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The Council supported the proposed activity and looked forward to receiving feedback from the public. <br />The Council took a five-minute recess at this time. <br />Council Instructions <br />This item was not discussed by the Council. <br />Employee Retention initiatives <br />Mayor Johnson stated Lotter's original contract called for an annual performance review and was drafted in his <br />contract 10 years ago. She noted this language was provided to the Council. She discussed the fact that Lotter <br />recently applied for a position with another municipality, but noted she convinced him to stay. She explained <br />he was committed to this City and the great things that were taking place in New Brighton. She discussed the <br />promises that were made within his original contract and suggested the Council consider merit pay. She <br />reviewed a handout with the Council noting the huge accomplishments completed by staff in 2015 and 2016. <br />She supported the Council putting $40,000 to $50,000 in an account that could be awarded to staff for their <br />extra efforts. She stated she was proposing this as part of an employee retention program and noted the dollars <br />proposed were surplus from 2016 and would not impact the 2017 budget. <br />Councilmember Burg knew that showing appreciation was very important in employee retention. She <br />understood compensation was important, but was not the only thing. She supported the Council taking an <br />overall look at the annual pay performance program, while also discussing ways to show appreciation for the <br />City's employees. <br />Mayor Johnson commented she was suggesting this program address salaried employees. <br />Councilmember Strub believed it made sense to look at this program if it would assist the City in retaining its <br />valuable employees in the growing competitive marketplace. <br />Councilmember Jacobsen stated the City was not used to measuring performance in this manner and for that <br />reason, he was skeptical of the program at this time. <br />Councilmember Bauman questioned if the Mayor was proposing to set aside $40,000 to $50,000 per year for <br />this program going forward. <br />Mayor Johnson stated this was the case. <br />Lotter reviewed the City's current step increase and pay grade system with the Council. He reported the step <br />system only gets employees to the middle. <br />Mayor Johnson understood this was the case that employees were approaching the middle for pay while being <br />expected to provide the City with the max. It was her opinion that the special incentive account would go a <br />long way in showing New Brighton employees a great deal of appreciation for all of their efforts. <br />Councilmember Bauman discussed the differences between pay in the private and public sector. She did not <br />believe that New Brighton employees were underpaid. She supported appreciation being showed in other ways <br />and believed that $40,000 to $50,000 was a lot of money to set aside for bonuses. <br />Mayor Johnson indicated the City had 85 employees and 52 are salaried <br />