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I I I Council Proceedings May 23, 1995 Council Business. continued Staff supports the use of volunteers and seeks them out for discrete, managable tasks that keep people engaged and interested. The City currently depends upon 13,400 of volunteer hours annually. Advertising in local newspapers has not been successful, and most volunteers have resulted from personal requests for specific projects or a volunteer stepping forward for a project which appeals to them. Staff has many ideas for expanding the use of volunteers, but has not had time to implement a program. To expand the recruitment and use of volunteers much further, Jeanetta feels the City would need to hire a part time volunteer corodinator. In 1993, an intern researched the establishment of a volunteer program. That intern used the resources of MOVS (Minnesota Office of Vounteer Service), Hennepin County, and other municpal park departments. Jeanetta and Judy Goepel, Marketing/Events Coordinator, then marketed the program. Only 2 responses were received and the effort was disappointing. The City currently uses many volunteers in Park and Recreation programs such as the senior newsletter, senior events, tax preparation, Arbor Day celebration, tree planting, planting and maintenance of the water tower garden, and park cleaning. The Stockyard Days and Antique Car Run events are produced solely by volunteers through the coordinating efforts of Goepel. About 50 volunteers serve as members of the City's advisory commissions. The Police Department uses many volunteers as Police Reserves and block club captains. The Volunteer Fire Department members are paid per call, and each of the 40 firefighters average about 250 hours per year. Also, there are many one-time projects where volunteers are used. The annual number of volunteer hours is 13,464, and if these volunteers were paid a minimun hourly wage of $4.25 that amount would total $57,200. Jeanetta believes volunteers continue this work because they find personal benefit and satisfaction. People need meaningful tasks with flexible schedules to motivate them to volunteer. She feels the City does a good job of thanking its volunteers. The Stockyard Days and Antique Car Run committees hold an annual thank you dinner for its volunteers. The City hosts an annual picnic to formally thank its volunteers. Besides monetary savings, some of the less tangible benefits gained from using volunteers are that it promotes a positive perception of government, increases knowledge of local officials and activities, brings additional resources to government programs, and increases citizen participation. Potential uses of volunteers could be the delivering of "In the Neighborhood", indoor playground or summer program supervision, FSC registration, customer assistance, shoveling sidewalks, producing Cable TV, odd jobs, flag care, computer assistance, clerical duties, and boulevard mowing and cleanup of vacant parcels. The City has a rider on its liability insurance to cover any person performing volunteer work for the City. A MOVS representative concluded that New Brighton would have difficulty enlarging its use of volunteers much further without a dedicated volunteer coordinator. New Brighton has a very strong network of volunteers as compared to other cities, but larger municipalities have a staff member dedicated to these activities. The MOVS representative identified a growing area of volunteers as senior citizens and families. Page 4 Council Business Analysis of Volunteer Use Report 95-087