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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil Workshop Minutes 04.14.2009MINUTES COUNCIL WORKSHOP APRIL 14, 2009 6:30 P.M. COUNCIL CHAMBERS A Council Workshop was held in the Council Chambers and called to order by Mayor Ken Olson at 6:30 p.m. on April 14, 2009. COUNCIL MEMBERS PRESENT: x Emetic Eaton Kate Hart _x Chuck Rodgers x Alex Wilkins _x Doug Poehls _x Mark Mace _x Chuck Dickerson Norm Stamper OTHERS PRESENT: Sam Painter Mary Embleton Bill Sheridan James Caniglia Rick Musson Derek Yeager Jan Faught Chad Hanson, Great West Engineering Public Input (three-minute limit): Citizens may address the Council regarding any item of City business not on the agenda. The duration for an individual speaking under Public Input is limited to three minutes. While all comments are welcome, the Council will not take action on any item not on the agenda. There was no public input. Laurel Urban Renewal Agency presentation Mayor Olson stated that the presentation by the Laurel Urban Renewal Agency would be rescheduled for the April 28"' council workshop. Fire Department: • Discussion --- Expansion of wildland fire boundaries Fire Chief Derek Yeager stated that an area south of Laurel, basically from Moser Dome Road to the Carbon County line in the south hills, used to be covered by the Duck Creek Fire Department, which recently disbanded its fire service. Yellowstone County is disseminating the protection responsibilities between the Laurel and Blue Creek Fire Departments. This area may become a part of Laurel's wild land fire area, and it does not include structures. Derek stated that it would be nine to twelve extra calls a year. While the calls are limited, sometimes the calls tend to be very large, multiple day events. Derek wanted the council to be aware of the future possibility. Reimbursement would probably be added to the existing Yellowstone County contract. Public Works Department: • Resolution -Accepting deed and easement for utility tract Certificate of Survey No. ; Chief Administrative Officer Bill Sheridan stated that the resolution deals with accepting a deed and easement for a utility tract Certificate of Survey for the 8t' Avenue project from Main to 9`" Street. It is for a retention pond that would be placed on property owned by Calvary Baptist Church. The resolution will be on the April 21 s` council agenda. Council Workshop Minutes of April 14, 2009 • Resolution - State of Montana Right-of-Way Agreements, 8 h Avenue - Main to 9`h - Laurel, PE Project STPU 6905(5) Bill stated that the resolutions are for right-of-way agreements for the St' Avenue project. The resolutions will be on the April 21" council agenda. • Resolution - Resolution clarifying the scope of Phase 2 of the Wastewater Project and establishing deadlines to complete the project Bill stated that timelines and the final scope of the project need to be established for the wastewater project. The resolution will be on the April 21St council agenda. • Resolution - Accepting the donation of a park bench dedicated to Gay Easton for Kiwanis Park. Bill stated that the resolution accepts the donation of a park table with benches from Gay Easton's family members. The table would be placed in Kiwanis Park and dedicated to Gay Easton. The resolution will be on the April 21" council agenda. Planning D artment: • Resolution- Annexation of right-of-way in front of 2057 East Maryland Lane City Planner James Caniglia stated that the annexation resolution is for the property that has been double-taxed for road maintenance by the city and the county. The resolution will annex all of the right-of-way on the south end of the property and relieve the property owner of the county taxation. The city will annex all of the right-of-way, as the county does not want the city just to annex to the center line, so the city will annex in the property to the south as well. The resolution will be on the April 21" council agenda. • Resolution - Accept contract with Jecyn Bremer and Sara Adamson for surveying and documentation of buildings and National Register nomination. James stated that the resolution is to accept a contract with Jecyn Bremer and Sara Adamson for surveying and documentation of buildings and National Register nomination. The contract is for the Preserve America Grant that Laurel was recently awarded. The city put out an RFP, and this applicant had great reviews from cities that have used their services. James stated that the National Register nomination process must be completed by March 2010, and work should start within the next month. The resolution will be on the April 21" council agenda. Clerk/Treasurer: • Resolutions - MMIA Interlocal Agreement/Program Documents Update Clerk/Treasurer Mary Embleton explained the five resolutions for the MMIA Interlocal Agreement/Program Documents update. MMIA, which stands for Montana Municipal Insurance Authority, realized that it is not an insurance company. They are part of an interlocal agreement, because cities are self-funded for the insurance plan. MMIA is changing its name to Montana Municipal Interlocal Authority. In order to do that, documents with all entities across the state need to be updated. The first resolution outlines the name change and the interlocal agreement. The remaining resolutions update the agreements for the Workers' Compensation Program, the Liability Program, the Property Program, and the Employee Benefits Program. Sam has reviewed the documents. The resolutions will be on the April 21' council agenda. 2 Council Workshop Minutes of April 14, 2009 • Resolution --- Adopt Administrative Cost Allocation System & Development of a Right-of- Way Rental Charge Mary explained the resolution to accept the administrative cost allocation system and development of the right-of-way rental charge document and to adopt the right-of-way rental charges for fiscal years 2009 and 2010. Miral Gamradt has addressed the auditors' finding regarding the method used to charge administrative charges back to the General Fund from funds that receive services from departments such as clerk/treasurer, mayor, council, administrative officer, city attorney. Those General Fund departments do work in water, sewer, garbage, and streets. The city contracted with Miral Gamradt last July to review that, and he provided a system that generated less revenue back to the General Fund than prior methods did. Miral suggested the right-of-way rental charges to give the General Fund more flexibility. The resolution would formally adopt the document and states that the city will commit to the first two years of the proposed right-of-way charges back to the General Fund. The first year is $125,000 and the second year is $175,000. The Budget/Finance Committee reviewed the proposal at last week's meeting. The resolution will be on the April 21" council agenda. Chief Administrative Officer: • Street Stabilization Program Chad Hanson, Great West Engineering, stated that the street maintenance project will be advertised in tomorrow's Laurel Outlook and in the Billings Times on Thursday. The bid opening is scheduled on May 6th, a recommendation to award will be presented at the council workshop on May 12th, a resolution to award the bid will be presented at the council meeting on May 19th, and the work could start around June 1St. Working with the available budget, the project will include chip sealing of thirty to thirty-five blocks, significant patching for alligator cracking, potholes, and crack sealing, and then chip sealing the improved streets. A map of the proposed project will be available soon. Executive review: • Proclamation- Municipal Clerks Week, May 3-9,2009 Mayor Olson stated that the proclamation will be on the April 21" council agenda. • Appointment: Yellowstone Conservation District Board - Emelie Eaton Mayor Olson stated that the appointment will be on the April 21 St council agenda. He thanked Emelie for her willingness to serve on the board. • Discussion - Annexation of Riverside Park Mayor Olson stated that, with the recommendation from the Planning Board, further discussion and public input are needed regarding the proposed annexation of Riverside Park. Mayor Olson will meet with James Canigha to discuss the different facets of this issue. A public hearing will be scheduled and entities and individuals will be given an opportunity for input. • Authorization to request quotes for health insurance Mary distributed copies of the MMIA Employee Benefits Program preliminary rate information and explained the pool in which the city participates. Almost five years ago, the city joined a statewide, self-funded pool for employee benefits. Cities and towns pooled their resources and became funded for health insurance. The five-year commitment will expire on June 30`h and then renewals will be annual. The benefit program preliminary rates are zero percent increase for the city's custom plan. The custom plan started out as the Blue Select Plan through Blue Cross and became the Laurel Custom Plan through MMIA. MMIA has included several enhancements. MM1A is promoting wellness and have included wellness benefits, such as free screening for mammograms and 3 Council Workshop Minutes of April 14, 2009 colonoscopies. The preventive maintenance type benefits are offered free of charge for all plan participants. The document explains the premium calculations, which are based on two levels. First, how the pool has done as a whole and, second, how each entity has done within the pool. It is a two- tiered calculation methodology to come up with the City of Laurel's rates. Laurel's Custom Plan is rated upon the experience of that plan within the pool. MMIA offers four additional plans and employees throughout the pool can choose any one of the plans. Laurel employees have the benefit of staying with the custom plan or choosing one of the other four plans. The custom plan experienced a zero percent increase, and the four other plans experienced a 31/2 percent decrease in the medical premium. The dental and vision premiums remain the same. It is unusual to see a rate decrease. The document provided a description of benefits, which Mary reviewed briefly. Laurel's Custom Plan is a hybrid of an HMO because there are co-payments and no deductible. The maximum out-of-pocket is $2,000 per individual and $4,000 per family, with a lifetime maximum of $5 million. The dental and vision plans were reviewed briefly. Mary explained MMIA's four other plans: the Bridger Plan is a standard plan with a deductible and an 80/20 plan; the Madison Plan is a 70/30 plan; the Mission Plan is a 60/40 plan; and the High Deductible Health Plan is eligible for a Health Savings Account for individuals. If the city chose to go shopping for health insurance, all of this information would need to be incorporated into a request for proposal so that potential bidders could submit appropriate bids. The city would have to advertise requests for proposals. The union contract says that the city has to keep the health insurance similar to the current plan. Mary stated that it would be fairly labor intensive. The city would have to provide statistical information on its losses and claims history, the premiums paid over the last couple years, and a census. All of this information would have to be prepared, proposals done, advertised, and then the proposals would be reviewed and a recommendation presented to the council. Mary stated that MMIA established a policy that an entity cannot return to the pool for three years once it decides to leave the pool. It is the council's decision as to whether or not to shop for health insurance. There was discussion regarding possible rate increases, reductions, and the current 11 percent trend for rate increases. Mary explained the advantage of being in a pool. She said that the statistics speak for themselves with MMIA's pooling concept because cities and towns are self-insured with workers' comp, liability, property, and employee benefits. The whole concept of pooling cities and towns resources together to be self-insured is that there is power in numbers and reduced costs. MMIA is working hard on a wellness program and monitoring the different aspects of the health plan to see where costs can be reduced. Pooling has worked very well with workers' comp, liability, property, and employee benefits. The zero percent rate increase statewide for all entities is a good track record. Mayor Olson opened the discussion by department heads and the public. No department heads spoke. Jason Wells, 147 Stillwater Loop in Columbus, spoke regarding the health insurance issue. Jason is the union president for Local 303 and has been a city employee for eleven years. He stated that he came to the council today as the union president on behalf of the police union to ask that the council open up for bids for insurance. He stated that they are very thankful for the insurance that the city provides and it is a great benefit. However, they would ask that there be some bids to open up to compare to MMIA so they would be able to make a better decision and have more opportunities to see what is available. It may be that MMIA is currently the best bid, and they would be happy to stay with that. Jason stated that he is a member of the Insurance Committee, which will be addressed during this meeting. He stated that they would just really like the council to put it out there to find out what bids are available. Currently, the city has a cap so the maximum liability out of the city's pocket is already there. For a family, the cap is $1,100 and the premium is $1,321. That money is out-of- 4 Council Workshop Minutes of April 14, 2009 pocket to employees, and the employees in his shop are asking to see if there is something cheaper that could help eliminate that cost and still keep the same benefit. Jason asked the council to consider asking for bids for other insurance companies. He personally contacted other insurance companies who are willing to give that bid. Emelie asked regarding the timeframe. Mary stated that the renewal date is July 1 St, and open enrollment is from May 15th to June 15th. Open enrollment allows employees to make changes in their plan and coverage. This year, the MMIA chose to set the final rates in the first week of May, prior to open enrollment, in order to give the cities and towns in Montana the opportunity to make the open enrollment choices they need. In the past, open enrollment was held in May to June, but final rates were not available until July 1 ". Mary stated that time is of the essence now. There was discussion regarding the process to prepare the RFP. The RFP would be advertised for two consecutive weeks, give time for potential bidders to prepare their bids, have a bid opening, review the bids, make a recommendation at a council workshop, and then present the final recommendation to council. The process could take six to eight weeks. Alex Wilkins asked regarding the nationwide average of 11 percent, and the rate increase versus the out-of-pocket expense. There was further discussion regarding rates and percentages. Jason stated that the union would like the opportunity to have bids so the Insurance Committee could review them because it is out-of-pocket money. MMIA may be the best deal out there, but that is not known unless the city gets the bids. He petitioned that the council would look at that. Jason stated that they actually have been asking for quite some time and do realize that there is a time constraint. Alex asked if the out-of-pocket expense is negotiable with MMIA. Mary stated that MMIA provides five options for employees. Mary stated that is a union negotiated issue. The city negotiated with the unions that they would pay a maximum of $1,100 premium for a family plan or an employee/spouse plan and $700 maximum premium for an employee with a child or a single employee plan. In the last two or three years, the premium has been over the maximum so that employees have to contribute. Otherwise, the city paid the whole premium. There had not been an opportunity to shop because of the five-year commitment to MMIA. Jason stated that employees have paid out-of-pocket a minimum of three years, possibly four. At one point, the city paid 100 percent of the insurance premium. Through negotiations, it was negotiated with the unions that they would put a cap on the city's part. With the union accepting the cap paid by the city, it would have input through an insurance committee to decide what kind of insurance they would have because the employee paid the amount of premium over the cap. Since city employees have been paying over that cap, they are asking for the ability to have some say to recommend to the council for final decision. Chuck asked if there have been any comparisons done regarding premiums with other cities and towns. Jason stated that there has not been any comparison with other cities. Depending on the wage package of the contracts that were negotiated, it would be hard to compare city to city. 5 Council Workshop Minutes of April 14, 2009 There was further discussion. Emelie Eaton and Chuck Dickerson requested that a resolution to request quotes for health insurance be presented at the council meeting on April 20. Mayor Olson stated that the resolution would be on the agenda. • Insurance Committee restructure Mayor Olson stated that the city is trying to have a representation of all entities involved. Right now, there is a representation from the two unions and a non-union representative. He questioned if that is an equal representation. Mayor Olson proposed representation of two from Local 316, two from Local 303, two non-union representatives, and two council members. That would comprise a body of eight to conduct the business of the Insurance Committee. This committee would function better and would be a recommending body to the council. A proposal to that effect has been presented to the two unions, and a meeting will be set up for further discussion. If a council member wants to serve on the committee, please notify Mayor Olson. • Council Issues: o Staff CPR training (Chuck Dickerson) Chuck suggested the need for CPR training for the city staff. Mayor Olson stated that Bill Sheridan could look into the possibility of providing the training. o Centennial Committee - Shadowbox in City Hall (Emelie Eaton) Mayor Olson stated that a shadowbox was recently installed in the main entrance to city hall. The shadowbox, which is a showcase of the work and effort done by the Centennial Committee, was built by Dennis Eaton. Mayor Olson expressed appreciation for his work. Emelie Eaton spoke regarding the process of the project. Dennis Eaton arrived at the meeting during this discussion. Mayor Olson told him that the council was discussing his craft, which shows appreciative value to his talents. Mayor Olson asked him to explain some of the intricacies of the project and share some of the moments involved with its creation. Dennis stated that he was late for a meeting and was volunteered to do the project. The project started out as a 2t/z x 3-foot box, grew to its present size, and could still be enlarged to include memorabilia from the railroad, the fire department, and other items. The box could be enlarged with wings on the sides and the top. Dennis created the shadowbox as a museum piece with character to display the historic items. The brass pieces were handmade and the lights on the top are made of quarter-inch tubing. Steve Kops at Main Street EFX will provide a disc of pictures to run in the digital photo frame inside the box. Dennis stated that it was a fun project. Mayor Olson expressed appreciation for the beautifully crafted addition to city hall. The council acknowledged Dennis for his work. Other items Police Chief Rick Musson spoke regarding a COPS Grant that was submitted today. The grant would provide 100 percent of an officer's wages and benefit package for three years, which would be a total of $210,000. The competitive grant should be awarded by September 2009. The City of Laurel's grant application was for one additional police officer. If Laurel is awarded the grant, council approval will be needed to accept the grant. Bill Sheridan explained a resolution for Change Order No. 2 with Dick Anderson Construction for the project at the water treatment plant. Additional work and materials were needed at a cost increase of 6 Council Workshop Minutes of April 14, 2009 $8,979.47. There is also a reduction in cost of $38,000. The resolution will be on the April 21St council agenda. Mayor Olson spoke regarding the COPS Grant application. He stated that the grant would provide Federal monies for the first three years, and the city would be obligated to provide the wage and benefits package for the fourth year. There would be no additional requirements after the fourth year. Review of draft council agenda for April 21, 2009 A resolution to request quotes for health insurance will be added to the council agenda. Attendance at the April 21 2009 council meeting All present will attend. Announcements Doug Poehls stated that there would be no Emergency Services Committee meeting on April 27th Chuck Dickerson stated that the contractor did a good job with the curb cut replacements. Alex Wilkins was impressed when he visited the Veterans' Cemetery recently. Chuck Rodgers reminded everyone of the Arbor Day Celebration on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. Emelie Eaton mentioned that Kate Hart and Doug Poehls are scheduled to speak at the Arbor Day Celebration. Emelie asked regarding the dates for citywide cleanup in the City of Laurel. Mayor Olson stated that last year's Centennial Cleanup event was a great success. This year's event will encompass the city limits, not the county residents. Emelie requested a discussion about the financial plans for the paid fire chief and a fire hall on the next council workshop agenda. Chuck Dickerson will attend a Bright `N Beautiful meeting on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. He will find out the date for the Great American Cleanup and provide minutes from the meetings. Mayor Olson stated that the process for the administrative cost allocation system and the right-of-way fees will provide a mechanism to help the General Fund absorb some of the added cost for different things, including a full-time fire chief. Miral Gamradt was looking at a tool necessary for a community to grow when he put the proposal together. There will be further discussion at the April 28u' council workshop. Larry Tanglen, Laurel Outlook, stated that the dates for the cleanup are May 2nd and 3rd. There was a story about the event in the Laurel Outlook about a month ago. There will be a follow-up story and interview with Vi Hills in tomorrow's issue. The council workshop adjourned at 8:01 p.m. 7 Council Workshop Minutes of April 14, 2009 Respectfully submitted, Cindy Allen Council Secretary NOTE: This meeting is open to the public. This meeting is for information and discussion of the Council for the listed workshop agenda items. 8