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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - City Council - Special - 10/22/2003CITY OF LUBBOCK SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING OCTOBER 22, 2003 9:30 A. M. The City Council of the City of Lubbock, Texas met in regular session on the 22nd day of October, 2003, in Committee Room 103, first floor, City Hall, 1625 13th Street, Lubbock, Texas at 9:30 A. M. 9:34 A. M. CITY COUNCIL CONVENED Committee Room 103, 1625 13th Street, Lubbock, Texas Present: Mayor Marc McDougal, Mayor Pro Tem Victor Hernandez, Council Member Gary O. Boren, Council Member Jim Gilbreath, Council Member Tom Martin Absent: Council Members Frank W. Morrison and T.J. Patterson Council Member Morrison arrived at 9:45 A. M. Council Member Patterson arrived at 9:55 A. M. ( 1.) Presentation to Council on 1999 Annexation Service Plan. In 1999, the City of Lubbock annexed the land that is currently southwest Lubbock. During that annexation process, a service plan was created for services to be extended to that area. A copy of the service plan and the south and west annexation study was provided in council backup. FISCAL IMPACT: None. Not Applicable. Randy Henson Senior Planner, made the presentation, which included a progress report of what has been accomplished in the service plan. Craig Farmer, Managing Director of Planning & Transportation and Don Jennings, Superintendent of Streets and Chester Carthel, Chief Engineer, Water Utilities, gave staff comments. Mayor Pro Tern Hernandez asked Mr. Jennings for the annual cost associated with maintaining an unpaved street, as opposed to a paved street. Mr. Jennings stated that the unpaved street cost would be much less. Council Member Martin asked Interim City Manager Tommy Gonzalez if there were any committees, boards or commissions currently existing, which if directed by Council, could take a look at drainage, curb and gutter, etc. and come up with some program. Interim City Manager Gonzalez suggested that Council would need to provide guidance and direction to enable staff to put this together. Council Member Martin asked Mr. Gonzalez to have staff give Council some options on this. After some discussion of annexation, Council Member Boren asked if the City of Lubbock should de -annex Carlisle? Craig Farmer recommended that this doesn't happen. Mayor Pro Tern Hernandez stated that one alternative to de -annexation would be to do a cost benefit analysis on any area to be annexed in the future and see if it is worthwhile to do. He also suggested taking a hard look at instituting impact fees on annexed areas so that they pay their own way. The next item considered was Item 4. Item 2 was the first item considered after City Council reconvened at 1:10 P. M. ( 2.) Presentation of the capital projects status report through September 30, 2003. Special City Council Meeting October 22, 2003 Page 410 This item was considered following Item 4. Melissa Trevino, Budget Manager, made a capital projects status report through the 41h quarter of FY 2002-03 or September 30, 2003. This document was created to assist the City Council in reviewing the status of all current capital projects. The first report presented in this format was prepared for the period ending December 31, 2002. Currently, the City Council receives information on capital projects on a monthly basis in the financial report. This report reflected the budget amount for each project along with actual expenditures through respective end date. Each project also showed an updated completion date. The funds in the General Fund are: 1. 900 - Public Safety 2. 905 - Parks 3. 915 — Permanent Streets 4. 920 - Permanent Street (Seal Coating) 5. 925 - Street Lighting 6. 930 - Traffic 7. 940 - General Capital 8. 945 - General Facilities The Enterprise and Internal Service Funds were included. Council Member Martin talked about lighting and stated Council Member Gilbreath had mentioned a fatality on North Quaker from 4`h Street to the North Loop. Council Member Gilbreath stated from 4th to Erskine was without lighting. Interim City Manager Gonzalez stated that he would place this matter on a November agenda. Council Member Martin asked about the west pressure zone (water) plan, which calls for construction of a new water reservoir and pump station. Terry Ellerbrook, Director of Water Utilities, gave comments. He stated there should be an RFP this fall for the design of this construction and this could be moved up and gotten back on track. Council Member Martin asked if this would take a budget amendment. Interim City Manager Gonzalez stated it would. Council Member Martin then asked for a consensus of the Council to direct staff to present this to the Water Commission and try to get an expedited recommendation possibly to move the design phase of this up to the current fiscal year. Departmental staff was present to address any specific questions relative to individual project status. FISCAL IMPACT: Not Applicable. The next item considered was Item 7. (3.) Presentation and discussion of proposed recommendation on the City of Lubbock Group Health Plan. This item was continued to the October 23, 2003 City Council Meeting. The City of Lubbock provides medical and dental insurance for all full- time City of Lubbock employees. Employees have the option to purchase medical and dental insurance for eligible dependents. Retired City of Lubbock employees are allowed to retain medical coverage for themselves and eligible dependents. The health insurance plan has been provided by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) since December 1, 1999. Special City Council Meeting October 22, 2003 Page 411 The City also offers two flexible spending accounts for all eligible employees. The medical reimbursement account and dependent care accounts are currently administered by CBCA Administrators. A request for proposal (RFP) for the health insurance program and flex administration was announced on August 8, 2003. The proposal requested pricing for a minimum premium plan and/or an Administrative Service Only (ASO) plan. The proposal requested reinsurance coverage with an individual claims cap of $150,000 annually. Fourteen proposals were received. The respondents submitting a package for the medical, dental, prescription, and flex administration were: Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas Dallas, TX FirstCare Lubbock, TX ICON Benefit Administrators Austin, TX TML Austin, TX The City received 3 dental only proposals from: Humana Dental Dallas, TX National Pacific Dental Insurance Houston, TX United Concordia Woodland Hills, CA Three proposals were received from prescription benefit managers: Walgreen Health Initiatives Scott & White HP Pharmacy Eckerd Health Services Four flex administrators responded to the RFP: Complink Leggette Actuaries The EPOCH Group CBCA Administrators Phoenix, AZ Temple, TX Pittsburgh, PA Irving, TX Dallas, TX Overland Park, KS Ft. Worth, TX A Committee of employees, one retiree, and three citizens reviewed the RFP results. At the first Committee meeting, it was determined that the Texas Municipal League (TML) response could not be considered, because it provided only claims administration, with no insurance coverage. The Committee decided that based on pricing, the top two proposals were the proposals from Blue Cross and ICON. Annual funding for the two finalists is: Blue Cross — Minimum Premium Contract $14,780,340 Blue Cross — ASO Contract $14,378,443 ICON — ASO Contract $13,633,928 The FirstCare proposal excluded University Medical Center. Presentations were scheduled to allow the two vendors to discuss their proposal. After hearing the presentations, the Committee is concerned that the ICON proposal was not particularly a monetary savings because it only contains a 9 to 10 month claims liability proposal, that the discounts quoted by ICON are substantially lower than Blue Cross, and that when asked if the annual funding numbers in the quote were firm, the response was that there are stipulations on the numbers. Before the presentation, City staff was provided documentation by an ICON representative stating that the discounts for the Lubbock area are inpatient hospital 52%, outpatient 41.75%, and physicians 40.19%. Blue 411 Special City Council Meeting October 22, 2003 Page 412 Cross provided documentation stating that the discounts for the Lubbock area are inpatient 72%, outpatient 55%, and physicians 41%. During the presentation, the Committee was told by ICON representatives that the numbers they provided were incorrect and ICON would secure a contract with Covenant Health System to match the discounts offered by Blue Cross. The Committee met to discuss the information presented in the presentations and unanimously determined that a final decision could not be made until written verification is received that the discount contracts are executed and that the numbers quoted are firm. It was determined that Bill de Haas would negotiate with ICON to obtain a written guarantee. Mr. de Haas will also request a final offering from Blue Cross. FISCAL IMPACT: None at this time. There is no recommendation at this time. ( 4.) Presentation of an end of fiscal year report from the Interim City Manager. This item was considered following Item 1. Tommy Gonzalez, Interim City Manager, presented a summary of the end of the fiscal year report to Council. The purpose of the report was to highlight the issues and solutions facing the City from an operational perspective during the past seven months. FISCAL IMPACT: None. Mayor Pro Tem Hernandez told Mr. Gonzalez he appreciated the report. He stated that each month, issues arise which negatively impacts the City of Lubbock. He suggested that in order to retain the public trust/confidence, these be hit "head-on" in terms of the current issue that hits the media and what is done to correct this issue. 11:28 A. M. CITY COUNCIL RECESSED 1:15 P. M. CITY COUNCIL RECONVENED All council members were present except Mayor Pro Tem Hernandez and Council Members Boren and Gilbreath. Council Member Gilbreath arrived at 1:25 p.m. Mayor Pro Tem Hernandez arrived at 1:55 p.m. Council Member Boren arrived at 2:10 p.m. The first item considered was Item 2. ( 5.) Presentation of the monthly financial reports for the month ending August 2003. This item was continued to the October 23, 2003 City Council Meeting. This information had been provided in council backup. This information included: 1. Financial Analysis — Analysis provided in narrative form by Fund. 2. Financial Summary — a. Balance Sheet; Statement of Revenue, Expenditures and Changes in Fund Balance; Summary of Cash Balances; and Monthly Financial Summary Reports for Airport Fund, General Fund, Sewer Fund, Solid Waste Fund, Storm Drainage Fund and Water Fund. 412 Special City Council Meeting October 22, 2003 Page 413 b. Capital Projects Summary by Fund (all funds). Staff was prepared to address any questions. FISCAL IMPACT: None. Staff recommended approval. (6.) Presentation of the fourth quarter and annual investment report. This item was continued to the October 23, 2003 City Council Meeting. As required by the Public Funds Investment Act (PFIA) and the City's Investment Policy, this report must be given to the City Council on a quarterly and annual basis. The presentation highlighted the City's investment program meeting all criteria of the PFIA. The presentation also provided summary information on the City's investment performance and the current condition of the financial markets. FISCAL IMPACT: Not Applicable. No action is required on this item. (7.) Presentation of the final concept for the Pump Station 10 screening wall located at 82"d and Memphis. This item was considered following Item 2. Mayor McDougal left the meeting at 2:30 P. M. Chester Carthel, Chief Water Utilities Engineer, gave a presentation of the final concept for the Pump Station 10 screening wall located at 82"d and Memphis. Due to structural problems, the existing 10,000,000-gallon drinking water reservoir for Pump Station 10 (PS 10) needs replacement. Due to Texas Commission of Environmental Quality (TCEQ) rules, the 7,000,000- gallon replacement reservoir may not be buried below the groundwater level. Therefore, it is necessary to place a significant portion of the new reservoir above the surface, due to the high groundwater at the site. A citizen's group was formed to advise City staff on the development of methods to integrate the structure into the neighborhood. The citizen's group recommended a screening wall with similar architecture to the Kingsgate area. The City of Lubbock hired Chapman Harvey & Associates to develop the selected alternative into a final concept. Chapman Harvey & Associates will present the final concept to the Council. FISCAL IMPACT: The architectural improvements are estimated to cost $400,000. Funding for the project is from the Pump Station Rehab capital project in the Water Capital Projects fund. Staff recommended approval of the proposed concept. (8.) Discuss the City of Lubbock's Federal legislative services. This item was continued to the October 23, 2003 City Council Meeting. This Work Session item was to provide Council with the opportunity to discuss contracting for federal legislative consulting services in the future. Council does not currently have a contract in place for legislative consulting services on the federal level. The possibility for a short-term monthly contract as well as longer term contracts for this service exist. FISCAL IMPACT: 413 Special City Council Meeting October 22, 2003 Page 414 The financial impact of the contract is dependent upon its terms. Staff will act upon Council's recommendation. 3:00 P. M. COUNCIL ADJOURNED There being no further business to come before Council, the meeting adjourned. Read and approved this ��— day of �i.th0,' _ 2005. ATTEST: R becca Garza, City Secretary 414