Thursday is moving day at Brainerd City Hall, as employees will be moving work areas in an effort to streamline operations.
City Administrator Jim Thoreen told the Brained City Council Monday night about the plans to move employees around, which he said will hopefully increase connections and communications among employees.
"It will allow us to do cross-training, get coworkers in closer proximity to one another for internal purposes," Thoreen said. "I think it goes hand-in-hand with the continuous improvement initiative we've undertaken."
City hall staff had been contemplating the move for about a month, Thoreen said, and he had been working with all the department heads and affected employees on the layout. It was important for everyone to understand the reasons behind the move, he said.
City staff will continue to provide services to citizens who may need them during the move, Thoreen said, which is estimated to take the entire day Thursday. Some moving might spill over into Friday, he said, but it depends on how things go Thursday.
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The council previously had adopted a budget for 2016 which included $30,000 for improvements in information technology at city hall, Thoreen said. Any costs which may be incurred from the move will be covered by that, he said, and those costs are estimated to be $2,000-$3,000. Those expenses will be for things like new pieces of furniture and wiring.
Many employees currently on the third floor will move down to the second floor, and vice versa, Thoreen said. City Engineer Jeff Hulsether will be moving from his office on the third floor down to one on the second floor. He commented Monday night he had been in his current office since about 1992.
This is a big change, Thoreen said, which is challenging. It'll take time for employees to become familiar with the new layout, he said, but emphasized no one's job duties were changing because of the move.
Starting Friday, the following citizen services will be available on the third floor of city hall: building permits, questions on zoning, rental housing inspections, various business licenses and dog licenses.
SPENSER BICKETT may be reached at 218-855-5859 or spenser.bickett@brainerddispatch.com . Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/spenserbickett .
