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County leaders will consider several options for switching most county services to a four-day work week during a Committee of the Board meeting next month.
A Task Force was formed about a year ago to explore the possibility of changing to the shorter work week -- whether it will save much in energy costs and whether county employees are keen on the idea.
And even though the Task Force found that there won’t be much in energy savings, it will bring four options for the shorter work week to the board at its committee meeting on February 10. The options include:
• Four 10-hour days with offices open from 7 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday;
• Four 9.5-hour days with offices open from 7:30 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday;
• Four nine-hour days with offices open from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.; and
• A “cafeteria plan” in which county offices would be open from 7 a.m. until 5:30 p.m., but employees could choose whether they wanted to work nine- or ten-hour days.
The state currently doesn’t allow the county to hold these kinds of hours, with operations shut down on Fridays save for emergency services and the state-linked Courthouse. If county commissioners decide to go with the plans and close up shop on Fridays, they’ll first have to seek special legislation from the state to proceed.
“In terms of energy it doesn’t seem to be a huge savings,” said County Administrator Bob Reinert of switching to the four-day week. While the move would pare back heating and cooling costs with offices closed for three-day weekends, Reinert admitted, “It’s not millions of dollars.” He said he’d reveal the results of preliminary estimates on cost savings when the County Board considers the idea in February.
But the advantage of such a move, said Reinert, could also come through savings for employees who won’t have to drive to work on Fridays. And, said Reinert, having offices open until 5:30 p.m. rather than the current 4:30 p.m. closing time could mean added convenience to county residents, too.
That potential advantage will be weighed against the potential inconvenience that a closed county on Fridays could mean to county residents. Reinert said that while county employees were surveyed on the switch with mixed results, there hasn’t been an effort yet to gather public input.
Rather than spend thousands on some sort of survey or study to glean public input on the plans, Reinert said that board members may ask for more information from the public through some added study, or through a public hearing, which isn’t currently required.
And Reinert said that any savings, even when they’re not millions, helps. “We’re looking at how we can cut back to meet the reductions from the state in ways that will be least egregious to the public and to employees,” he said. “This isn’t the end-all or best solution. It’s just a solution.”
County office addition
The new four-day week could come in stride with a $5.3 million building addition to the county’s Third Street office. Last week commissioners interviewed firms for architectural and engineering designs for the addition, which would house Community Health, Vital Statistics and Veterans Services.
Commissioners chose the low bidder Klein McCarthy Architects of St. Louis Park, Minn. The first phase of the project will cost the county about $244,000 in preliminary designs.
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