Council schedules work session on city manager search and public-works design; manager reports on bulk pickup and community center

Interim city manager (speaker S9) briefed the council on next steps for two administrative efforts: a search for a permanent city manager and selecting a firm to design a new public works facility.

On the city manager search, the interim manager presented a list of potential partner firms and asked council for direction. Several council members said they preferred a work session to develop a job description and candidate qualifications before formally launching a search. "I think this individual, as a whole, needs to come together and say this is the job description," one council member said; staff agreed to schedule a work session and to coordinate times that work for key members.

Regarding the public-works facility, staff reminded council of a prior direction to select from a list of approved architects. No design money has been spent; staff asked whether the council wanted to proceed to the next phase of interviews and selection. Council asked for cost estimates to inform the decision.

Manager's operational updates: the interim manager said bulk pickup will begin in September (second week) and then move to the first week of each month thereafter. The community center work was reported at roughly 90% complete with a target to reopen in September once remaining repairs are finished.

Why it matters: The city manager hire sets executive leadership and the public-works facility design affects capital planning and operations. Scheduling a dedicated work session gives council time to set search criteria and vet design costs.

Council directed staff to arrange a work session to finalize the city manager job description and to return with estimated design costs and recommendation steps for the public-works facility.