Continue with our. current contracted cleaning services. 2. Authorize staff to proceed with transitioning cleaning service from contracted to City staff by approving the Custodian position description and advertising for three custodian positions. 3. Table for additional information. RECOMMENDATION Alternative #2. REQUESTED ACTION If Council concurs, move to approve the Custodian position description at Pay Grade 1 and authorize staff to advertise for three Custodian positions.