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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council Committees - Operations Committee - 01/19/2016 OPERATIONS COMMITTEE MINUTES January 19, 2016 Committee Members Present: Dana Ralph, Chair; Bill Boyce; and Les Thomas. The meeting was called to order by Dana Ralph at 4:00 p.m. 1. ROLL CALL. 2. CHANGE TO AGENDA. There were no changes to the agenda. 3. APPROVAL OF THE CHECK SUMMARY REPORT DATED 12/16/2015 THRU 12/31/2015. L. Thomas moved to approve the check summary report dated 12/16/15 through 12/31/15. B. Boyce seconded the motion, which passed 3-0. 4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES DATED JANUARY 5, 2016. B. Boyce moved to approve the Operations Committee minutes dated January 5, 2016. L. Thomas seconded the motion, which passed 3-0. 5. ASSISTANT CITY ATTORNEY – LIMITED TERM - RECOMMEND. Deputy City Attorney Pat Fitzpatrick made a request to hire a limited-term, full-time, benefitted Assistant City Attorney position. The term will expire at the end of 2016. Over the past few months, the Law Department has benefitted from Ifeona Monu, who is admitted to practice in Washington State and has been volunteering her time for the prosecution division. This has allowed the division to have adequate coverage for court and trials that Assistant City Attorney Michele Walker has not been able to handle. Over the past year, Ms. Walker has taken on a heavier workload of criminal forfeiture proceedings. The forfeiture work occupies approximately 30-40 percent of her time, affects the amount of prosecution work she is able to perform, and puts additional stress on the remaining prosecutors trying to cover for her. Additionally, the division will likely suffer the loss of an assistant city attorney for an extended period starting sometime in April, 2016, due to anticipated FMLA leave. The budget impact to temporarily hire Ms. Monu will be approximately $45,000 from the forfeiture fund which currently has a balance of roughly $500,000. The remaining costs would come from the Law Department’s existing 2016 budget. L. Thomas moved to recommend council authorize the hiring of a limited-term, full- time, benefitted Assistant City Attorney position. B. Boyce seconded the motion, which passed 3-0. Operations Committee Minutes January 19, 2016 Page: 2 6. INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT WITH KING COUNTY DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION FOR COOPERATIVE PURCHASING - RECOMMEND. Assistant City Attorney Tammy White made a recommendation for Council and the Mayor to consider authorizing a new interlocal agreement with King County Directors’ Association (KCDA) to clarify the record, affirm Council’s authorization of the interlocal agreement, update the agreement’s provisions and staff contact information, and ratify all acts consistent with the interlocal agreement and prior to its effective date. The City has contracted with KCDA since 1982 to allow the City to benefit from KCDA’s cooperative purchasing and procurement efforts. The 1982 interlocal agreement was signed by the City’s then-administrator, Richard Cushing. Through this interlocal agreement, the City became a member agency of the KCDA, allowing it to benefit from all contracts awarded by KCDA. However, it does not appear that this 1982 interlocal agreement was approved by city Council prior to it having been signed. If authorized by Council and signed by the Mayor, this interlocal agreement will continue in force until terminated by either the City or KCDA with 30 days advance written notice. There would be no impact to the budget if approved. B. Boyce moved to recommend Council authorize the Mayor to sign an interlocal agreement with the King County Directors’ Association to cooperatively purchase and procure supplies, equipment, and other goods and services, and ratify all acts consistent with the interlocal agreement and prior to its effective date. L. Thomas seconded the motion, which passed 3-0. 7. REAPPOINTMENTS OF BARBARA SMITH AND ANDREW HUTCHISON TO THE LODGING TAX ADVISORY COMMITTEE - RECOMMEND. Economic and Community Development Director Ben Wolters requested the reappointments of Barbara Smith and Andrew Hutchison to new three-year terms each on the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. The Committee consists of eight members who are made up of four representatives from businesses required to collect lodging tax and four representatives who are representing activities funded by lodging tax, and chaired by a representative from the Operations Committee. Ms. Smith, the Executive Director of the Kent Downtown Partnership, has been serving on the Committee and her term expired December 31, 2015. This position is filled by a representative whose activities are funded by lodging tax. Mr. Hutchison, the General Manager of the Best Western Plaza by the Green, has been serving on the Committee and his term also expired December 31, 2015. This position is required to be filled by a representative whose business collects lodging tax. L. Thomas moved to recommend Council authorize the re-appointments of Barbara Smith and Andrew Hutchison to the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. B. Boyce seconded the motion, which passed 3-0. Operations Committee Minutes January 19, 2016 Page: 3 8. 2016 INSURANCE PROGRAM. Interim Human Resources Director Chris Hills provided an update to some changes to the insurance program. Although the program is in great shape, the market on the liability side is soft causing a slight increase in premium tax of $500. So far liability costs have been cut in half from 2011’s $1.3 million to today’s $600,000 with the help of directors working on limiting negligence issues. The carrier for the excess worker compensation policy, a purchase above the $500,000 self-insured retention (SIR), in 2015 wanted to increase the minimum premium to $65,000 but it was negotiated to increase in two $5,000 increments starting this year. 9. HALOGEN eLEARNING Mr. Hills briefed members on the City’s purchase of the Halogen eLearning Learning Management System (LMS) that was originally bought in 2014. The current LMS is outdated and was never capable of functioning jointly with the payroll/personnel system making a roadblock to keeping accurate training records of employees. For 2016 Human Resources (HR) has purchased a new LMS from Halogen called eLearning. This purchase is being made after extensive evaluation of several LMS and cooperation of departments who are key users of the LMS, specifically Police and Public Works. This new LMS will roll out to employees over the course of 2016. Training on its use will be provided by HR and in conjunction with training on Halogen Performance. The cost of the system and courses will be $36,140 ($18,440 for system and $17,700 for learning content). This cost is well within the budget established for Citywide training for 2016. For 2017, system cost of budget will revert to the Information Technology Department where the current system will serve as backup during 2016. Cost of learning content will continue within HR training budget. 10. QUARTERLY PROCUREMENT REPORT Chief Administrative Officer Derek Matheson updated committee members on the adopted May 2015 procurement ordinance that has a central feature that raises the Mayor’s purchasing authority from $25,000 to $65,000. This feature requires staff to provide a quarterly report to Council on contracts, including real-estate agreements, above $25,000 not previously approved by Council. The current report covers nine contracts of the fourth quarter in 2015. The meeting was adjourned at 4:29 p.m. by D. Ralph. J. Hays Jennifer Hays Operations Committee Secretary