Council reviews water and wastewater staffing plan: GIS specialist, water service position and reclassifications
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Summary
Water/Wastewater director Jason Lyon described two new positions — a GIS specialist and a water service person — and proposed reclassifications to create career steps for operators, with modest budget impacts and options to shift administrative support costs to the wastewater fund.
The city’s water and wastewater director, Jason Lyon, told the council the FY budget includes two new positions dedicated to utility needs — a GIS specialist to support migration to a utility‑network GIS and a water service worker to address a backlog of meter and service work orders — and a set of internal reclassifications to create career progression for operators.
Why it matters: Water quality reporting, lead/copper rule compliance and timely meter/service work are regulated responsibilities; the proposed staffing aims to improve data availability and keep up with maintenance demand.
New positions and rationale Lyon said the GIS specialist is needed because the city is migrating to a utility‑network GIS and utility data (including lead and copper rule information) must be maintained for public access and regulatory compliance. The water service position would restore a previous staffing level (the department had three water service positions historically and currently had one) to clear a backlog of work orders left from pandemic changes to meter electronics and readings.
Reclassifications and costs Lyon proposed reclassifying several water‑treatment staff into a three‑step ladder to reward additional licenses and create retention incentives. He estimated the incremental cost at roughly $7,000 per individual, about $35,000 total for the group mentioned, and said the proposed increases represent less than 2% of the operating budget on the water side and less than 1% on wastewater.
Other changes Staff proposed transferring one shared administrative assistant position from the general fund to the wastewater fund to align costs with departmental workloads. Lyon also sought to retitle and promote the water production manager to assistant director, with an approximate $10,000 salary increase tied to newly earned professional engineering credentials and responsibility as the direct responsible charge (DRC) for water quality.
Ending: Council asked for additional justification and benchmarking on reclassifications and acknowledged the water/wastewater proposals were modest in overall budget impact but important for regulatory compliance and backlog reduction.
