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| Wednesday,
March 5, 2008 Todd County Board of Commissioners-Work Session MIS needs more help as demands grow by Karin L. Nauber As technology changes and our reliance on it grows, the demands for people to keep it operating smoothly increase as well. Currently the Management of Information Systems (MIS) department consists of three people: Administrator Chris Pelzer and two other employees. These three are responsible for basically all of the technology from the computer systems to the telephones for the county offices. They handle the technology for 13 departments in seven locations on 218 systems and 13 servers. Pelzer was at the work session to let the commissioners know that they were becoming reactive instead of proactive. Meaning, they only have enough time to react to problems as they come up, not prevent problems before they happen. Pelzer told the board that her office is working to create efficiencies within the departments, but the demands for her and her staff's time are high. "We are a 24-7 office," noted Pelzer. She said that she had the money in her 2008 budget to hire another person. Commissioner David Kircher said, "No criticism intended, but if we were to hire another staff, could we dedicate them to updating the website and keeping it current?" Pelzer said that they could certainly do that because updating the site would be a big undertaking. She also said that there are many projects sitting on the back burner because there is not enough time. She added that there needs to be effort from the other departments to keep it updated. Kircher, getting back to the question of hiring another staff person, said that the county is on a hiring freeze and Pelzer would need to show the need and if there was money for the hire. Pelzer said she has over 300 hours of comp time accumulated and had to forfeit about 20 hours of vacation because she didn't have time to use it. Human Resources Director Karla Nalzney said there has been some overtime used by the MIS department and stated that Pelzer has well over 200-300 hours of comp time. Pelzer asked for permission to bring a board action to the meeting on March 4 so they can give her a decision as soon as possible. Pelzer added that she has explored other avenues such as hiring someone from the work force center, but with training and the positions being temporary they needed something more permanent. Public Works Public Works Director Loren Fellbaum presented information about old Highway 10 that runs through Staples. The Minnesota Department of Transportation had sent Fellbaum a letter about the turnback of 10 with three options outlined. Fellbaum said that option 2 was probably the most likely of options. That option would have the city of Staples take ownership of old Highway 10 at the completion of the turnback reconstruction project. That would make the roadway no longer part of the State Aid Highway system. If this option is chosen, it gives MnDOT the ability to use their turnback account for the reconstruction of old Highway 10. These funds are administered the same as County State Aid funds. Fellbaum said he was looking to the board for direction. Kircher said he would like to wait until Commissioner Mark Blessing could be at the meeting since this is in his area. (Blessing had been at the meeting, but another commitment forced him to leave early). Kircher said he would like to wait for the city of Staples to make their decision. Administrator Position Kircher said that he had contacted the county's labor attorney, but that she was not able to attend the meeting. He said that the county should evaluate job descriptions for the administrator position and other department heads. "If we want to move forward, we need to look at job descriptions," he said. He would like to have the labor attorney at the meeting when they do that. Currently, Nalzney said she is working on department head evaluation forms. They will further discuss evaluations during the meeting on March 4. |