Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Operations Committee - 12/02/2014 OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MINUTES November 18, 2014 Committee Members Present: Les Thomas, Chair and Dana Ralph. Bill Boyce-Excused Absence The meeting was called to order by L. Thomas at 4:00 p.m. He noted that B. Boyce had given prior consent to each item listed below. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES DATED OCTOBER 21, 2014. D. Ralph moved to approve the Operations Committee minutes dated October 21, 2014. L. Thomas seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. 2. APPROVAL OF CHECK SUMMARY REPORT DATED 10/31/2014. D. Ralph moved to approve the check summary report dated 10/31/14. L. Thomas seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. 3. PREMERA BLUE CROSS ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES CONTRACT. K. Endicott, a Human Resource Analyst for the City, informed committee members that Premera Blue Cross is a third party administrator that takes care of the City’s PPO network, hospital and doctor visits. The City has a three-year contract with them and a 0% increase for 2015 and 2016 but a 3% increase in 2017, making the total increase in administrative fees $510,000. L. Thomas also mentioned that the City has had this contract with Premera Blue Cross for many years; consequently it has been discussed many times, which is why it may seem the committee rushed through discussion. D. Ralph moved to recommend the Premera Blue Cross Administrative Services Contract be placed on the City Council Consent Calendar for the December 9, 2014 meeting. L. Thomas seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. 4. DELTA DENTAL OF WASHINGTON ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES CONTRACT. K. Endicott stated that the City has been in contract with Delta Dental of Washington, a third party administrator, since 2009. The City has a three-year contract with an approximate 8.5% increase in administrative fees for 2015 and no increase in 2016 and 2017. D. Ralph moved to recommend the 2015 Delta Dental of Washington Administrative Services Contract be placed on the City Council Consent Calendar for the December 9, 2014 meeting. L. Thomas seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. 5. STOP LOSS – INFORMATION ONLY. B. Fowler, the Benefits Manager with the Human Resources Department, presented a contract with Lifewise Assurance Company. Anything above $200,000 in claims by an employee in one year is covered by our Stop Loss carrier. As this contract is about to go out for bid, it will not move forward to Council in December but will be put in place by January 1, 2015. D. Ralph clarified that this contract would cover an employee and/or dependents if something catastrophic happened and the claims they submit for doctor or emergency hospital visits that exceed $200,000 will be covered. Operations Committee Minutes November 18, 2014 Page: 2 6. VISION SERVICE PLAN ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES CONTRACT. B. Fowler informed the committee that the contract with Vision Service Plan (VSP) has been extended to add the year 2017 with no rate increase. She went on to say that she wanted the contracts with Premera, Delta Dental and VSP to end the same year because the City will be going out with an RFP in 2017. It’s better if all contracts are open at the same time. It was clarified by D. Ralph that with these contracts being open in 2017 the City will be able to better negotiate once there is clearer understanding of how potential changes can impact the way benefits are provided with Affordable Healthcare in 2018. D. Ralph moved to recommend the Vision Service Plan Administrative Services Contract be placed on the City Council Consent Calendar for the December 9, 2014 meeting. L. Thomas seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. 7. GROUP HEALTH COOPERATIVE 2015 CONTRACT. B. Fowler presented the 2015 Group Health Cooperative contract (HMO plan) that is offered to employees. Currently, there are approximately 46 employees and family members on this plan, which will see a 2.86% rate increase. Required by law, the City offers two different carriers - Group Health Cooperative and Premera Blue Cross. D. Ralph moved to recommend the Group Health Cooperative 2015 Contract be placed on the City Council Consent Calendar for the December 9, 2014 meeting. L. Thomas seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. 8. BANKING SERVICES RFP – INFORMATION ONLY. A. BeMiller, the Finance Director, the City is in the process of drafting a proposal for Banking Services which is necessary to come up to City Code. For the last 10 years, the City has been operating under an expired contract. The plan is to have the proposal to go out for bid in mid-January and have a selection made for Council’s consideration in May or early June. 9. RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING INVESTMENT OF AVAILABLE MONIES IN LOCAL GOVERNMENT INVESTMENT POOL. A. BeMiller clarified that this is a housekeeping resolution put out by the State to ensure that those who use the Local Government Investment Pool (“LGIP”) understand the rules and how it works. To date, Kent has $87 million invested in the LGIP with an annual return that varies from 1 to 1.2%. As the City moves forward there will be an effort to look into other investment options. D. Ralph moved to recommend approval the adoption of the Resolution Authorizing Investment of Available Monies in Local Government Investment Pool. L. Thomas seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. 10. AUGUST FINANCIAL PACKET – INFORMATION ONLY. It was suggested and agreed upon to skip August and discuss September’s Financial Packet. 11. SEPTEMBER FINANCIAL PACKET – INFORMATION ONLY. A. BeMiller covered the summary of September’s Financial Report. Using information available through September, ending fund balance is estimated to increase by $5.6 million and at the end of the year at $14.7 million, which includes: General Fund reserves of $11.4 million, or 15.5%, Contingency for Unanticipated Costs of $1.5 million and $1.8 million restricted for annexation. In addition, there is currently $424,000 in the Strategic Opportunities Fund. Overall revenues are currently coming in about $3.3 million, or 4.3% above budget. Sales Tax continues a steady positive trend, averaging a 4.8% increase over 2013 collections. Year-end projection Operations Committee Minutes November 18, 2014 Page: 3 is expected to exceed budget by $1.5 million or 7.2%. Revenue from building Permits and Plan Check Fees are exceeding projections, currently running nearly $1.3 million above budget, or 32.4%. Expenditures in all categories, except Cost Allocations, are currently trending about $2.7 million below budget, or 3.3%. Due to a change in methodology for allocating General Fund, the costs allocated to other funds and projects has been reduced by $1.5 million. Overall expenditures are expected to end the year $2.4 million below budget or 3.2%. 12. PUGET SOUND EMERGENCY RADIO NETWORK INTERLOCAL AGREEMENTS. T. Brubaker, the City Attorney, reported that currently cities in King County use different radio frequencies to communicate in an emergency. This makes communication difficult with neighboring cities when there is a regional emergency. This is why there is now a push to create a county wide network. The bond is projected to be between $225-250 million and will be funded by a Levy Lid Lift which is expected to go to the voters in April of 2015. Two agreements were discussed. The first is for the implementation period which is composed of working with the vendor to construct of the hardware and software to create the network. It is estimated to take about five years for the network to be operational. The second is the operational agreement which will determine how the network will be operated once it is created. The whole operation is contingent upon the vote. If it passes, the bond will pay for new equipment but once in place, there will be an annual fee paid to ValleyCom. D. Ralph moved to recommend Council authorize the Mayor to sign the Implementation Period Interlocal Agreement and the Operational Interlocal Cooperative Agreement for the Puget Sound Emergency Radio Network Interlocal Agreements. L. Thomas seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. The Committee also asked that this topic be placed under Other Business at the Council Meeting. 13. TW TELECOM, INC. APPROVAL OF MERGER ORDINANCE Recently, the City issued a franchise to tw telecom inc. to extend fiber throughout our streets. They are merging with a company called Level 3 Communications, Inc. and are requesting approval of this merger as required by law. T. Brubaker clarified that there are no financial implications to the City. D. Ralph moved to recommend adoption of an Ordinance acknowledging the merger of tw telecom inc. and Level 3 Communications, Inc. and approve the resulting indirect change of control of the tw telecom of washington llc telecommunications. L. Thomas seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. The meeting was adjourned at 4:26 p.m. by L. Thomas. ___________________ Annalise LaPorte Operations Committee Secretary