2012 2:00:00 PM

Monday, February 27, 2012 2:00 PM
Sparks Council Chambers

Consent Items: 5.4

Title: Consideration and possible approval of a permanent complement change at the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility (TMWRF) to assess organizational structure changes.

Petitioner/Presenter: Neil C. Krutz, P.E., Deputy City Manager of Community Services/Neil C. Krutz, P.E., Deputy City Manager of Community Services

Recommendation: Staff recommends the City Council approve the permanent complement change as submitted.

Financial Impact: There is no general fund fiscal impact. Approval of the permanent complement change would eliminate three vacant positions (Support Services Manager, Operations and Maintenance Manager and Operator III) and replace them with three new positions (Treatment Plant Manager, Operations Manager and Maintenance Manager). The fiscal impact to TMWRF’s budget will be the net increase in pay and benefits between the eliminated Operator III position and the new Treatment Plant Manager position. This salary and benefit cost differential is estimated to be $63,700 annually when comparing the top of range of the Operator III position to the anticipated salary and benefit cost of the Treatment Plant Manager. Costs associated with the remainder of this fiscal year (approximately $21,000) fall well inside the existing salary and wage budget for the treatment plant as three vacancies has existed at TMWRF all fiscal year.

Business Impact (Per NRS 237):
A Business Impact Statement is not required because this is not a rule.

Agenda Item Brief: In February 2011 the City Council approved a one year organizational structure experiment aimed at identifying internal talent for promotion and at providing the proper level of management control for the operations and maintenance of the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility. Staff was “recruited” internally and placed into the three “Acting” positions. The one year experiment was successful and yielded the first calendar year of operations since 2002 that the facility operated without any violations of its treated water discharge permit. The purpose of this agenda item is to make the acting positions permanent via approval of a complement change for TMWRF.

Background: The City of Sparks jointly owns the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility (TMWRF) with the City of Reno on roughly a 30%/70% basis, respectively. The City of Sparks staffs and operates the facility while the City of Reno provides capital planning services. There was significant turnover within the management ranks between 2008 and 2010 that left City Management looking for the right combination of talent and span of control to efficiently operate the plant. The following temporary management organizational structure for TMWRF (see attachment) was approved by the City Council in February 2011 as an early implementation step in the Sustainable Sparks Services Initiative (SSSI) and has been in place since that time. The Acting Treatment Plant Manager was appointed last February and the Acting Operations Manager and Maintenance Manager were selected last March after an internal recruitment process.

Analysis: The one year experiment was successful and yielded the first calendar year of operations since 2002 that the facility operated without any violations of its treated water discharge permit. The purpose of this agenda item is to make the acting positions permanent via approval of a complement change for TMWRF.

Alternatives: The City Council could chose to deny the request thereby directing staff to maintain the existing complement.

Recommended Motion: I move to approve a permanent complement change at the Truckee Meadows Water Reclamation Facility (TMWRF) as the one year experiment was successful.

Attached Files:

TMWRF Complement Attachment.pdf

Previous Item

Next Item

Return To Meeting