1995-05-23 - Laserfiche WebLink

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I I I Council Proceedings May 23, 1995 Council Business. continued Jeanetta agrees with the MOVS recommendation that if the volunteer program should grow larger, the City should look at hiring a volunteer coordinator. The cost to staff this position could range from $10-20 per hour depending on benefits, or an annual cost of $10,000-20,000. It may be difficult to recruit experience and skills for a part time position that pays no benefits, but a person may be looking for this arrangement. It may be to our advantage to examine existing full or part-time positions to see if these duties could be added to or replace existing duties. Williams feels Jeanetta performed an excellent analysis. He feels that due to possible Legislature budget cutbacks, the City needs to look towards other ways of doing business and the use of volunteers has potential. He would support more discussion on the hiring of a volunteer coordinator to manage and train volunteers. Samuelson feels the analysis was very informative and asked if a market study could be performed to evaluate volunteer interest. Jeanetta feels that MOVS may have an analysis which would show the number of expected volunteers in a community. Samuelson questioned what amount of volunteer hours would offset the cost of a volunteer coordinator. Benke feels the volunteer hours analysis is very impressive, and noted volunteerism at churches, schools, and other organizations. He questioned if the City could generate a greater amount of volunteer service to offset the $20,000 annual cost. He is confident that the quality of service is now being provided, and suggested an Adopt a Park or Adopt a Street program. Gunderman thanked Jeanetta for the outstanding report and feels a worksession be scheduled to discussed the project. He suggested the creation of a network with other local service agencies for a team approach. Larson arrived at 8:05 p.m. Williams suggested that a summer intern could be hired to research this subject. Fulton noted that staff and the Public Policy Commission is researching a "Leadership New Brighton" program which would develop a database of community organizations to be used to coordinate specific activities and resources. He feels this project would compliment the volunteer program. He suggested this item be discussed at the upcoming 5- Year Plan workshop and a provision be made in the budget for this position. Benke requested staff to continue development and research of ideas and projects; work with department heads, boards, and commissions to develop a priority list of projects the City can use as a recruiting device; and continue analysis as to the feasibility of a volunteer coordinator position as part of the 5-Year budgeting process. Williams feels any decision should be made so that to commit funds in the 5- Year Plan. He is grateful to all the volunteers, and feels the City needs to be pro-active in a volunteer program. Page 5 Council Business Analysis of Volunteer Use Report 95-087