DATE: June 3, 2026
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
FROM: Water Utilities Department
TITLE: RECLASSIFY AN EXISTING LABORATORY ASSISTANT POSITION TO LABORATORY TECHNICIAN, AND APPROPRIATE FUNDS
RECOMMENDATION
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Staff recommend that the City Council approve the reclassification of an existing authorized full-time benefited Laboratory Assistant position to a full-time benefited Laboratory Technician position in the Water Utilities Department, effective August 2, 2026, or upon the vacancy of the incumbent and approval of this item, and appropriate $14,025 from the Water and Sewer fund balance.
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BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS
The Water Utilities Department has one Laboratory Assistant and two Laboratory Technician positions. The Laboratory Assistant position will be vacated in late July due to an anticipated retirement. This notification of retirement has allowed staff the opportunity to review the duties of the position and future needs of the Department.
The Water Utilities Department's Laboratory team is the primary group responsible for analyses that provide process control data for the City's water and wastewater plants, as well as reportable data to comply with several regulatory permits. The duties for these positions have increased over the years due to the onboarding of the Pure Water plant, increasing regulatory requirements, and the adoption of new standards for laboratory certification. The Laboratory Assistant performs essential but less advanced tasks such as media preparation and the cleaning and sterilization of laboratory equipment.
Reclassifying the Laboratory Assistant to a Laboratory Technician will create a more robust team for the more complex duties necessary to keep the city in regulatory compliance and to better monitor the water from the treatment plants. Additionally, due to updated laboratory certification requirements, the quality assurance procedures have increased in frequency and complexity, outpacing the require...
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