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player ready...Oswego is looking to bring on three more village employees, plus a full-time facilities manager, due to the town’s growth, officials said.
The Village Board will discuss the issue Jan. 10.
Oswego Village Administrator Dan Di Santo recently presented a staffing analysis that recommended the hiring of two full-time Public Works technicians and a police officer in the village to keep up with a “rising demand” for services in a growing community.
Staff also recommended the village phase out an intergovernmental agreement with Yorkville and convert a shared facilities manager position to a full-time post in Oswego.
“We are an incredibly fast-growing community and with that brings the challenges of making sure our staff keeps pace with the population growth in terms of infrastructure and customer service demands,” Di Santo said in his report to trustees.
Staff originally presented the request to add two Public Works technicians and a police officer at a budget workshop last spring.
While at that time the village board approved both budget requests, trustees directed staff to return to the board later for final authorization due to “uncertainty with the economy and its impact on village finances,” Di Santo said.
The village currently has 123 full-time employees. The village’s staffing levels peaked prior to the recession in 2009 with 134 full-time employees, Di Santo said. The village dropped to a low point from 2010 to 2013 with 110 full-time positions.
The village has a series of high-priority needs including Public Works technicians and police officers, he said.
Municipalities comparable to Oswego have “dedicated facilities technicians” to maintain village-owned buildings, Di Santo said.
However in Oswego, technicians are taken off their duties in streets, forestry and utilities whenever there is a need concerning village-owned buildings, he said.
Neighboring Yorkville recently hired a facilities technician and has seen immediate improvement in the maintenance of its facilities, according to Di Santo.
Oswego’s water and sewer infrastructure has increased considerably over the past 13 years, and demands on the system continue to increase, he said. In addition, the village is planning to switch over to Lake Michigan for its drinking water supply.
“The move to Lake Michigan water includes higher standards of maintenance that would benefit from more staff,” Di Santo said.
The village has four technicians assigned to the Utilities Division and there is justification for seven technicians, he said. The addition of one utilities technician would help the village be able to keep pace with backlogged tasks, including flushing dead-end water mains and repairing service line valves, he said.
As far as hiring an additional police officer, the village’s goal is to return to a force of 53 sworn officers over the next year, as it had in 2009, according to Di Santo.
“When there was a reduction in force, the village didn’t hire any new police officers for a decade,” he said.
The village currently has 51 police officers.
The final position that may be added is a full-time facilities manager. Oswego and Yorkville have shared a facilities manager since 2018, Di Santo said. He said the partnership has been a great success and allowed both communities access to a “key position” at a time when there was no justification for a full-time position in both towns, he said.
Staff from both communities recommended the shared services agreement be phased out, as Yorkville is in the process of opening a new combination Village Hall and police station and has plans to develop a new Public Works facility, Di Santo said.
“Both towns have greatly benefitted from this position but we have both outgrown the position,” Di Santo said.
The recommendation is to have the intergovernmental agreement extended to April to allow Yorkville to complete its facilities and hire their own full-time facilities manager.
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Di Santo said Oswego has a $3.8 million surplus in the general fund and $1 million surplus in the water fund to help pay for the additional employees.
“In terms of being able to afford this, we are in very good shape,” he said.
Village President Troy Parlier recommended trustees approve the added personnel.
“Since most of this was already put into the budget and the cost is covered, I think we should move forward with the additions of personnel,” Parlier said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.