Lake Elmo council accepts public-works operational assessment, consultant urges phased staff additions

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 sewer pipe and water customers, a 55% increase in water pipe length, and a 23% increase in park acreage.” He recommended designating roughly six experienced operators as utility specialists to concentrate treatment-system expertise and to restrict on‑call rounds to those specialists.

The report also recommended a phased administrative hire to replace a recently lost 0.4 FTE administrative assistant, proposing that position start at 0.5 FTE with duties beyond clerical work (GIS and work-order support). Kirsch recommended investing in Beehive — the city’s current asset-management platform — to use it as a full computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), issuing field tablets and training staff to record work orders and time-on-task.

Other recommendations included hiring or contracting for certified vehicle/mechanic work rather than using non‑certified staff, developing an annual work plan to better sequence seasonal tasks (hydrant flushing, valve exercising), and investing in training to sustain CMMS adoption.

Council members pressed staff on current CMMS usage and on how the proposed hires relate to the city’s budget. City staff said they have budgeted for one FTE in 2026 and are working to align job descriptions and union approvals for changes to on-call schedules and pay structures. Kirsch and staff said careful sequencing is needed given collective-bargaining processes and that some recommendations (e.g., utility‑specialist scheduling) require union approval.

Council accepted the assessment as presented. No specific ordinance or appropriation was passed at the meeting; council acceptance was recorded as the formal action.

The report used Lake Elmo timecard data for 2023 and compared Lake Elmo to seven peer communities. Kirsch cautioned that benchmarking shows differences in service needs — Lake Elmo’s population grew “almost 22%” from 2019–2023 and the city is less dense than many peers, which affects miles of street and pipe per resident and increases crew travel time.

Council members who asked questions included Holtz and Jackassett; Nicole (city staff) introduced the item and supported the consultant’s presentation. Kirsch said the recommendations are intended to keep staffing roughly in step with recent growth rather than greatly expand the department at once.

Council action: acceptance of the Raftelis public-works operational assessment; staff will return with implementation steps (job descriptions, budget alignment and union coordination) as directed.