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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Operations Committee - 11/21/2017Operations Committee Minutes Approved December 5, 2017 Page 1 of 4 Date: November 21, 2017 Time: 4:00 p.m. Place: Chambers East Attending: Bill Boyce and Dana Ralph, Chair; Les Thomas was running late Agenda: 1. Call to Order. 2. Roll Call. 3. Changes to the Agenda. There were no changes to the agenda. 4. Approval of Check Summary Reports dated 10/16/17 thru 10/31/17. B. Boyce moved to approve the check summary report dated 10/16/17 thru 10/31/17. D. Ralph seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. 5. Approval of Meeting Minutes dated November 7, 2017. B. Boyce moved to approve the Operations Committee meeting minutes dated November 7, 2017. D. Ralph seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. 6. Temporary Term Limited Positions - Recommend. Public Works Director Tim LaPorte asked for reauthorization to extend 10 temporary term limited positions in order to prevent the loss of qualified staff. These positions were previously approved by Council in March 2016 and are due to expire March 2018. The use of TLT positions are a benefit to the City, reasoning includes:  the Public Works department has 59 consultant contracts in place for existing and ongoing work. Consultant rates are approximately three times the rate for city permanent or part time staff,  the City occasionally uses these temporary employments as a recruiting opportunity when a permanent vacancy is created through normal attrition, and  due to the robust amount of construction activity in Kent and the Puget Sound area it is difficult to attract and retain qualified staff for this work product. It was reported that there would not be an effect on the general fund because these positions are only allowed to be charged to council authorized and budgeted capital projects. Operations Committee Minutes Approved December 5, 2017 Page 2 of 4 B. Boyce moved to recommend Council authorize the Mayor to fill 10 term limited positions to be charged to capital projects in the Public Works Department for a two year time period expiring in March 2020. D. Ralph seconded the motion, which passed 2-0. 7. 2018 State Legislative Agenda – Recommend. Economic and Community Development Manager Michelle Wilmot and Legislative Lobbyist Doug Levy recommended moving forward the proposed 2018 Legislative Agenda. Kent partners with the State in the delivery of critical services such as criminal justice, community and human services, flood protection and other services. Kent’s 2018 priorities in the upcoming session include:  the protection of Streamlined Sales Tax payments and other state- shared revenues, with a combined annual impact of approximately $10 million;  providing needed infrastructure improvements necessary to help secure a YMCA facility in Kent;  retaining the jobs and economic benefits derived by the presence of the corporate headquarters of Blue Origin; and  Kent’s Law Department brought to attention on how to process a deceased employee’s last paycheck. L. Thomas moved to recommend Council to approve a motion establishing Kent’s legislative priorities for the State Legislature in 2018. B. Boyce seconded the motion, which passed 3-0. 8. Technology contract for software and hardware upgrade - Recommend. Information Technology Director Mike Carrington and Technical Services Manager James Endicott explained the need to purchase an IT Service Desk Solution and made a request to contract with Carahsoft Technology Corporation, a Schedule 70 vendor, authorizing purchases for the term of the federal contract, currently through at least December 19, 2021. The current IT Service Desk Solution is well over six years old. Clarification was provided for the budget impact of the 2017-2018 and 2018- 2019 Ivanti Service Managers, these are not staff support positions rather a cloud based subscription. B. Boyce moved to recommend Council authorize the Mayor to sign a contract allowing the City to purchase products and services with Carahsoft Technology Corporation through federal supply contract #GS-35F-0119Y, and authorize the Mayor to sign individual Statements of Work authorizing Operations Committee Minutes Approved December 5, 2017 Page 3 of 4 purchases under that contract and within established City budgets, subject to final terms and conditions acceptable to the IT Director and City Attorney. L. Thomas seconded the motion, which passed 3-0. 9. Stop Loss Insurance Contract - Recommend. Human Resources Benefits Manager Laura Horea asked to renew the LifeWise Assurance Company contract for 2018. In early August 2017, LifeWise sent a preliminary stop loss renewal notifying of a 24.5 percent increase. After gathering claim data through July 2017 it was sent out to bid, the City received three competitive bids. As a result LifeWise agreed to reduce the renewal increase to 11 percent. A request was made to check with other cities to see if they would like to partner for lower prices. HR will check with the broker to see if that’s possible. L. Thomas moved to recommend Council authorize the Mayor to approve renewal of the City’s contract for Stop Loss Insurance with LifeWise for one year, subject to approval of final terms and conditions by the Human Resources Director and the City Attorney. B. Boyce seconded the motion, which passed 3-0. 10. City of Kent Financial Policies - Recommend. Finance Director Aaron BeMiller made a request to move forward amendments to the City’s Debt Management Policy and the Fund Balance Policy. The policies are the same as they were before with the exception of added language. The Debt Management Policy amendment is to section “Debt Issuance”, third paragraph under “b” the words added were “including debt service expense”. The Fund Balance Policy amendment will increase the general fund balance from 10 percent to 18 percent. B. Boyce moved to Recommend Council repeal Resolution No. 1882 and adopt the proposed resolution amending the city’s financial policies for Debt Management Fund Balance Reserves. L. Thomas seconded the motion, which passed 3-0. 11. September Monthly Report. Mr. BeMiller reported an overall positive budget variance of $4.1 million. The 2017 budget reflects an expected use of $2.4 million of fund balance, including $2 million for Parks capital projects. The budgeted use of fund balance is offset by the positive budget variance of $4.1 million, creating a net surplus of $0.9 million. General Fund Reserves are estimated to end the year at $18.1 million, or 18.7 percent of estimated 2017 expenditures. The following highlights were reported: Operations Committee Minutes Approved December 5, 2017 Page 4 of 4 Revenues are estimated to end the year at nearly $3.8 million or 4.1 percent higher than budgeted. Expenditures through September show all departments are remaining fairly close to budget with an overall favorable budget variance of $296,000 or 0.3 percent. 12. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 4:50 p.m. by D. Ralph. J. Hays Jennifer Hays Operations Committee Secretary