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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMIN 10.26.2010 CC-WThe City Council of the City of Georgetown, Texas, met in Regular Session on the above date with Mayor George Garver presiding. Council Present: Council Absent: Danny Meigs, Bill Sattler, Pat Berryman, Dale Patty Eason, Gabe Sansing Ross, Tommy Gonzalez Staff Present: Paul E. Brandenburg, City Manager; Mark Sokolow, City Attorney; Jessica Brettle, City Secretary; Jim Briggs, Assistant City Manager; Micki Rundell, Chief Financial Officer; Elizabeth Cook, Community Development Director; Kevin Russell, Director of Human Resources and Civil Service; Valerie Kreger, Principal Planner A Workshop with the Planning and Zoning Commission and the Unified Development Code (UDC) Annual Review Task Force to discuss and possibly adopt the proposed UDC Amendment List for the 2010-2011 Annual Review and Amendment Process -- Valerie Kreger, Principal Planner and Elizabeth Cook, Community Development Director Eason, Sansing, Gonzalez absent. Cook said this is the next step of the amendment process that was established in 2008. She said there is now more public participation in the creation of developing the Unified Development Code (UDC) amendment list. She said, this year, they decided to use the existing task force group for the review process. She said there is a quorum of the Planning and Zoning Commission at the meeting tonight in case there are questions. Cook described the UDC amendment process for the Council. She said a lot of the items on the amendment list are smaller, clean up items. She summarized the list of proposed amendments being brought forward for Council consideration. She said there are several items in Chapter 3 related to the City's application process and she described those recommended changes. She said they would like to make sure that the City has approval and expiration provisions that mirror one another. She noted they also want to look at provisions for inactive applications. She said they want to make sure the City has the correct public notice requirements for some applications that have different notification types. She noted they would like to add processes for comprehensive plan amendments as well as to clarify the UDC text amendment process. She said they would like to review the special use permit process and site plan process. She said they would also like to look at the subdivision review process a lot more as well as the temporary use permit process. She described the proposed changes to those processes. She said there is a conflict regarding the past practice as well as the current ordinance related to temporary banners for advertising in the historic districts. She noted they would like to clean this up. She said there is an interpretation of zoning district boundaries and added they have found over the years hat there may be abandoned right-of-way over there. She noted they came up with a new process for the special exception setback modifications last year and they are taking another look at it because planning and zoning felt that the current ordinance is too strict. She said one of the big items they might do is to look at alternative energy building and green building provisions and make sure the current Ordinance does not prohibit these kind of things. She noted they will not be doing anything regarding those standards for a while but they would still like City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 1 of 3 Pages to add this to the list sometime in the future. Berryman asked about green initiatives and whether or not it would be mandatory. Cook said she is not sure, but it will most likely be an option in case people want to consider green alternative options. She spoke about religious assembly facilities and crematoriums. She said the City Code related to sexually oriented business is somewhat antiquated and it makes reference to things in the UDC that are no longer there. She noted they would also like to look at driveways and setbacks regarding no parking in front yards. She said they also want to make sure they have the correct requirements for accessory structures related to agricultural uses. She spoke about the bill to provisions section and described what they would like to review and clarify related to that item. She mentioned the off premise sign review section as well. She said they would also like to update conservation subdivision regulations based on other UDC changes as well as Chapter 12 which is related to transportation and roads. She noted they also want to update Chapter 12 related to the Overall Transportation Pian. She said there are revisions in that chapter related to the appeals of transportation impact analysis. She said, finally, they would like to update definitions in Chapter 16 as needed. She added they would also like an amendment to clean up the special overlay district section. She said this amendment list is a lot smaller than the last round. She noted Council could potentially adopt the list and the task force will then move forward with any list that is approved by the Council. She said Council can add or subtract items from the list well. Sattler asked what would happen if Council puts this off until November 9th. Cook said this will give the Planning and Zoning Commission and task force more time to review the items. Berryman asked and members of the organizations said they are fine with the current proposed list. Cook said staff had one meeting with the task force about these items and that were asked if they wanted another meeting and they said no. Sattler asked and Cook said, after the first of the year, staff will work with the task force to develop Ordinance language to make these changes. She continued to speak about the approval process and said, if there are conflicts, then staff and the task force will come to Council with those items for consideration. Sattler asked and Cook said she has not heard any objections or anything from anyone else in the community. Sattler asked and Cook said, if Council delays this, it will only give council more time to review the list. Gonzalez arrived at the dais. Cook said if Council wants to add or change anything to the list throughout the year, they may do so. There was much discussion. Motion by Meigs, second by Berryman to approve the proposed UDC amendment list. Approved 5-0 (Eason, Sansing absent) B Review of 2010-2011 City of Georgetown renewal rates and proposed Benefit Plan changes and rates -- Kevin Russell, Director of Human Resources & Civil Service With a Powerpoint presentation, Russell said he met with the General Government and Finance subcommittee about these changes. He said he is coming to Council with the re -rate from Texas Municipal League (TML). He noted a lot of this information is in the packet given to Council. He said it all starts with the City's claims information and he provided claims statistics to the Council. He noted the City should expect a 4% increase in rates for the high deductible plan and a 2% increase for the standard plan. He said, if the City chooses to move the retirees out of the active employee group, those increases will incur a reduction. He noted this starts off with the discussion of the City's retirees and the concept of other post employment benefits. He said, when the City hit 25,000 in population, it was required to offer retirees the same insurance offered to active employees. He said when they first started offering the retiree benefits, they did not have many retirees on the plan. He said, because of that, they were unable to figure out what the retirees were costing the City. He said there is now a requirement that the City identify what the benefits are for retirees and added the City is required to have a statement on the books that shows what the retirees are costing the City. He said it is an unfunded liability but the City has to identify it. He said the City uses the consultant Gabriel, Roeder and Smith and Company (GRS) and added the consultant looks at the number of retirees as well as the potential retirees and then calculates the estimated costs to the City. He showed Council a pie chart demonstrating the length of time all of the current employees have been with the City. He said, if an employee has 20 years of service or is 65 years or older, he or she can retire. He added it takes five years of employment for an employee to be vested. He spoke about GRS and how they estimate how much of each age group will likely retire. He said, in 2007, GRS came up with an estimate that the retirees were costing the City $71,000. He said they have done another study this year and noted the estimate of cost has climbed to $81,000. He said, currently, the City has enough retirees to be able to determine what this service is costing the City. He showed the Council the difference in costs for both if the current retirees are in or outside of the benefits pool. He said the total cost for the current seven retirees is $41,870.40. Mayor asked and Russell said the $81,000 amount referenced earlier is an estimated amount that was calculated by GRS. He said they looked at the potential for certain employees retiring. Russell noted the City's benefits pool has one rate, because it is a blended rate. He said if the City pulled out the employees and City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 2 of 3 Pages provided them with a rate based on their age bands, they would be getting a higher rate. He noted there are more benefits to the blended rate. Russell said TML provides the City with the ability to remove the retirees from the pool and it also provides the City with an estimate for what the benefit rates should be. He said staff is proposing to pull the retirees out of the pool, charging them a retiree rate and then providing them with a supplement. He said, currently, the City pays for the employee only amount. He continued to describe the difference in cost in both options. He said the cost for the seven current retirees on the plan would be $27,300.00 per year. He noted, by pulling the retirees out of the pool, it would save the City about $15,000. Gonzalez spoke about planning ahead for additional retirees in the future and whether or not the cost would be too much if the City did this. Russell said segregating the retirees out will save the City money, but that saved money will begin to reduce if the City continues on and the number of retirees increase. He said segregating the retirees out of the pool will be the least costly choice no matter the growth of retirees. He spoke about the need of coming up with a retiree funding policy as the final step so that the City can address the issue of the growth of the retiree population. He said the intent of the City is to identify this problem and then address it appropriately. He noted the City does not want to see employees staying with the City a lot longer than they normally would because of the cost of retiree benefits. Mayor asked and Russell confirmed, when Medicare comes into play when an employee turns 65, the City's costs will go away. Mayor said and Russell clarified the City's costs are just to fund the age gap between an employee's retirement and age 65. Mayor asked about the government's new healthcare plan and its effect on the City's healthcare costs. Russell said, in 2014, there will be more competition with the addition of a legitimate exchange owned by the government. He said it may be more cost effective to go with the exchange. He added the idea is that, once the exchange comes into effect, the current insurance companies will begin to reduce their rates. Gonzalez asked and Russell agreed the recommendation would be to establish a savings fund to deal with the increasing cost of retirees. There were many questions and comments regarding changes to retiree and healthcare plans. Russell moved on to the City's medical plan and spoke about the new changes to the plan. He explained that how the City decides to handle the retirees will effect the rest of the plan. He noted there are certain things that are being mandated by the government nationally. He said the lifetime maximum amount for healthcare costs is now unlimited and there is a prohibition on pre-existing conditions for patients under the age of 19. He added dependent coverage is extended until they attain the age of 26, as long as the dependent is not employed or there are no other benefits available to them. He spoke about local changes to the healthcare plan and said there is an increase in hospital access charge as well as a change in pharmacy benefits providers. He described those changes. Gonzalez asked and Russell said the deductibles are annual amounts. He also described the changes in charges for emergency room access. He spoke about dependent supplements and noted they are $109 for the dependent/employee spouse tier and $259 for the family supplement. He said staff is recommending health saving account (HSA) contributions and he described what those accounts will provide for both the high deductible health plan and the standard plan. He spoke about the fact that the City has an opt out supplement of $2,700. He described the medical plan rates to the employees and dependents for the high deductible health plan and the standard plan. He noted there is an HSA contribution made by the City amounting to $250 for employee only and $500 for the other tiers. He showed Council the standard plan rates both with and without the retirees. Sattler asked and Russell said the City contribution is not taxable to the employees. Russell said the City has a cafeteria plan. Gonzalez asked and Russell said, right now, the City has both a co -pay plan and a high deductible plan. He added the co -pay plan does have a high deductible on it as well. Russell summarized the dental, vision and voluntary benefits costs to both the City and employees. There was much discussion. Recessed to Executive Session under Sections 551.071, 551.072 and 551.087 -- 5:09 p.m. Returned to Open Session and adjourned -- 6:01 p.m. ._ -11-. . Adjournment Mayor City Council Meeting Minutes/ Page 3 of 3 Pages The meeting was adjourned at 10:30 PM. Secretary Oessica Brettle