HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Minutes - City Council - Meeting Date: 12/5/1989MINUTES OF THE WORKSHOP SESSION OF THECITYCOUNCILOFTHECITYOFGLENDALE, MARICOPA COUNTY, ARIZONA HELD TUESDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1989 AT 3:10 P.M. Mayor Renner called the Workshop Session of the GlendaleCityCounciltoorderintheWorkshopRoom, B-3, in theGlendaleCouncilChambers. Council members present were: Bellah, Falbo, Huffman, Hugh, McAllister, and Tolby. MembersAbsent: None. Also present were Martin Vanacour, City Manager; GordonL. Pedrow, Assistant City Manager; David Pennartz, Assistant
City Attorney and Linda Ginn, Deputy City Clerk.
WORKSHOP SESSION
Mayor Renner stated that Council would deviate from the
published agenda and hear item number two, first.
1. SOCIAL SERVICE FUNDING OF COMMUNITY COUNCIL GLENDALE -
Mr. Tim Ernster introduced Mary Ann Lavine who gave a
presentation to the Council on the Glendale Community
Council.
Ms. Lavine summarized the activities of the Council by
stating that during the first eight months of 1989, Community
Council Glendale has provided conseling to 39, technical
assistance to 71, handled 1,760 incoming calls, 1,241
outgoing calls and completed 449 visits. In addition to
staff, 72 volunteers have given over 700 hours of their time
toward these efforts.
She further stated that they have active working
committees that include Aging; Children, Youth and Families;
and Emergency Services. These committees play a key role in
coordinating and enhancing services in Glendale. They have
successfully implemented a trial merger with Community
Council, Inc., which has provided the economies of a larger
scale operation while maintaining a presence and commitment
to Glendale.
Ms. Lavine also said that social service planning
assistance includes serving on the MAG Human Services
Technical Committee and Coordinating Committee; regional
committees on Affordable Housing; Children, Youth and
Families; etc.
Ms. Lavine also said they have provided technical
assistance such as the proposal writing course done in
partnership with Rio Salado Community College, the Glencrest
Church -related Referral System that is pooling resources to
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better meet emergency social service needs in Glendale andtheevaluationofGlendale's Boys and Girls Club for theValleyoftheSunUnitedWay. Vice Mayor Tolby complimented Ms. Lavine and her staffonthejobtheyhavebeendoing. This item is for information only. 2. EMPLOYEE MEDICAL BENEFITSCityManagerVanacourgave a brief summary of the issuebystatingthroughouttheyear, staff has been monitoring
utilization reports provided by both the City's health
insurance carriers. It became obvious to staff approximately
four months ago that due to high usage of benefits by
employees and insurance rates constantly going up that the
City would once again be faced with substantial rate
increases at the time of renewal. We anticipated that the
original CIGNA HMO coverage would have increased by 25% and
Washington National would have increased by 50. Last year we
received notice of a $530,000 increase which the City Council
authorized to pay on behalf of the employees.
In the face of these substantial increases, it was
determined and agreed to by the Council that the City should
accept bids to assure that the City had the most
comprehensive and cost-effective medical plan available to
its employees. As a result of the request for proposals for
employee medical coverage, seven carriers of the thirty-three
contacted responded. Due to issues of cost, level of
benefits and service areas, five of the seven did not
adequately meet the City's needs.
Three proposed programs have been reviewed by Risk
Management, the City's top management team and the City's
benefits consulting firm, the Martin E. Segal Company. While
each would provide for the full range of medical services,
each also has certain limitations and cost differences.
Washington National and CIGNA Healthplan have provided
health care coverage for the City over the past ten years.
Both of these providers have again offered proposed coverage
for 1990, however, under different terms. The "old programs"
were not bid by the insurance companies. Under any
alternative available to the City, costs will increase
regardless of the option chosen. Cost is a major concern,
but, so is the quality of services the provider offers.
Mr. Allen Iampaglia, Risk Manager, and Ms. Pam Kavanaugh
Assistant to the City Manager summarized this issue by
stating that after careful consideration of the pros and cons
of each proposal, staff is recommending the Washington
National PPO Program for all employee medical benefits. This
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program offers the potential for long term rate stability fortheCity. It also assures the highest quality service, withnochangesinflexibilityfortheemployeesandtheirfamilies, while at the same time allowing for continuity ofcarebycurrentmedicalproviders. The two plans submittedwhichprovidedthebestcoveragevariedwidelyandbothhadprosandconstotheirproposals. During the November 21, 1989 Workshop session, Councilwaspresentedwithproposalsfromthetwocurrentcarriersforemployeemajormedicalinsurance. At that time theCouncilrequestedthisissuebebroughtforwardforformalCouncilactionasbothprogramscurrentlyinplacewill
expire on December 31, 1989. Council also requested that
negotiations be conducted with local west side hospitals to
insure better availability of facilities if the Council chose
the Washington National PPO Plan. Risk Management has been
successful in including Arrowhead Hospital into the
Washington National PPO effective immediately and is working
on others.
Mr. Iampaglia explained the three options that staff
felt were the best options for the city. On Washington PPO,
participation at one of the listed hospitals would mean a
reimbursement to the employee at 90% with an out-of-pocket
limit of $1,000 per year per person. There would also be a
150 deductible per year per person maximum of $450 per
family. All medical expenses not related to hospitalization
would be reimbursed at 80% with the same out-of-pocket
limitation of $1,000. Participation at a hospital not listed
with the plan for a non -emergency stay would be reimbursed at
70% with a stop loss provision of $3,000 per person per year.
When that limit is reached all costs and doctor expenses
would be reimbursed at 100%. Any expenses incurred out of
the area would be covered at 90%. Sustance abuse,
mental/nervous would be covered at 90%.
Mr. Iampaglia further stated that this plan also
included a PCS card which would entitle the employee to get
any prescription except birth control for $5.00 filled at any
pharmacy. The cost to the employee for Washington PPO would
be a per pay deduction for dependent coverage at $33.61.
Mr. Iampaglia next explained the HMO model which is
basically like the plan that now exists in the City. It
gives the employee the choice of the staff model HMO clinics
that are around the valley or selection from the list of
physicians on the IHP list supplied by the Arizona Health
Plan. The out-of-pocket expense for an employee would
increase to $10.56 per pay for dependent coverage. He
further said that there would be some other modifications to
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the plan in that office visits would increase to $10.00 from5.00. He said the $3.00 prescription charge perprescriptionattheCignapharmacyorWalgreen's wouldincreaseto $5.00. Mr. Iampaglia said that the last option that staff hadlookedatwastheTripleOptionofferedbytheCignahealthplan. He said that plan was far more expensive, approximately 1.2 million dollars, more expensive than thecurrentCignaplan. Under the Flex Option all employeeswouldhavetheirchoiceoftheCignafreestanding, the HMOoptionthroughtheIPAortheindemnityplanofferedthroughConnecticutGeneralinsurancecompany. The combined rate or
blended premium for employees would increase to $76.45 per
pay for all employees regardless of the option they chose.
If a blended rate was not utilized the per pay deduction for
the indemnity participants would be $128 per pay. He said
that currently, employees on Washington National, the City's
existing indemnity carrier, pay $53 per pay. Mr. Iampaglia
stated that staff had disregarded this proposal because of
the high cost and the fact that Cigna preferred to have
people in the managed care portion of the plan.
Mr. Iampaglia stated that Risk Management and Martin E.
Segal, insurance consultant, had made their recommedation to
go with Washington National because of the fact that no one
would have to give up their doctor. People who currently
utilize the Cigna freestanding or the IPA model could
continue to see their physician. Their method of payment
would be different from what it has been in the past in that
they would submit their bills to Risk Management for
reimbursement at 80%. Staff felt that the long range rate
stability, quality of health care and various needs of the
City, on the whole, made the proposal by Washington National
PPO the most viable of all the proposals submitted.
Staff also stated that another of their considerations
for selecting Washington National was that employees would
have the option of going to a specialist or getting a second
opinion whereas under the current Cigna plan, a person must
be referred by their primary physician to a specialist. Also
there was enhanced coverage on mental/nervous, substance
abuse, and chiropractic care.
Mayor Renner asked staff if ongoing negotiations were
continuing with other hospitals for inclusion on the list of
preferred hospitals. Staff replied positively.
Mayor Renner asked staff what kind of time frame would
be necessary to implement whatever change in insurance
coverage. Mr. Iampaglia responded that all employees would
have to go through an open enrollment process which would
have to be completed by December 22nd.
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Councilman Huffman stated that concerns aboutpreventativemedicine, routine innoculations and well -babycareserviceshadbeenregisteredtohimandaskedstaffiftheseservicescouldbeincorporatedintotheexistingCitywellnessprogram. Mr. Iampaglia responded positively if theCityenhancesit's current wellness program. Councilman Huffman asked staff about the cost when anindividualentersthehospital. Mr. Iampaglia stated thathospitalsroutinelytakeassignmentofbenefits, therefore, if an individual goes to a PPO hospital by showing theiridentificationcard, they will only be charged their 10% uptotheirout-of-pocket maximum.
Councilman Huffman asked staff the feasibility of the
City picking up the expense of the deductible if the employee
participates in the City's wellness program. Staff replied
that it would certainly prove helpful and that maybe
something could be done to alleviate costs of routine
innoculations.
Mayor Renner asked staff what would happen to people who
are undergoing hospital treatment. Mr. Iampaglia replied
that people who are hospitalized prior to midnight the 31st
of December, would have their treatment carried through. If
an individual is just under treatment and not currently in a
hospital but expects to go, they would have to meet the
deductible and might have to come up with some more money if
the hospital they intend to use is not on the PPO list. Mr.
Iampaglia said that people receiving treatment in a
non -hospital setting will receive treatment until the 31st of
December after which time they can continue to receive
treatment from the same therapist of physician but the
payment situation would alter to the new plan.
This item will be on the Council agenda tonight for
formal consideration.
3. DOWNTOWN AREA REDEVELOPMENT PLAN
Greg Marek of the Economic Development Department gave a
brief summary of the this issue by stating that according to
A.R.S. 36-1479, the City's Downtown Area Redevelopment Plan
must be in conformance with the City's General Plan. The
Redevelopment Plan was approved by City Council on January
24, 1989. The Redevelopment Plan no longer conforms to the
General Plan and, therefore, must be revised. The statute
requires the revised Redevelopment Plan be treated as a new
plan subject to all the statutory requirements.
Also, as part of the revisions to the Downtown Area
Redevelopment Plan, the City has the opportunity to correct
the perceived defect the court found in the 47th Avenue
Redevelopment Plan as part of the condemnation process in the
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Larry Miller Toyota Redevelopment project. By merging thedowntownand47thAvenueredevelopmentareas, the City canmakethefindingsrequiredbythecourtwhichwillallowittoproceedwithit's redevelopment activities along GlendaleAvenueandeastof51stAvenue. Since there are two redevelopment projects pending, Larry Miller Toyota and Cerreta Chocolate Company, staff isexpeditingtheprocesstoreadopttheDowntownAreaRedevelopmentPlan. This item will be brought back to Council on theDecember12thworkshopagenda.
Council workshop session was recessed at 4:20 p.m to
reconvene after the 5:00 Council meeting.
Council workshop session reconvened at 6:45 p.m. with
all Council and other officials present.
4. NORTH VALLEY SPECIFIC AREA PLAN AND REZONINGS
Staff gave a brief summary of the item by stating since
February of this year, Community Development and Engineering
staffs have been working with neighborhood groups, Westcor,
the City of Peoria and others to develop a plan for the area
affected by the proposed regional mall in the vicinity of
83rd Avenue and Bell Road. The North Valley Specific Area
Plan is recommended for approval by the Planning Commission
and comes to the Council with a large degree of agreement
among the parties.
Two rezonings are also before Council for approval on
December 12, 1989. Westcor Partners, Inc. is requesting
rezoning of most of the property in the plan area. The
request will bring their properties into conformance with the
specific area plan. The second request is made by Mr. George
Boutel, owner of property immediately adjacent to Westcor's
property and the Hidden Manor neighborhood. This request
will bring his property into conformance with the plan.
Gary Fulk and Hugo Malanga briefed Council on the
updates on the issues under contention between the various
developers. These concerned access, landscaping, building
height and internal circulation. Mr. Fulk said that another
area of concern, concerning the equestrian and bicycle path,
had also been worked out among the groups.
Representatives from Westcor, Mr. Boutel and some of the
homeowner groups thanked staff for the work they have done in
working out some of the concerns on this issue.
This item will be placed on a future Workshop agenda for
further discussion.
COUNCIL COMENTS AND SUGGESTIONSNone. P.h'1Lei 0 "121411:4 z 0There being no further items to come before the Council, the meeting adjourned at 8:00 p.m.
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Deputy City Clerk