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Memo- Formation Of A Facilities Division Of Public Works . Memo To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council From: Jay R. Strachota, Facilities Manager Date: June 19, 2000 Re: Formation of a Facilities Division of Public Works Attached you will find a report on the formation of a Facilities Division of Public Works. This concept has been discussed with Staff at many levels including the current Facilities Supervisors, Public Works Director and Superintendents, Recreation Director, Finance Director, and Human Resources and City Manager. The members of the Operations Board of the Arts Center are also aware of thi s concept. . . . Page 1 of 1 Facilities Division . History In 1981 the Hopkins Activity Center opened its doors to the public as the first City of Hopkins recreational fac1lity. Since that time the City has added the Hopkins Pavilion, Hopkins Center for the Arts, and the Depot Coffeehouse and Skate Park. These facilities represent over 100,000 square feet of space, and have 25-50 employees depending on the season. The facilities each operate independently with a limited amount of sharing of resources or communications. In December of 1999 the Pavilion Manager, Activity Center Coordinator and Art Center Facilities Manager met to discuss common issues and ideas relating to the facilities. Most of the issues and ideas had been discussed informally among facilities personnel for years. The supervisors of these facilities felt it was time to come together to formally address the issues and ideas. By March of 2000, the group had refined the issues of the facilities and also discussed these issues with the Public Works Director, Recreation Services Director, Parks Superintendent, Buildings and Equipment Superintendent, and the Depot Coffeehouse Manager. These are the issues the facilities supervisor felt, if addressed, would improve the working environment, increase productivity, increase profitability, and present a better product to the public: . . Communications -The facilities, being not physically connected to City Hall or Public Works, often do not receive important communications or communications are received late. . Cooperation - The facilities supervisors benefit from the experiences of the other facilities supervisors, sharing equipment and personnel, and common programming. . Collaboration - The facilities and their customers could benefit from sharing and collaboration on space needs, programming, fundraising and enterprising efforts. . Maintenance - The Pavilion and the Activity Center have organizational ties to Public Works. The Art Center and Depot CoffeeHouse interact with Public Works in an informal fashion, with no defined staff ties to Public Works for the maintenance assistance PW is providing, or could provide. Formalizing the ties to PW will improve maintenance through clarification of roles and responsibilities. The facilities supervisors discussed their options for resolving these issues. From these discussions the concept of a Facilities Division was molded. Facilities Division The Facilities Division will be a division of Public Works. The Art Center, Pavilion, Activity Center, Depot Coffeehouse and Skate Park will be facilities of this division. The supervisors of these facilities would report to the Facilities Director. The Facilities Director will report to the Public Works Director. This will give the facilities a common . . supervisor and an organizational tie to PW. The Facilities Director will be at the same organizational level as the PW superintendents. The Facilities Director will report to the PW Director and function in the PW department just as PW Superintendents do now. This direct tie to PW addresses the maintenance concerns of the facility supervisors and also creates an organizational hierarchy for staff reporting. Facilities Director The position of Facilities Director will perform the supervisory function for the facilities of the division and also have the responsibility of the of the Art Center Facility Managers position. The Facility Director will divide time between the management of the Arts Center and the supervision of the Facilities Division. The time split will be 75% to the Art Center and 25% to the Facilities Division. . The 25% time allocation to the Facilities Division will consist of: · Facilities supervisor staff meetings · PW superintendent staff meetings · Facilities budget supervision · Maintenance coordination with PW · Communications, updates, team building among facilities and other City departments · Collaborations on enterprising and fundraising possibilities The Facilities Director will supervise and support the supervisors of each facility. These supervisors will continue to work as they have in the past, with the same level of responsibility. The Facilities Director will drive the objectives of improving communications, collaboration and cooperation by and between facilities and city departments. . Benefits of Facilities Division The benefits of a Facilities Division are short and long range. The short-range benefits include: · Improved Communication - Communications will improve quickly with the attention to a new division. The Facilities Director will work as the point person for communications, and cooperation among facilities personnel in sharing communications. · Improved Morale - The facilities personnel have felt on their own and not directly connected to City Hall or PW. This connection to the city as an organization will require the effort of facilities personnel and other department personnel. By improving communication, creating a division that promotes a common cause, and defining the facilities home in the organization, morale among facilities personnel will improve. Long range benefits include: · Improved revenue streams to facilities - By working together to provide rental space to groups, programming where space is available, collaborating on programs and fundraising (daytime trips/tours, seniors or teen arts programs, common newsletter, etc,), and utilizing four facilities supervisors to create enterprising ideas, revenues will improve. · Total expenses for the faciiities will increase at a lesser rate - There are opportunities to share employees saving hiring costs. Coordination of maintenance work with PW will delay the need to hire a mechanical maintenance person for the facilities. Advertising, newsletter, and promotion costs and duplication can be reduced. Budgetary Impacts There are no promotions or new hiring of personnel associated with the formation of a Facilities Division. The Art Center Facilities Manager will become the Facilities Director. The time needed to perform these new responsibilities will come from the time created by turning the Art Center programming and Board responsibilities, in the HCNHAAA reorganization, over to the Arts Coordinator. A portion of the Facilities Directors time will be charged to each facility. The allocation will be as follows: Facility % allocation of Facilities Dollar amount charged Director's Compensation to each facility Pavilion 10% $7,800 Activity Center 10% $7,800 DepoUSkate Park 5% $3,900 I TOTAL I 25% *$19,500 * Total relief to Art Center budget is $19,500. The total impact to the General Fund will be an increase of $15,600. The Art Center wiIJ see a decrease of $19,500 in personnel costs. Transition Timing The transition would take affect September 1, 2000. The time is right for this transition. The Depot is without their primary connection to the City with Jim Parson's resignation. The Depot has absorbed the Skate Park responsibility that is budgeted as a revenue producing facility. This revenue may offset the Facilities Directors expense against the Depot. The City is in negotiations with HAAA to reorganize the HAAlVArts Center relationship. The Facilities Director concept can be incorporated into the reorganization and hiring of the new Arts Coordinator. The Pavilion was under the direction of the Art Center Facility Manager in 1999. With all this transition taking place it appears to be an appropriate time to add a facilities division into the City of Hopkins organizational chart. . . .