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Lake Elmo council accepts public-works operational assessment, consultant urges phased staff additions
Summary
The Lake Elmo City Council voted to accept an operational assessment by Raftelis that recommends several staffing increases, adoption of a computerized maintenance management system and other process changes to address rapid growth in utility and parks workload.
The Lake Elmo City Council on Sept. 2 accepted a public-works operational assessment prepared by consulting firm Raftelis, which concluded the department is lightly staffed relative to the city’s recent growth and recommended adding staff, improving training and expanding asset-management practices.
The report, presented by Brian Kirsch of Raftelis, said “growth is really the number one workload driver” for the city’s public-works department and recommended adding two full-time equivalents in 2025 and one more in 2026, with the first hires including an operator and a lead operator, to reduce current spans of control and sustain service levels.
Kirsch told the council the department last added an operator in 2019 and that since then the city has seen “a 74% increase in sewer customers, about a 40% increase in miles of…
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