(March 25)  The county has entered into a contract with the city of Big Bear Lake’s former associate planner to have her serve as a contract employee to do consultant work to the county’s land use services division with regard to the formulation of portions of its general plan update.
Siri Eggebraten has been provided with an 18-month contract that will pay her $165,000  in total salary and  $9,000 in expenses over the year-and-a-half term of her contract, according to county land use services department director Tom Hudson . He said Eggebraten  is being brought in “to provide consulting services to the Land Use Services Department as a general plan update project manager, for the period of April 9, 2014 through October 9, 2015. Ms. Eggebraten will work full-time (not-to-exceed 80-hours per two-week pay period) on supporting the preparation of the general plan update for eighteen months for the period of April 9, 2014 through October 9, 2015, at an hourly rate of $50.00, plus local travel-related expenses. At the end of the eighteen-month period, her work on the first phase of the general plan update is expected to be completed and her contract will expire.”
According to Hudson, “The county is moving into a new era of community-based planning. Fourteen  community plans and the county general plan will be updated starting this fiscal year. Due to the dramatic changes in the economy, technologies, environment, regulatory standards and society, the land use services department anticipates a substantially new approach to both the general plan and community plans updates. Ms. Eggebraten is highly skilled in community development, advanced planning and community outreach. She has worked as a public planner in the San Bernardino County region for many years and knows the region well. Her abilities in community development research, public presentations, outreach, and advanced planning are well suited to the approach the department proposes for the general plan and community plans updates. She has a long history of success in community development projects, public communications and planning tools. Her breadth of rural experience combined with her knowledge of San Bernardino County and organizational skills in supporting consultant collaborations make her ideally suited for this senior project support role.”
As a contract employee, Eggebraten will not be eligible for benefits, including pension set-asides or medical coverage provided to county employees. Hudson said the county was getting a good deal through the contractual arrangement.
“If the county was to hire Ms. Eggebraten (or someone else with her years of expertise) as a third-party consultant to perform this work, the approximate cost would be $130 per hour, plus expenses. The financial savings in hiring her as a contract employee exceeds $249,000 per the period of the contract.”