Development Services Review. Final Report. Zucker July 2016

87. Recommendation: The Senior Civil Engineer should provide training to Engineering Aides as necessary to insure that information provided to customers at the public counter is accurate and consistent. We have often witnessed that many customers will automatically seek access to a high ranking individual in the organization when the nature of their inquiry could have been answered without the need to interrupt a highly compensated professional. The likelihood of this interruption occurring is increased when the configuration of the office space makes these professionals readily visible in the line of sight from customers at the public counter. The Senior Civil Engineer should evaluate the current office configuration to determine if modifications can be made to remove engineering staff from the direct line-of-sight of the public counter. 88. Recommendation: The Senior Engineer should identify a way to remove his Engineer’s workspace from the direct line-of-sight of the public counter. We endorsed the process of assigning an “Engineer of the Day” as a method of reducing interruptions to other staff, however, it appears that the designated person may not always be available on their designated day. Staff reports that the Public Counter hours start at 8:00 am but frequently the assigned Engineer does not report to work until 9:00 am. This practice requires that either the customer wait until the assigned Engineer arrives or the work of another Engineer must be interrupted to support the counter. 89. Recommendation: The Senior Engineer should insure that the designated “Engineer of the Day” is available to assist customers when the counter opens. Design Specifications The City of Morgan Hill has established a comprehensive list of design standards for developers to follow that are unique to the City. In some cases, these current standards need to be updated. We encourage staff to always have current design standards available to the public through the website. Using the same argument stated under the Building Division section, we encourage jurisdiction to strive for consistency among other jurisdictions in the region. In many parts of California communities adopt a standardized set of public works design specifications that are enforced throughout a county. One of the benefits to such an approach is that all designers in the area are using the same set of standards so they are very familiar with the requirements that E. P OLICY I SSUES

Morgan Hill, California

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Zucker Systems