Lago Vista council reviews staffing levels, outlines plan to reassign parks maintenance

At a special call meeting, the Lago Vista City Council reviewed a department-by-department organizational chart and a current headcount of 107 city employees, discussed multiple vacancies across departments, and outlined a plan to shift parks maintenance under Public Works instead of immediately filling the parks director role.

Councilmember Paul Prince introduced a spreadsheet of the city organization and asked staff to walk the council through department sizes and open positions. City staff reported department headcounts and vacancies across Parks & Recreation, Finance, Development Services, Public Works, Police and other departments. The chart showed the parks unit staffed by four people (including an assistant parks director, two maintenance employees and a part-time airport position) and listed several vacant positions elsewhere, including airport manager, finance director, building inspector and city engineer.

The council discussed a temporary reorganization to avoid a backfill of the parks director position. Under the plan described by staff, Katie (identified in the materials as assistant parks and recreation director) would remain in her current role while parks maintenance functions would be moved under the Street Superintendent, Christopher LeBlanc, in Public Works. LeBlanc would oversee maintenance of the pool, airport and parks; administrative duties and programmatic tasks would remain with Katie. Councilmembers said the plan requires additional detail before full implementation, including how to preserve parks programming and the leadership role historically associated with a parks director.

Councilmembers and staff also noted two positions the city manager has instructed not to actively fill at this time: the parks and recreation director post and the dispatch supervisor position in the Police Department. Staff confirmed the finance director (CFO) position likewise was not being actively filled, with the city pursuing options for finance oversight while the city operates with a reduced finance leadership team.

During the review staff supplied counts for multiple units: Parks & Recreation (4), Economic Development (2), Library (4), Finance (one active finance staff plus procurement and utility-billing clerks), Utilities (15 positions reported under utilities), Police (including two detectives that a councilmember noted were missing from the original chart), and Golf operations (multiple full- and part-time positions). Staff said some public-works and utility positions remain open and are being actively recruited. Several councilmembers requested the organizational chart be refined visually and posted to the city’s shared drive and website so the council and public can track updates on a routine basis.

No formal vote was taken. Council direction included asking staff to refine the org chart, provide clearer counts and vacancies, and return the updated chart on a regular basis for brief council review so elected leaders can monitor persistent vacancies and staffing priorities.

Clarifying details from staff and council included the total headcount reported as 107 employees, two specific posts (parks director and dispatch supervisor) currently not being filled under city-manager guidance, and a plan to place maintenance staff under Public Works while retaining parks program administration with the assistant parks director. Councilmembers emphasized they want to preserve programmatic leadership for parks while saving operating expenditures by delaying some backfills.

The discussion concluded with councilmembers asking staff to continue refining the document, include department-level top objectives alongside the chart, and to publish the chart on the council shared drive and the city website for transparency and recurring review.