Columbus, Georgia

Minutes



COUNCIL BRIEFING



Meeting

August 19, 2003



Members Present: Mayor Pro Tem John J. Rodgers and Councilors R. Gary Allen,

Wayne Anthony, Glenn Davis, Berry Henderson, Julius Hunter, Jr., Charles E.

McDaniel, Jr., Evelyn Turner Pugh, Nathan Suber and Evelyn Woodson. Also

present were Mayor Robert S. Poydasheff, City Manager Carmen Cavezza and City

Attorney Clifton Fay.



Members Absent: No one was absent.

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Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers called the meeting to order at 8:47 a.m. in the Council

Chambers Conference Room, Plaza Level, Government Center.



Pension Plan:

City Manager Cavezza said that when we brought Mercer University in to do a

study, we wanted all of the elements for the Pension Plan, Healthcare Plan,

etc. to be a part of that. He pointed out that the long term disability is

just a piece of it.



Human Resources Director Tom Barron stated that a person could qualify for the

major disability plan, if they qualify for social security. He explained if

the Council approves the proposal for Long Term Disability; then, we would

suspend that plan for two years while we run a test to see what is going to

happen. In response to questions from Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers, Human Resources

Director Barron replied that there would be a ninety day wait and the inability

to perform their current job. He explained that under the Disability Plan for

a period of one year for Public Safety and two years for General Government

with the inability to perform in an employee?s regular occupation, but after

that time, it becomes the inability to perform any occupation, which is similar

to the Social Security?s definition.



Councilor Turner Pugh pointed out that right now, employees give their vacation

time to sick employees, but with this plan, the City is going to be paying an

employee long term disability income. She pointed out that a lot of employees

are not using their vacation time, because they are giving those days to

employees that need it. City Manager Cavezza expressed his concerns with

employees donating their vacation time to other employees, because it is

getting out of control. Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers maintained that the employees

were the ones that brought this matter to the Council, because they wanted to

have the ability to donate their vacation time.



Mayor Poydasheff suggested that we deal with the insurance portion first, and

address these other issues at a later time. City Manager Cavezza said that we

can break the two apart and ask the Council to approve the life insurance

renewal, which is a significant savings over the last one.



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Metra Buses:

City Manager Cavezza advised that we have four buses that are sales tax buses

and two that are Federal and State support buses that are coming in. He added

there would be six more sales tax buses coming in over the next few years. He

said that he would also mention this during the Council Meeting.



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Department of Fire and EMS:

City Manager Cavezza called attention to the first reading ordinance, listed on

the City Attorney?s Agenda, to revise the promotional procedures for the

Department of Fire and EMS. He then briefly explained the reason for the

revision.



Mayor Poydasheff concurred with the comments made by the City Manager. He

added this was a problem that was brought up by Fire Chief Roy Waters and

supported by the two Assistant Chiefs. He sad that in a large sense, the

employees support it.



In response to a question from Councilor Davis, City Manager Cavezza contended

that this has been resolved with the consultants and they are now on board with

this. Councilor Davis then requested a report on all of the EMS ambulances, at

which time, City Manager Cavezza pointed out that the problem is not with the

ambulances, but with the shortage of paramedics.



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Veterans Parkway @ Williams Road:

City Manager Cavezza said there have been some traffic tie ups at Veterans

Parkway and Williams Road, where the new Northside High School is located. He

said it is going to get worse, because next year they would add the senior

class, and if the School Board receives the SPLOST, they would be adding two

more schools; an elementary and middle school in that area. He said that we

need to move ahead with some engineering planning in that area to deal with the

traffic. Councilor Suber asked to be provided with the overall cost for the

rock removal at Northside High School.



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Meeting adjourned 9:00 a.m.





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Sandra T. Davis, Deputy Clerk of Council