HomeMy WebLinkAbout072709R CC MinThe City of West University Place
A Neighborhood City
CITY COUNCIL
Bob Kelly, Mayor
Bob Fry, Councilmember
George Boehme, Councilmember
Steven Segal, Councilmember
Chuck Guffey, Councilmember
STAFF
Michael Ross, City Manager
Alan Petrov, City Attorney
Thelma Lenz, City Secretary
CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
City Council of the City of West University Place, Texas, met in special and regular sessions Monday,
July 27, 2009, in the Municipal Building Council Chambers, 3800 University Boulevard, West
University Place, Texas beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Council and staff in attendance: Mayor Kelly, Mayor Pro Tern Fry, Councilmembers Segal and Guffey,
City Manager Ross, City Secretary Lenz, Assistant City Attorney Joshua Golden, City Manager/Public
Works Director Peifer, Human Resources/Risk Director Standorf, Police Chief Walker, and Fire Chief
Rails. Councilmember Boehme was absent.
Notice of the special meeting was duly posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code,
Chapter 551.
CALL TO ORDER
Mayor Kelly called the special meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. Agenda items were as follows.
1. Board, Committee, Commission Appointments
Matters related to the process of appointing members to boards and committees.
City Manager Ross presented and distributed a list of applicants with their areas of interest.
Discussion ensued regarding dates for interviews. City Secretary Lenz said she is reviewing the
vacation schedule provided to her by each council member and will forward Council tentative times
to hold interviews.
2. Employee Benefits Trust and Employee Medical and Dental Insurance
Matters related the City of West University Place Employee Benefits Trust and Employee Medical and
Dental Insurance.
Human Resources/Risk Director Standorf and Bob Treacy, Benefits Manager with C-CBS
Consultants, presented this item.
Mr. Treacy said this plan year some of the insurance companies noted that West U has cleaned up
some of its bigger claims and so we are starting to see our rates come down across the board. He
said we ended up getting the benefit this year of a true manual rate as the insurance companies felt
our plan was coming more in line with their community pool.
City Council Minutes, July 27, 2009
Mr. Treacy said our current carrier, United Healthcare, could not unload the "old" baggage and their
proposed renewal was very high - about 30+ percent, of which 70 percent was from our previous
experience. The other companies did not have the "old" baggage and were able to provide good
rates because the previous year's claims/losses were not theirs. Mr. Treacy said we're getting the
benefit of the big group, but we can't quite escape our own experience when it comes to modifiers.
Councilmember Segal asked for an explanation for the difference in the $1,600,000 and the
$1,400,000. HR Director Standorf said the $1,600,000 is budgeted for 2009 and the $1,400,000 is
estimated based on census and on staff vacancies for medical and dental for the calendar year. She
confirmed that the 2009 Budget will not be exceeded.
Councilmember Segal inquired about the retirees monthly contributions. He said it shows in one
place that we pay full price for retired employees and the spouses pay the full Cobra costs; but, in
other areas it shows monthly employee contribution for spouse and children. After discussion, it was
understood that retired employee spouses pay the full price, yet they will receive a break with
reduction of rates. Mr. Treacy said that currently the retirees under the age of 65 are blended into
one four-tier composite rates, but it's possible they will be separated down the road to have it reflect
the true risks.
Mayor Kelly confirmed that another fundamental change is that employees will have an option
between an HMO and a PPO. Mr. Treacy said they looked at the networks and he created an excel
spreadsheet tracking every single provider that our employees have been using as plan members -
both at hospitals and outpatient and then sent it to Aetna on their HMO side and they matched about
97 percent of the doctors our employees are using; so, by keeping it in-network only, we save about 7
to 8 percent on the premium. He said, however, Aetna does not pay costs for out-of-network service;
but, if there is an emergency outside of the network area they will pay it in the network. Mr. Treacy
also said that if Aetna doesn't have an HMO service area (i.e. in an area where children are going to
school) they will allow them to have the PPO.
In summary, Mr. Treacy said we went with costs, flexibility of plan designs, and the opportunity to stay
put for maybe 2 or 3 years cost effectively and that employees are getting the benefit of lower rates, a
network that matches what they are use to, and the benefits very similar to what we currently have.
Mr. Segal pointed out that we are paying 100 percent for employees that sign up for the HMO and a
percentage of the costs for employees that sign up for PPO, but we still pay less per employee for the
HMO.
Mr. Treacy said that these rates include premium taxes and said we also get an extra 1 percent with
package savings by including dental. He said the rates presented, which have been used for the
budget, are 2.5 percent higher.
Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to adjourn the special meeting workshop at 6:32 p.m. Councilmember
Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED.
Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Segal, and Guffey
Noes: None
Absent: Boehme
REGULAR MEETING: Mayor Kelly called the regular meeting to order at approximately 6:37 p.m. in the
Council Chambers.
City Council Minutes, July 27, 2009
Notice of the regular meeting was duly posted in accordance with the Texas Government Code, Chapter
551.
Agenda items were as follows:
Councilmember Steven Segal led the Pledge of Allegiance and the Pledge to the Texas Flag.
Mayor Kelly announced that that Council needed to recess the Regular Meeting to convene a meeting of
the City of West University Place Employee Benefits Trust, which a separate agenda has been posted.
Mayor Pro Tem Fry moved to recess the regular meeting at 6:38 p.m. to convene a meeting of the
Employee Benefits Trust. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED.
Ayes:
Kelly, Fry, Segal, and Guffey
Noes:
None
Absent:
Boehme
After adjourning the Employee Benefits Trust meeting, Councilmember Segal moved to reconvene the
Regular Meeting at 6:42 p.m. Mayor Pro Tern Fry seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED.
Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Segal, and Guffey
Noes: None
Absent: Boehme
3. Employee Health Insurance
Consideration and action on authorizing the transfer of funds from the City of West University
Place to the City of West University Place Employee Benefits Trust to pay for employee-related
benefits.
Human Resources/Risk Manager Director Standorf presented and said staff is recommending
authorization by Council to transfer funds to the Employee Benefits Trust beginning, but
technically continuing, with this contract in September of 2009.
Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to authorize to continue transfer of funds on a monthly basis from the
City of West University Place to the City of West University Place Employee Benefits Trust
beginning with September 2009 contributions. Councilmember Segal seconded the motion.
MOTION PASSED.
Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Segal, and Guffey
Noes: None
Absent: Boehme
4. Public Comments
Rick Behrend, 4137 Riley, spoke regarding his displeasure of the City trying to force residents to have
residential sprinklers. He said it seems that this is no more than a lobbying effort from the sprinkler
industry. He said he is in favor of smoke detectors and fire alarms, but not in favor of being forced to
have a residential sprinkler system. Mr. Behrend suggested that Council take a survey of the
residents because he thinks Council would get a lot of negative feedback.
City Council Minutes, July 27, 2009
5. Consent Agenda
All Consent Agenda items listed are considered to be routine by the City Council and will be enacted
by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless a Council member
requests in which event the item will be removed from the Consent Agenda and considered in its
normal sequence on the agenda.
A. City Council Minutes
Approve City Council meeting minutes of July 13, 2009.
B. City Council Rules of Procedure
Matters related to the final draft of the City Council's Rules of Procedure.
Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to accept the Consent Agenda as presented. Councilmember Segal
seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED.
Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Segal, and Guffey
Noes: None
Absent: Boehme
6. Ordinance Relatina to Water Rate Increase and Customer Impact Schedule
Matters pertaining to an ordinance relating to water rates; amending the fee schedule of the Code of
Ordinances of the City of West University Place, Texas; and containing findings and provisions
relating to the subject.
Finance Director Rhonda Daugherty presented. She said in March of this year, the City received its
annual letter from the City of Houston stating that it is increasing its rates by a Consumer Price Index
of 3.3 percent and an additional 1.79 percent per population growth, which totals 5.9 percent. She
said in order to keep our water and sewer fund in good standings, staff is proposing a 2 percent
increase to the residents of West University Place to cover the dollar increase we will be paying to the
City of Houston.
Ms. Daugherty also stated that the City has been somewhat informed that there will be an additional
rate increases from the City of Houston. She said a few years ago Houston had about a 20 percent
increase in their rates and we anticipate this happening again in the 2010 budget year.
City Manager Ross said the City of Houston said it would perform a study and we are suppose to
have an opportunity to receive the draft study and comment on it, but we have not received the draft
to date. He said the City of Houston had a meeting at their facility with all the entities that purchase
water and lined out how we got to where we are with them and what they think is going to happen in
the future. He said the City of Houston is laying the groundwork by saying they think their study will
find that a 20 percent increase, plus the CPI, will need to occur in 2010. Mr. Ross said when the time
comes staff will bring to Council some suggestions on how we might choose to argue that point with
the City of Houston.
Mayor Pro Tern Fry said the City fought that battle two years ago because the City of Houston had
not raised rates in a number of years and there was a substantial increase just to catch up. He said
now that they have caught up, the data is there and he doesn't see a lot of hope for an appeal.
Mayor Kelly read the caption to the ordinance.
In response to a question by Councilmember Segal, Ms. Daugherty said none of the prices in
Appendix A changed, only the rates.
City Council Minutes, July 27, 2009
Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to adopt the ordinance increasing the water rates by 2 percent on the first
of two readings. Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED.
Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Segal, and Guffey
Noes: None
Absent: Boehme
7. 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report
Matters related to the 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and Single Audit Report for the
period ending December 31, 2008.
Finance Director Daugherty and Anthony Cardiel with Belt Harris & Associates, LLP, presented
Ms. Daugherty explained that the City is required to have a Single Audit Report this year because the
City received in excess of $500,000 from the Federal Government for Hurricane Ike related
expenses.
Mr. Cardiel reviewed some of the highlights in the report. He pointed out that the City has an
unqualified opinion, meaning that the report is materially accurate. He also pointed out that nothing
was over budget, which he finds exceptional.
As the result of a question by Mayor Kelly, Finance Director Daugherty confirmed that the Purchasing
Policy is being updated and will include purchasing order requirements for a certain amount.
Councilmember Segal said because the Friends of West U Parks Fund, Inc., are volunteers, with the
exception of the Executive Director, he thinks that the Finance Director should consider reviewing its
monthly bank balances because their financial statements are incorporated in ours and we should
provide some oversight.
In response to Councilmember Segal's question as to whether the City is capable of managing its risk
assessment, City Manager Ross explained that the City is capable of doing some it. He stated that
Human Resources Director Standorf is also the Risk Manager and coordinates insurance and risk
related issues with Texas Municipal League.
Councilmember Segal said the report's criticism is that the City does not have a formal process for
assessing risks associated with key controls.
Mr. Cardiel said they are in the process of developing a check list to give to their clients so that each
year Council can go through the check list and mark things off as doing a formal risk assessment.
Finance Director Daugherty said part of the risk assessment is putting policies into place, such as the
Suspected Misconduct and Dishonesty Policy, which we have done. She said this is a relative new
standard and every City is being hit with these comments and are working on getting formal
procedures in place.
Councilmember Segal moved to accept the 2008 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, Single
Audit Report, and Required Audit Disclosure and Management Letter. Mayor Pro Tern Fry seconded
the motion. MOTION PASSED.
Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Segal, and Guffey
Noes: None
City Council Minutes, July 27, 2009
Absent: Boehme
8. Amendment to Ordinance Adopting Appendix P of the 2006 International Code Council
Matters related to amending Ordinance 1896 to change the effective date of Appendix P of the 2006
ICC Codes as it relates to residential sprinklers.
City Manager Ross presented and stated that staff is recommending this ordinance to amend
ordinance 1896, which changes the effective date of Appendix P of the 2006 ICC Codes from June
26, 2009, to September 1, 2009, be approved on first and final reading. He noted that Appendix P
will be preempted by a new State law September 1, but if the State law is every changed or repealed,
the City will have Appendix P in place reestablishing the requirement for residential fire sprinklers to
be installed in newly constructed homes in the City
Councilmember Chuck Guffey moved to amend Ordinance 1896 to change the effective date of
Appendix P of the 2006 ICC Code as it relates to residential sprinklers. Mayor Pro Tern Fry
seconded. MOTION PASSED.
Ayes: Kelly, Fry, Segal, and Guffey
Noes: None
Absent: Boehme
9. Executive Session (if necessary)
There was no need for Council to convene into Executive Session.
With no other business before Council, Mayor Pro Tern Fry moved to adjourn the regular meeting at 7:29
p.m. Councilmember Guffey seconded the motion. MOTION PASSED.
Ayes:
Noes:
Absent:
Prepared By:
Thelma A. Lenz, City Secretary
Kelly, Fry, Segal, and Guffey
None
Date Approved: ( a, U
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