Columbus, Georgia

MINUTES

COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

WORK SESSION

MAY 24, 2005



The regular monthly Work Session of the Council of Columbus, Georgia was

called to order at 9:02 A.M., Tuesday, May 24, 2005, on the Plaza Level of the

Government Center, Columbus, Georgia. Honorable Robert S. Poydasheff, Mayor and

Honorable John J. Rodgers, Mayor Pro Tem presiding.



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PRESENT: Present other than Mayor Poydasheff and Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers were

Councilors Wayne Anthony, Glenn Davis, Skip Henderson, Julius H. Hunter, Jr.,

Charles E. McDaniel, Jr., and Nathan Suber City Manager Isaiah Hugley, City

Attorney Clifton Fay, Clerk of Council Tiny B. Washington and Deputy Clerk of

Council Sandra Davis were also present. Councilor Evelyn Turner Pugh arrived

at

9:025 a.m. and Councilor Evelyn Woodson.



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ABSENT: Councilor R. Gary Allen was absent, but was excused upon the adoption

of Resolution Numbers 283-05.



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INVOCATION: Offered by Mayor Pro Tem John J. Rodgers.



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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Led by Mayor Robert S. Poydasheff.



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EMS AWARDS:



With Ms. Joanne McDaniel standing at the Council table, Councilor

Henderson read the proclamation of Mayor Poydasheff, proclaiming high honor and

recognition to Ms. Jo McDaniel for receiving the Joe Lane Cox Excellence in EMS

Award.



With Chief David Arrington, Deputy Director of the Fire/EMS Department

standing at the Council table, Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers read the proclamation of

Mayor Poydasheff, proclaiming high honor and recognition to Chief Arrington

upon him receiving the Dr. Zeb L. Burrell Award, Jr., Distinguished Service

Award.

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WITH THE COACH AND MEMBERS OF THE BROOKSTONE LADY COUGARS TENNIS TEAM

STANDING AT THE COUNCIL TABLE, THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS READ IN ITS

ENTIRETY BY COUNCILOR DAVIS AND ADOPTED BY THE

COUNCIL:__________________________________________





A Resolution (279-05) - Commending and congratulating the

Brookstone School Lady Cougars tennis team for winning their seventh Class A

State Championship. Councilor Davis moved the adoption of the resolution.

Seconded by Councilor Henderson and carried unanimously by those nine members

of Council present for this meeting standing to cast their affirmative vote.



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WITH THE COACH AND MEMBERS OF THE BROOKSTONE BOYS TENNIS TEAM STANDING AT

THE COUNCIL TABLE, THE FOLLOWING RESOLUTION WAS READ IN ITS ENTIRETY BY

COUNCILOR DAVIS AND ADOPTED BY THE COUNCIL:

________





A Resolution (280-05) - Commending and congratulating the Brookstone

School Boys Cougars tennis team for winning their first Class A State

Championship since 1987. Councilor Davis moved the adoption of the resolution.

Seconded by Councilor Hunter and carried unanimously by those nine members of

Council present for this meeting standing to cast their affirmative vote.



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ARMY CONVENTION:



Mayor Poydasheff said he would like to thank Councilor Davis, City Manager

Hugley and Deputy City Manager Goodwin for the support that they gave the

convention that we had this past weekend of Generals and Colonels representing

the Army, Retired. He said we had nothing but praise, and said it was a big

success and he want to publicly thank them for their support.

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CONSENT AGENDA



THE FOLLOWING ITEMS WERE SUBMITTED BY CITY ATTORNEY FAY AND APPROVED BY

THE COUNCIL PURSUANT TO THE ADOPTION OF A SINGLE MOTION MADE BY MAYOR PRO TEM

RODGERS AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR HENDERSON, WHICH CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE

NINE MEMBERS OF COUNCIL PRESENT FOR THIS

MEETING:___________________





An Ordinance (05-42) - Rezoning property located at 1111 Lockwood Avenue

from an RMF1 Residential Multi-Family 1) District to an RO (Residential-Office)

District. (23-CA-05-Merritt)



An Ordinance (05-43) Rezoning property located on part of 7209

Williams Hill Road from RE1 (Residential Estate 1) District to SFR1 (Single

Family Residential 1) District. (22-A-05-Ford)



A Resolution (281-05) ? Accepting a deed to Pheasant Loop Cul-de-sac

located in Section Three Quail Creek, on behalf of Columbus, Georgia.



A Resolution (282-05) Declaring the street segment and right-of-way of

Bankers Boulevard from its north right-of-way line south a distance of 141 feet

as surplus and transfer said property by Quit Claim to TIC Credit Union in

exchange for Parcel "A and "B" described by the attached plat.



A Resolution (283-05) - Excusing Councilor R. Gary Allen from the

May 24,2005 Council Meeting.



EXECUTIVE SESSION:



City Attorney Fay said we would like to have a brief executive session at

the conclusion of today?s meeting, to discuss a litigation matter.

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WORK SESSION - AGENDA:



GEORGIA HOUSE BILL 244 ELECTIONS LEGISLATION:



Mrs. Nancy Boren, of the Elections & Registration Department recognized

the presence of two members of the Board of Elections, who was present in the

audience this morning, Vice-Chairperson Margaret Jenkins and Mrs. Eleanor

White.



She said she has provided the Mayor & Council with a summary of the House

Bill 244 and pointed out that she will not go through the entire bill; however,

she will just skip to the sections that will have an impact on the Council, as

elected officials, and the City of Columbus as far as any cost that we may

incur for elections.



Ms. Boren then went into some details and outlined those sections, which

had changes that would affect our elected officials and the City, which

includes the following.



Section 10 ? Training for election officials



Section 14 ? Qualifying for non-partisan candidates. She said it changes

qualifying from the fourth Monday in April to the fourth Monday in June.



Ms. Boren said the reason for the change in the date of qualifying is

because the election will be held in November rather than July



Section 16 ? How you replace a candidate because of withdrawal, death or

disqualification



Section 17 ? Moving the judicial offices; which are also non-partisan to the

November ballot.



Section 18 - Moving the county non-partisan offices to the November ballot.



Ms. Boren said one of the things that we are going to see in moving all

the non-partisan elections to the November ballot is a longer ballot. She said

our system only has the capability to handle an 18-inch ballot; therefore, if

there are more candidates including the non-partisan, plus conditional

amendments or any questions that won?t fit on the front and back of an 18-inch

ballot, it may necessitate

having two ballots per voter on the paper ballots.



She then went into some details in explaining to the viewing audience, the

reason why we would have paper ballots.



Section 24 ? First time registrant; those registering for the first time



Section 27- Challenges to Voters



Section 29 ?National Change of Address



Section 37- All elections now must be won by a majority vote



Ms. Boren said the candidates must have the majority votes, which is 50%

plus one. She said there could conceivably be more runoffs because of the 50%

number that you must obtain in the vote.



Section 50 ? Provides 45-days absentee voting by mail for no reason.



Mrs. Boren said prior to this bill being passed, you had to have one of

the legal reasons for voting in an absentee ballot; which included that you

would be out of your precinct, a religious holiday, was a public safety officer

who had to be work during election. However, this new change allows for

absolutely no reason absentee voting by mail. She said they are anticipating

that with this 45-day no voting and advanced voting, that no one will show up

at the precinct.



She said if you can vote for 45-days in the comfort of your home, it?s

going to have to be a lot better than having to go to a voting precinct.



Mayor Poydasheff and several members of the Council expressed their

concern regarding the Absentee ballot, after which Mrs. Boren then responded to

questions of members of the Council.



Section 51- Campaign materials is allowed to be attached to absentee ballots



Section 53- Provides that no absentee ballot will be cast on the Monday prior

to the election



Mrs. Boren said you are probably going to hear some complaints from voters

who come into their office and want to vote on Monday and can?t because there

is no absentee voting on Monday at all.



After Mrs. Boren concluded her presentation on the changes of the Election

Legislation, Mayor Poydasheff and City Manager Hugley then responded to

questions of Councilor Woodson as to whether or not our Legislative Liaison was

there when this bill was being discussed and did they provide any input.



Mrs. Boren also responded to that concern of Councilor Woodson.









Section 57 & 58- Advanced voting sites.





Ms. Boren said, as you know we had 10,000 people to vote absentee prior to

Election Day in November 2004; however, there were no guidelines providing for

protection of political campaigning or issues within advanced voting site. She

said this clarifies the political campaigning issues surrounding advanced

voting sites. She said it is the same as within a precinct, 150 feet from the

outer wall in which that advanced voting site is going on.



Section 59 ? Voter ID



Mrs. Boren said this is the section that got most of all the attention.

She said this deals with the identification allowable for first time voters.

She said this is probably where you will hear the most complaints the first

election day that this happens because there is a Federal law under HAVA, (Help

Americans Vote Act, which requires first-time registrants to be allowed to show

any type of identification that was previously permissible, i.e. utility bill,

bank statement, an id, hunting or fishing license, but yet voters who have been

established and voting at a particular site, must show a photo id.



Mrs. Boren went into more details in explaining this section to the

Council.



Section 63- Majority Vote versus Puerility Vote



Mrs. Boren said this section also changes the time period for a general

election runoff from 21-days to 28-days. She said as must of you know, that

28-day period will then put election day the Tuesday after Thanksgiving; which

puts the week of advanced voting, Monday ? Friday, but Thursday is Thanksgiving

and Friday is a typical holiday for us, which only makes Monday ? Wednesday

available for advanced voting.



Councilor Davis said at the appropriate time, he would suggest that some

of these changes could be charted and aired on CCG-TV to remind the citizens of

what they need to do.



Mrs. Boren said they do have a plan in place whereby each month; wherever

they are in the process, they will talk about what that process is.



Section 66- Indigents obtaining Identification Cards



Mrs. Boren said those who are indigent would be allowed to obtain an

identification card without cost once they prove that they are registered

voter.



Section 69-



Mrs. Boren said they were hoping that if the Department of Justice did

away with the Voter ID Section that the entire bill would be approved, but it

is not. She said only the section that the Department of Justice doesn?t agree

is the section that will not be applicable. She said most of these sections

would be applicable in January 2006.



She said this bill will have a lot of impact on how they do business and

they probably will discover other things as time goes on.



Mayor Poydasheff thanked Mrs. Boren for the job that she does.



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EXPRESS POLL:



Mrs. Boren also provided information on the Express Poll, which said she

is another piece of the Uniformed Voting System that the State of Georgia will

be rolling out, beginning in the July 2006 primary.



She then highlighted the following information as outlined below.





? Cost

? ExpressPoll 4000 (the model being purchased by the state) - $2,500 per unit

? Computer Module

? Base

? Case ( 29? x 22? x 12?)

? External Power Supply

? Memory Card

? Networking Cable

? Cost

? ExpressPoll 2000 (a hand-held version) - $1,702.50 per unit

? Computer Module ? AC Adapter

? Memory Card



? Storage

? Diebold is developing a case that will store two (2) ExpressPoll 4000 units

at a time.

? ExpressPolls can be charged in the same fashion as DREs

? ExpressPolls will need to be stored in a climate-controlled environment as

are DREs.

? Access to ExpressPolls will need to be limited as well.

? State purchased units is under warranty through December 31, 2006. County

Allotment

? A minimum of one and a maximum of two ExpressPolls are being allotted to

every precinct in the state

? Precincts with over 500 voters are allotted 2 ExpressPolls

Absentee and Provisional precincts were not included in this allocation



? Timeline of Events

? Certification Testing

? Acceptance Testing

? Delivery

? Pilot Projects

? Statewide Training

? Statewide Use





? Timeline of Events

? Acceptance Testing

? Will be conducted by KSU at the Diebold facility in Atlanta. Once

units are tested they will be assigned to a county and delivered to the county

by Diebold

? Once units arrive, a short test must be performed by a county official to

validate delivery

ExpressPoll Facts

? Timeline of Events

? Delivery

? Counties will begin to see equipment being delivered to their locations by

late summer, early fall.

? Counties participating in pilot projects will be first on the list for

delivery

? We anticipate all state-purchased units being delivered by the end of the

calendar year

? Timeline of Events

? Pilot Projects

? Pilots will be performed to refine the design and procedures surrounding

ExpressPoll

? Only one county will serve as a pilot in September, up to 25 counties will

serve as pilot areas in November 2005, and up to 25 more counties will serve as

pilot areas in March 2006





? Timeline of Events

? Training is being provided to four (4) officials per county (2 election

officials, and 2 registration officials)

? Those attending the training will be expected to train their county poll

workers prior to elections in which ExpressPoll is used

? County attendees will be required to bring their own ` equipment to training



? Statewide Use

? Scheduled for July 2006



? State Involvement

? The state, through KSU, will be highly involved in the preparation of all

ExpressPolls prior to an election

? KSU will perform the task of marrying the state VR file with all 159 GEMS

databases and creating the necessary memory cards that power the ExpressPoll

? The state will deliver the prepared memory cards to the county for insertion

into the ExpressPolls

? Upon the conclusion of the election, all memory cards must be returned to the

state for data collection

? Once collected, the state will extract the collected data so necessary

records for record retention are created

? Credit for voting will be automatically uploaded to the state VR system

ExpressPoll Facts



? Numbered List of Voters

? ExpressPoll is being designed to maintain an accurate Numbered List of Voters

that can be viewed on screen at any time.

? ExpressPoll will be able to show a separate Numbered List of Voters based by

party in a primary scenario, as well as a combined numbered list.

? The Numbered List of Voters will display the voter?s name, party of choice

(in primary), and time at which the voter card was issued.



ExpressPoll Facts

? Miscellaneous

? Training Memory Cards

? The state has purchased a limited amount of 256mb compact flash memory cards

to distribute to the counties for testing and training purposes

? Counties can purchase additional compact flash memory cards ($33.75 for a

256mb card)

? The state has purchased a complete set (one for each ExpressPoll) of 2G and

4G compact memory cards. Cards this size are needed to accommodate the entire

state VR file ($200 and $300 respectfully)



? Bells and Whistles

? The ExpressPoll has additional features that will not be activated during the

initial deployment of the equipment

? As we progress in the use of this equipment, certain elements of the system

may be activated (e.g. barcode reader, electronic signature pad, etc?)



After the conclusion of her presentation, Mrs. Boren then responded to

several questions of members of the Council.



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MEDICARE PART ?D?:



Mr. Tom Barron gave a detailed report on Medicare Part ?D? and highlighted

the following information, as outlined below.



MEDICARE PART D

What is Part D?

? Part D is the new Medicare prescription drug benefit.

? Part D effective date is January 1, 2006.

? The City must decide how Part D will impact our current prescription plan

? Both Medicare and Medicare eligible retirees must be notified of the City

decision.



What Does Part D Pay?



What Does Part D Cost?

? 2006 Monthly Premium is $35 ($420 Yr)

? Low Income Retirees Pay Less

? Income below 135% of poverty, no deductible no premium

? Between 135% & 150% of poverty, reduced deductible and premium

Future Cost Increases From Congressional Budget Office

Future Cost Increases From Congressional Budget Office

Impact of Part D on Post 65 health plan & City Options



Option 1 - Pay Part D Premium For Retirees

? Cancel Rx plan, Health premium not changed.

? City loses control of plan design and cost controls. CaMedicare in charge

with cost increases projected at 9.3% per year, but could be much more.

? If retiree does not take their medication due to cost, can increase health

plan expense.

? Projected $269,220 first year cost but $1.06 Million City Rx plan savings.

? First year net savings of about $793,200.



Option 1 - Pay Part D Premium For Retirees

?As a variation, the payment to retirees could be as an increase to their

income.

?By not linking directly to Part D premium, future increases optional.

?First Year Costs and savings the same.

?Impacts pension unfunded liability and increases cash flow requirements.



Option 2 ? Provide Wrap-Around or Supplemental Coverage

? Cancel drug card but pay portion (such as 80%) of what Part D does not cover.

? Medicare co-pay increases projected at 11% per year, escalating City costs.

? This approach transfers catastrophic Rx costs to City because of Medicare

rules.

n Actuarial analysis required to predict actual costs and/or first year savings.

n In-house estimated cost of $293,000 and first year net savings of $769,400.





Option 3 - Keep Current Rx Plan & Receive Medicare Subsidy

n BCBS actuaries have determined that our current Rx plan is equivalent or

better than Medicare Part D.

n This allows City to participate in the subsidy program, reserving long-term

decisions until actual Part D operating data is available.



Option 3 - Subsidy Program

n Subsidy equals 28% of Part D Rx claims between $250 & $5,000 per beneficiary.

n Medicare estimates average rebate $668 per beneficiary in 2006 or CCG total

of about $428,000. We believe that the total savings may only be about

$300,000.

n Actuarial analysis required to predict actual costs and/or first year savings.



Option 4 - Cancel Retiree Rx Plan

n Retirees move to Part D Medicare.

n Returns plan to pre 1995 status when retirees not eligible for Rx benefits.

n Net first year savings $1.06 Million.

n As an option, no health plan increase for 2006 and future health plan

increases limited. This reduces 2006 budgeted plan revenue by $92,300.





Summary of First Year Option Cost or Savings projections

Retiree Part D Concerns

n High & Increasing Premium Costs.

n Low Basic Rx Benefits.

n High Threshold For Catastrophic Coverage.

n Large & Increasing Coverage Gaps.

n Loss of Better City Rx Coverage.





Tricare

Four Tricare Programs

n Prime is for military retirees and dependents under age 65 ? provides highest

level of timely benefits. Similar to an HMO.

n Extra has higher co-pays and a provider network. Similar to a PPO.

n Standard has even higher co-pays but less restricted access to providers.

Similar to a traditional indemnity plan.

n Tricare for Life is for age 65+ retirees enrolled in Medicare Part B

Tricare & CCG Retiree Annual Cost Comparison

Tricare & CCG Employee Annual Cost Comparison





Why should Retirees and Employees Prefer Tricare?

n Lower premiums.

n Comparable benefits.

n Lower provider co-pays.

n Lower prescription costs.



Why Would Employees and Retirees Stay on City Plan?

n BCBS network may be better than Tricare Prime and Extra networks for some

health conditions.

n Tricare Standard allows a better choice of providers but the benefits are not

as good as with the City plans.

n Retiree may not be enrolled in Medicare B.

n 73 employees responded to Tricare survey ? 21 are on City HMO, 7 on PPO and

45 have no City health coverage.



Tricare Rx Carveout - A First Step

n Retirees cannot use Tricare Rx if covered by City Rx plan that is part of the

health plan.

n Some retirees may be eligible for Tricare but won?t leave the City medical

plan.

n Because Tricare Rx co-payments are so low ($0, $3 or $9), they may be willing

to leave the Rx plan only.

n Retirees who permanently leave Rx plan get better benefit & $5 premium

savings.

n City Rx liability reduced for those leaving.





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EXECUTIVE SESSION:



Regarding an earlier request of City Attorney Fay, Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers

made a motion to allow the Council to go into an executive session. Seconded by

Councilor Suber and carried unanimously by those eight members of Council

present at the time, with Councilor Anthony being absent for this vote and

Councilor Allen being absent from the meeting.



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At 10:30 a.m., the regular session was adjourned and the Council went into

an executive session.



At 11:24 a.m., the meeting was called back to order, at which time Mayor

Poydasheff pointed out that the Council did meet in an executive session to

discuss a litigation matter, but there was no votes taken.



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With there being no other business to come before this Council, Mayor Pro

Tem Rodgers then made a motion for adjournment, with the meeting ending at

11:26 a.m., with Councilor Suber being absent at this time.







Tiny B. Washington, CMC

Clerk of Council

The Council of Columbus, Georgia