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HomeMy WebLinkAbout5.e. Mechanic PositionDATE: MARCH 10, 1988 TO: MAYOR & COUNCILMEMBERS C/O ADMINISTRATOR JILK FROM: CITY ENGINEER/PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR HEFTI RE: ITEM FOR THE MARCH 15, 1988 COUNCIL MEETING OLD BUSINESS 5e. Recommendation for Filling of the Mechanic Position Opening The City received 27 applications from individuals interested in this position. From these applications, we narrowed the field down to eight of the most highly qualified candidates. Don Brown, Mike Widstrom and myself interviewed these eight candidates on March 4th and March 7th. Based upon the applications, resumes and interviews Staff is recommending that Council hire Mr. Dean Sandstrom to fill the mechanic position. Briefly, Mr. Sandstrom currently works for the Cherry Creek School District in Colorado, which I believe is around Denver. The school district presently has about 240 buses, several administrative cars and light duty trucks, a variety of grounds maintenance equipment, and even a street sweeper. Mr. Sandstrom has considerable experience in maintenance and repairing of diesel and gas engines, along with other automotive components. He also realizes the importance of preventive scheduled maintenance and keeping records of such maintenance. Ile has demonstrated this by volunteering to be responsible for an experimental program the school district was trying. This program consisted of revamping several buses to burn natural gas, which is suppose to be a great cost savings. Mr. Sandstrom is in charge of the mechanical portion of revamping the buses to accept natural gas fuel and also he was in charge of setting up a preventive maintenance schedule and maintaining accurate records. The maintenance records he kept will enable the school district to evaluate the true savings of using natural gas as a fuel. Prior to his work at the Cherry Creek School District, Mr. Sandstrom worked at the Rosemount School District. His responsibilities there were similar to his present position at Cherry Creek. Because of Mr. Sandstroms' excellent qualifications, Staff is recommending that Mr. Sandstrom be offered the position of Mechanic at a Level III, Step B Classification. This Step is a second of a four step salary schedule for the Level III Mechanic position. The starting salary for Mr. Sandstrom would be $12.02 per hour. Should Mr. Sandstrom complete his 6 month probationary period satisfactorily, then we would like to move him up to the Step C Classification or to $12.58 per hour. Then one year after that he would be eligible for moving up to the Step D Classification, which is presently $13.13 per hour. His present wage is $13.00 per hour. For Councils information, Mr. Sandstroms reason for leaving his present position Page 2 Item for March 15, 1988 Council Meeting is that he strongly desires to return to.Minnesota. Rosemount is his hometown and his wife is from Fargo, North Dakota. We checked on his references and received a very positive response from both the Cherry Creek School District reference and the Rosemount School District reference. Because we feel Mr. Sandstrom is the most qualified individual for the mechanic opening, Staff would recommend that Council approve his hiring at the Mechanic III, Step B Level with salary increases as previously discussed based upon satisfactory completion of the 6 month probationary period and satisfactory performance thereafter, If Council wishes to find out anymore information about Mr. Sandstrom, please feel free to contact me at Councils convenience. Otherwise, I will be available for discussion, if necessary, at the March 15, 1988 meeting.