CITY HALL — Water, workers and parks will be the big three topics at Tuesday's City Council meeting.
Aside from stricter regulations on outdoor fitness trainers — an issue the Daily Press wrote about last week — council will consider implementing penalties for water-wasters and review City Hall's policy for employing contract workers.
City officials have been discussing penalties for high water users since July and, in their most recent report to council, note that the penalties won't hit until August.
All water users would be expected to consume 80 percent of what they did during the same timeframe in 2013.
All residents would be given a threshold allowance. In a Stage 2 water shortage (that's where we're at right now), all single-family customers will get a threshold of at least 22 hundred-cubic-feet (HCF) of water every two months. One HCF equals 748 gallons. Multi-family homes will be allowed at least a 11 HCF per unit every two months in a Stage 2 water shortage. They too will be asked to reduce by 20 percent over their 2013 baseline, if they exceed the threshold.
These thresholds are meant to keep things fair for residents who already did much to reduce their water usage in 2013.
Commercial water users must adhere to the 80 percent cut without any threshold. Businesses that can prove they've done everything possible to reduce their water consumption can get an exemption.
Users, residential and commercial, will pay $10 in penalties for every 748 gallons they exceed their allowance by.
Contract workers
City officials are recommending that City Council consider bringing the equivalent of more than 31 full-time jobs in-house after reviewing City Hall's policy on contract labor.
"Council requested that city staff perform a comprehensive study of (City Hall's) contractual services, including an evaluation of the number of contracted employees and as-needed staff currently performing services for (City Hall), and options to convert these jobs into permanent full time city positions," city officials said in a report to council.
A report by city officials indicated that they continue to limit the use of contracted staff to services meeting criteria established by city policy.
"The Report recommends converting approximately 55,000 as-needed hours to 25.65 new permanent full time equivalent positions, and bringing services related to five current contracts in-house, which would add (six full-time-equivalent) positions to permanent staffing," city officials said in the report.
Vacancies
Council will be asked to fill five vacancies on three boards and commissions at Tuesday's meeting.
The Clean Beaches & Ocean Parcel Tax Citizens Oversight Committee needs three new members after the expiration of annual terms. The new terms' endings would coincide with the end of the year.
One member of the Urban Forest Task Force left the post prematurely. Council will consider filling a seat that expires in less than six months.
Finally, council will consider filling a vacancy on the Arts Commission for a seat that expires in a year and a half.
dave@www.smdp.com
