Columbus, Georgia

MINUTES

COUNCIL OF COLUMBUS, GEORGIA

WORK SESSION

OCTOBER 22, 2002





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

called to order at 9:02 A.M., Tuesday, October 22, 2002, in the Council

Chambers, Government Center, Columbus, Georgia. Honorable Bobby G. Peters,

Mayor and Honorable John J. Rodgers, Mayor Pro Tem, presiding.



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

Councilors R. Gary Allen, Glenn Davis, Berry Henderson, Julius H. Hunter, Jr.,

Charles E. McDaniel, Jr., Richard Smith, Nathan Suber and Evelyn Woodson. City

Manager Carmen Cavezza, City Attorney Clifton Fay, and Deputy Clerk of Council

Sandra Davis were also present.



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ABSENT: Councilor Evelyn Turner Pugh was absent. Clerk of Council Tiny B.

Washington was also absent.



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INVOCATION: Led by Pastor Tim Jones- Britt David Baptist Church.



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PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Led by Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers.



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ABSENCE OF COUNCILOR PUGH:



Mayor Peters wished Councilor Evelyn Turner Pugh well for she is still at

St. Francis Hospital.



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RECOGNITION OF MAYOR-ELECT ROBERT POYDASHEFF:



Mayor Peters recognized the presence of Mayor-Elect Robert Poydasheff, who

was seated in the audience.



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GRAND OPENING OF CARABAS ITALIAN RESTAURANT:



Mr. Mike Harold, came forward to announce the grand opening of Carabas

Italian Restaurant. He said that it would be located at the new shopping

center off Whittlesey Boulevard. He thanked those departments involved with

this process for assisting him in making this a smooth project.

He announced that the restaurant is scheduled to open on October 28, 2002, and

on that date, we will be having our charity night where half of all of our

sales would be donated to the Hands on Columbus. He maintained that typically

every time we open a new restaurant we donate to this charity. He then provided

some background information on the establishment of Carabas Italian Restaurant.



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PROCLAMATIONS:



Mayor Peters called attention to three Public Safety Employees that would

be retiring: Warden Charlie Golden, Muscogee County Prison, Assistant Chief

Wesley Mott, Jr., Columbus Police Department and Sergeant Rudolph Marshall

Lovell, Columbus Police Department. Mayor Peters pointed out that between

these three individuals, there stands 101 years of experience in public

safety.



?HONORING THE RETIREMENT OF WARDEN CHARLIE GOLDEN?:



With Warden Charlie Golden standing at the Council table, Mayor Peters

read excerpts of his proclamation, proclaiming high honor and recognition of

Warden Charlie Golden on his retirement from the City Government.



Mayor Peters added that under the leadership of Warden Golden, the

Muscogee County Prison has put more inmates out working on the streets than any

other facility in the state. He pointed out that Warden Golden is the first

minority ever appointed to department head in public safety and that is some

historical data. He stated that Warden Golden is also the first

African-American to retire as a department head in public safety.



?HONORING THE RETIREMENT OF ASSISTANT CHIEF WESLEY MOTT, JR.?:



With Assistant Chief Wesley Mott, Jr. standing at the Council table, Mayor

Peters read excerpts of his proclamation, proclaiming high honor and

recognition of Assistant Chief Wesley Mott, Jr. on his retirement from the City

Government.



Mayor Peters provide a chronology of promotions leading to his current

position as Assistant Chief. He announced that the retirement ceremony would

be October 23, 2002, at 2:00 p.m.



?HONORING THE RETIREMENT OF SERGEANT RUDOLPH MARSHALL LOVELL?:



With Sergeant Rudolph Marshall Lovell standing at the Council table, Mayor

Peters read excerpts of his proclamation, proclaiming high honor and

recognition of Sergeant Rudolph Marshall Lovell on his retirement from the City

Government.



Mayor Peters pointed out that Sergeant Rudolph Marshall Lovell has been

very active with the FOP to make sure that the City Officials stay focused on

public safety issues.





After individually addressing each of the three Public Safety employees

that would be retiring, Mayor Peters said that this is a tremendous loss to the

Consolidated Government and thanked Warden Golden, Assistant Chief Mott and

Sergeant Lovell for the fabulous jobs they have done. The Mayor and each

member of Council gave the three individuals a standing ovation.



Assistant Chief Mott, Warden Golden and Sergeant Lovell took this

opportunity to make some brief comments.



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INTRODUCTION OF NEW EXECUTIVE OFFICER:



Mr. Jack Wright, President of the Greater Columbus Homebuilders

Association, came forward to introduce the new Executive Officer, Ms. Mary

Martis.



Ms. Mary Martis, Executive Officer, invited the members of Council to the

Legislative Fish Fry that would be held in the parking lot, at 6432 Bradley

Park Drive, on October 24, 2002.



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TUSKEGEE/MOREHOUSE:



Mayor Peters reminded everyone that the 67th Annual Tuskegee/Morehouse

Football Classic was held over the weekend. He pointed out that there were

more than 20,000 people in attendance. He added that Actor Denzel Washington

was present to watch his son, who plays football for Morehouse University.



Councilor Hunter concurred that we had a lot going on this weekend. He

pointed out that the football game was held during the daytime and televised

nationally; Columbus did receive good exposure. He mentioned that with Denzel

Washington and other stars here in Columbus filming a movie, it was really an

exciting weekend.

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MINUTES: Minutes of the October 8, 2002 meeting of the Council of the

Consolidated Government of Columbus, Georgia were submitted and approved

unanimously by those nine members present for this meeting, upon the adoption

of a motion made by Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers and seconded by Councilor Woodson.

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RECOGNITION OF POLICE CHIEF WILLIE DOZIER:



Mayor Peters recognized the presence of Police Chief Willie Dozier, who

was seated in the audience.

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CONSENT AGENDA:



THE FOLLOWING DEMOLITION ORDINANCE LISTED ON FIRST READING WAS INTRODUCED

BY CITY ATTORNEY FAY AND A PUBLIC HEARING WAS

HELD:





An Ordinance - Providing for the demolition of a structure located at 1649

Elvan Avenue (Murtuza Ali Khan, owner) and for demolition services for the

Inspections and Code Division in accordance with the Tabulation of Bid sheet.



Mr. Murtuza Ali Khan came forward to acknowledge that he has obtain

receipt of the deed in his name. He said that he also has a letter from a

banking institute that would provide the financing to fix the property and a

letter from a reputable contractor, who would do the work.



Ms. Rebecca Wiggins, from the Inspections and Code Enforcement Division

said that she has not seen the documents that have been mentioned by Mr. Khan,

but would like the opportunity to review them. She said they would then be

able to provide a report to Council by next week.



Councilor Henderson requested that the Inspections and Code Enforcement

Division come up with some kind of a time line to let the Council know about

how much time would be necessary in order to give Mr. Khan a definite window of

when we expect repairs to be done.



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THE FOLLOWING TWO RESOLUTIONS WERE SUBMITTED AND APPROVED BY THE COUNCIL

UPON A SINGLE MOTION MADE BY MAYOR PRO TEM RODGERS AND SECONDED BY COUNCILOR

SMITH WHICH CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY BY THOSE NINE MEMBERS PRESENT FOR THIS MEETING:







A Resolution (584-02) - Authorizing a request to declare eminent domain to

acquire property located at 411 ? 8th Street to clear title for the Historic

Columbus Foundation, Inc.



A Resolution (585-02) - Authorizing a request to accept responsibility as

pass-through agent for an $8,000.00 grant through the Georgia Department of

Community Affairs ? Governor?s Emergency Fund Grant for the Eastway Youth

Football League to purchase uniforms for indigent children.



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NEW ZONING PETITION:



THE FOLLOWING NEW ZONING PETITION WAS SUBMITTED AND AN ORDINANCE WAS

CALLED FOR BY MAYOR PRO TEM RODGERS:



Petition submitted by the Department of Community Reinvestment to rezone

properties located at 4907,4909, 5110, 5106 & 5015 - 11th Avenue; 4801 Ingram

Avenue; 4803, 4826, 4806, 4732, 4728 & 4726 - 13th Avenue; 4714, 4749, 4751,

5127, 5129 & 5031 - 12th Avenue; 1120, 1114 & 1110 - 48th Street; and 4602

Gilbert Avenue from a C-3 District to an R-3 District. (Recommended for

approval by both the Planning Advisory Commission and the Planning Division.)

(55-A-02-Dept. of Community Reinvestment)



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WORK SESSION AGENDA:



COLUMBUS CONVENTION/VISITORS? BUREAU PERFORMANCE INDICATORS:



City Manager Cavezza asked Ms. Brenda Price, Executive Director and Mr.

Peter Bowden, Deputy Director, to give an information briefing to the Council

on the status of the CCVB at this time.



Ms. Brenda Price, Columbus Convention & Visitor?s Bureau Executive

Director, came forward to announce that this was a big weekend for Columbus,

and reiterated some previous comments made by Councilor Hunter regarding the

Tuskegee/Morehouse football game, national radio programs being televised, Arts

on the Rivers, movie filming, etc. She advised that we are present to report

on the CCVB progress report for this past year. She then called upon Mr. Peter

Bowden.



Mr. Peter Bowden, gave a presentation of the Convention?s sales summary.

He highlighted some of those numbers in the report. Mayor Peters asked about

the amount of advertisement that is being done outside of Columbus, at which

time, Ms. Price replied that a majority of those advertisements were outside of

Columbus, because we do very little advertisement in Columbus.



Mr. Bowden continued by displaying a chart that shows the comparison of

cities that Columbus directly competes with, which also shows that Columbus is

last with the major cities in that competition. He expressed confidence in

that we gave a good return on investments on behalf of the city with the

dollars that we do receive through the hotel/motel tax. He reviewed the trends

that are being watched as we plan for the future.



Mr. Bowden briefed the Council on some ways we are working to enhance our

product and are listed below:



- Encourage the development of full-service properties. (We are working very

closely with the Trade Center staff and those individuals that are looking to

locate an additional property in the downtown area to support the Trade Center

expansion.)



- Partnership opportunities. (Increase visibility to our presence in the

Georgia On My Mind travel guide.)



- Continue to work the ABFAB Program (Educational Program)



He outlined their measurement of success as to what we are looking at

towards the future.



? Strategic Planning

? Alliance Partnering

? Customer Focus

? Branding



Ms. Price added that with the encouragement of Councilor Pugh and the

City, the new community calendar has been launched within the last six months.

She reported that we have had over 29,000 hits on there.



Mayor Peters said that the CCVB list all of the events that come to

Columbus as accomplishments, but he would like to know exactly how many events

CCVB actually brings in. Ms. Price replied that they do break that out in the

monthly report to the board. She explained that we tell exactly how many

events CCVB is responsible for and all others. City Manager Cavezza and

Councilor Hunter also made comments in this regard.



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SPECIAL EVENTS GUIDELINES:



City Manager Cavezza briefly explained that a committee was formed to

address events in Uptown. He advised that the concept is that the business

people in Uptown come together by way of this committee and create their own

rules and guidelines from which they would do special events. He advised that

Mr. Lon Marlowe chaired this committee, and then asked that Mr. Marlowe come

forward.



Mr. Lon Marlowe, approached the podium and using an overhead projector

proceeded with his presentation. (A copy of the entire document titled Uptown

Columbus, Inc. Central Riverfront District Special Event Permit Guidelines are

a part of this record and on file in the Clerk?s Office.) He began by thanking

the members of Council for allowing him to give an informational briefing on

the Central Riverfront District Special Events Permit Guidelines. He explained

that this committee was formed in April 2002. He pointed out that the major

focus seems to have been a lack of clear guidance on how people, who wanted to

have a special event downtown, could get their application in and who they

should go through. He mentioned that fifteen individuals volunteered, but

thirteen showed up and he was elected as chairman. He pointed out that we met

over a ten-month period.



He outlined the specific purposes of the guidelines, which include the

following as mentioned during the presentation:



? Protect the public health, safety and welfare of Uptown workers, merchants,

residents and visitors during special events.



? Facilitate and assist in the development of well planned and executed special

events by providing rules to follow



? Conduct high quality special events that create a vibrant and attractive

pedestrian environment



? Produce an appropriate number and mix of events to avoid saturation,

financial risk, boredom by the public and a negative physical impact on City

property due to overuse.



Mr. Marlowe mentioned each bullet as listed regarding the guidelines and

are provided below:



? The City has priority use on any City property or right-of-way in the CRD.



? Applicants who have held an event in the previous year will have the first

priority for the same time and location.



? Special event permits will not be issued for a time period of more than (3)

three days.



? The City of Columbus may refuse or require alterations to permit applications.



? Special Event permits for activities along the Riverwalk must be processed

through Parks & Recreation and coordinated with Uptown Columbus, Inc.



? Any misrepresentation in the application or deviation from the final agreed

upon method of operation described on the application may result in immediate

revocation of the permit.



Mr. Marlowe then called attention to some of the fees involved in this

process and are listed as follows:



? Application Fee - $50.00 (nonrefundable)

? Rental Fee - $1,500. for CRD members and $2,500 for non-CRD members.

? Event Sponsors would remit 20% of the revenues produced on City Property in

addition to the 10% tax on alcohol.



He pointed out that the committee worked through these and was basically

done with consensus. He said that there were only two votes taken with the

final vote in accepting the entire guidelines being eight to three. He

explained that it was his understanding that the three people who voted against

the guidelines were opposed to the rental fee.



Councilor Suber then asked what was the purpose of the $1,500.00 fee, at

which time, Mr. Marlowe pointed out that this fee is for the use of City

property and to maintain and market CRD. He maintained that the mechanics of

it has not been worked out, but the $1,500. for CRD members would either go

through the City or Uptown Columbus. He commented that 80% of that fee would

be used to market the CRD with the remaining 20% to be used by Uptown Columbus,

Inc. for operations downtown.



Mr. Marlowe then spent several minutes attempting to clarify the reasoning

for the $1,500.00 fee; especially, the portion regarding the marketing of

Uptown Columbus. Mayor Peters expressed his concerns with the fee and

suggested that when a person puts on an event, there should not be a fee.

Councilor Suber reiterated that he is still not convinced, because it seems as

though 100% goes to Uptown Columbus, because the 80% goes to Uptown Columbus

for marketing purposes and they also get the remaining 20%. City Manager

Cavezza also made comments to explain the process.



Mayor Peters pointed out that most businesses downtown were of the opinion

that when they voted to create BID (Business Improvement District), that a

specific property tax increase would go towards promotions and the clean up of

Uptown Columbus. Mr. Marlowe pointed out that very little of the BID money

from the taxes actually go towards marketing; it would have to come from

another source.



Councilor Woodson reported that she did take part in the establishment of

the committee, but was unable to attend the meetings because of a conflict with

the time the meetings were to be held. She then asked if the fee would be

charged to nonprofit organizations; for example, senior citizens, who may want

to have an art show in the median, at which time, Mr. Marlowe said in all

probability, we would not charge nonprofit organizations that may come down for

this type of activity. Councilor Woodson then expressed concerns in the

differential charge for CRD members and non-CRD members, at which time, Mr.

Marlowe advised that he does not have a problem with standardizing that fee.



Councilor Woodson requested some additional clarification regarding the

tax that was done to the merchants through BID, because it was her

understanding that some of the money collected was for marketing, security and

advertisement. Mr. Marlowe suggested that the BID come back to the Council to

explain its budget. Councilor Woodson then requested that City Manager Cavezza

provide a work session to discuss what the actual tax dollars were designed to

do.



There was continued discussion on this matter along with concerns raised

by Councilor Suber regarding the safety issues in Uptown. Mayor Peters

addressed the issue of the time frame that these events must be concluded, at

which time, City Manager Cavezza advised that this is something that could be

addressed administratively.



Mr. Marlowe commented that when we started on this, we were just looking

at a process; then, we started looking at some control. He pointed out that

the process of how to submit the application and get approval is the major

focus. He suggested that a committee be formed; so, that there is an orderly

process by which people could have events in Uptown. He then briefly mentioned

the enclosure of the Special Events Committee approval criteria. He pointed

out that no matter what the recommendation of the committee may be, the

individual that is applying, has the right to go to the City Manager and to

this Council and request that the recommendation of the committee be voided.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers pointed out that the need for this committee has

evolved from the request of the entertainment community to have events. He

said that what he believes Mr. Marlowe is suggesting to the members of Council

is that entertainment is fine if it has its parameters, but to have a vibrant

downtown, we are being cautioned not to go too far to the extreme, where it has

run vibrant commercial enterprise out of that area of downtown.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers added that this money, if the policy is adopted, is

going to the very same place that it is going now, only with better control and

oversight. City Manager Cavezza agreed with this comment.



There was some additional discussion on this matter with Mr. Marlowe

responding to different scenarios as presented by Mayor Peters regarding an

event where entertainment is provided and a street closure to determine the

fees involved.



Mayor Peters asked about the clean up of Uptown after an event, at which

time, City Manager Cavezza replied that BID does the clean up, but if there is

any additional clean up required; then, Uptown pays the City for the assistance.



In conclusion of this presentation, City Manager Cavezza pointed out that

there normally isn?t any discussion from the audience during a work session,

but he maintained that we are not here to get Council?s approval per se. He

contended that these are guidelines established by the committee and the intent

is to put a Special Events Committee in place that makes recommendations that

oversees the process and works closely with him and Uptown Columbus, Inc. He

determined that they have come together with some very reasonable guidelines

that are at least worth trying out for a while to see how they would work out.

He said that unless the Council has some serious objections to that, he would

go ahead and tell them to use these guidelines and we would continue to look at

them. He pointed out that such things as how late the bands would play are

ordinance issues, but he believes that if the Special Events Committee makes

recommendation that the bands be allowed to play until midnight; then, we could

work with that.



Regarding the composition of the committee, Councilor Woodson suggested

that this not be a very large committee and one that is diverse with the

downtown and the community. Mr. Marlowe pointed out that there was a

suggestion made that the Special Events Guideline Committee members also become

the new Special Events Committee members. City Manager Cavezza then asked that

those Guideline Committee members that are present to stand. (Approximately

nine people rose by their seats.)



Councilor Henderson made a motion that citizens in the audience could be

heard on this issue that have dissenting views regarding these guidelines.

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

Council present for this meeting.



Mr. Buddy Nelms, came forward to express his concerns in that he had

applied for eight events last year, but did not have one event approved by

Uptown, Inc. He explained that the City Council did graciously approve him to

have a nice and clean event. He called attention to the $1,500.00 fee and the

30% tax and determined that, out of the eleven events that were held and

determined profitable; once, these numbers are applied, nine of those eleven

events would not have been profitable.



Mr. Nelms responded to questions from Councilor McDaniel regarding some

suggestions pertaining to the guidelines and his disagreeable working

relationship with Uptown Columbus, Inc.



Mr. Nelms requested to be provided a copy of the guidelines, because there

was a vote by the committee that there would be a separate checking account

from Uptown Columbus, Inc. that this money would go into and the merchants in

downtown on how this money would be spent would control those marketing

dollars. He made a correction in that the Special Events Committee would

control the money.



In response to Councilor Suber regarding the fees, Mr. Nelms responded

that he feels the fees are excessive. Councilor Suber then expressed his

concerns with implementing this process starting today without the Council

having anything to say about it. He said there needs to be additional work on

these guidelines.



Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers reiterated that any recommendation that comes from

the Special Events Committee has the right to be appealed before this Council.



Councilor Henderson asked for the suggestion of Mr. Nelms regarding the

fees, at which time, Mr. Nelms responded by saying that he felt that it should

either be one flat fee or a percentage, but not a combination of both. He said

his suggestion would be a percentage.



Mr. Marlowe approached the podium once again and indicated that he would

not see a problem in the committee considering that, if the $1,500.00 would

count against the 20%. He explained that we have to have that flat rate.

Councilor Henderson said that he would not be making that as a recommendation,

but would hope that the committee takes some of this discussion regarding fees

into consideration. He added that there has been some discussion regarding

individuals outside of the Central Riverfront District bringing an event

downtown; whereas, he would doubt that there would be a huge number of evening

events presented from outside the CRD. Mr. Marlowe pointed out that by putting

that fee up for the non CRD members it would discourage those people from

having events downtown, because the merchants have expressed that they would

not like to see somebody come down on Broadway, host an event and sell alcohol

from outside of the CRD.



In response to a comment from Mayor Peters, Mr. Marlowe cautioned that if

the City wants to look at changing the ordinance; then, anytime the hours are

extended, the City should look towards the security aspect also, because the

BID does not have the money to do that, without some type of change in the

revenue stream.



City Manager Cavezza suggested that with the committee?s concurrence that

we have one more committee meeting to address the fee and the establishment of

the Special Events Committee; then, we could bring it back.



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EMPLOYEE & RETIREE BENEFITS PRESENTATION:



City Manager Cavezza stated that we have had an Health Benefits committee

that has been working for over a year with representatives from the City

departments; public safety, general government, retirees and elected officials

to address the increasing cost of healthcare, how to deal with it, how we are

going to deal with some of the other benefits, concerns and suggestions

expressed by some of the employees. He pointed out that Mercer was hired to

come in and look at some of these packages. He explained that they have put

together an innovative, but somewhat complex package that we will try to

simplify as we go along. He said that we have briefed it back to the committee

and they have made some suggestions on it and now we would like to brief the

Council; then, we need to get back out to talk to the employees more and

educating people on this. He pointed out that this is not a decision briefing,

but an information briefing.



Mayor Peters immediately asked to address the comment that was heard last

year from the employees that have stated that they could get the same coverage

through another company a lot cheaper; than, with the City. City Manager

Cavezza responded by saying that they can?t do it; we have a very good

program. He said that the weakness in our program is that we don?t put enough

emphasis on the wellness aspect of it.



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NOTE: Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers left the meeting at approximately 11:10 a.m.

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Finance Director Kay Love, came forward to introduce Mr. Tim Kager, a

representative from Mercer, who would be conducting the presentation.



While the slide presentation was being set up, City Manager Cavezza

announced that soon, we would have some monitors installed in the Council

Chambers. He added that with the franchise from the cable companies, they have

provided funding to upgrade the technology in the Council Chambers and the

Government Access Channel and with that money we would get some monitors to

eliminate having the screens.



Mayor Peters pointed out that other cities advertise the salary including

the benefits. He stated that if we market positions showing the salary

package, it would present a better picture of what we offer here in Columbus.



Councilor Hunter requested that this information be disseminated to the

employees to make sure that they thoroughly understand the rationale behind the

changes. He added that it would also be good to get the suggestions and input

from the employees. He said that we want to make sure that the employees are

aware of the reason for hiring Mercer to do this study and make

recommendations. City Manager Cavezza advised that Councilors Henderson and

Hunter were members of that committee as well.



Mr. Tim Kager, began by introducing himself to the members of Council as

the project leader for this project and briefly explained the reason the Mercer

firm was hired, which is to assess the benefits program and make

recommendations on changes. He said that also present with him are the two key

administrators who are primarily involved in doing the work in developing it;

Mr. Eric Fredene and Ms. Grace Lawson.



He pointed out that he would brief the Council on some of the key issues

that are driving the need for this change. He said that he would talk about

the high level solutions; then, he would present an illustrious plan designed

to show how this plan would look in the future. (A copy of the document titled

Benefits Blueprint Phase One is on file in the Clerk?s Office.)



Mr. Kager advised that this was presented as a three-phase project and we

are only in phase one. He said that we have designed a rough outline of a

benefit program based on bench marking some operational issues, goals and

constraints that Columbus has, but pointed out that we are still receiving

feedback, and there would be plenty of time for interested parties to react to

a final plan design.



He explained that once phase one is complete, we would move forward with

the second phase, which is outlined below:



? Find out what the proposed plan changes would cost.

? Perform some actuarial evaluations.

? Select vendors that would be able to provide the highest quality benefit to

the City employees at the best possible price.

? Present a final recommended plan design.

? Communicate with the employees.

? Implement the changes.



In response to a question of Mayor Peters, Mr. Kager assured that nothing

would be implemented now. He projected that the first window for

implementation of even a small piece of this would be the first quarter of

2003.



Mr. Kager advised that on Page Three of this document, we summarized the

key issues that we have heard. He explained that there is no money set aside

for retiree medical at all; therefore, the pension plan is well funded for

pension benefits, but not for retiree medical. He determined that the

obligation is approximately $111 million dollars. He advised that this is

consistent with the practice that has been followed by governments and

companies in the private sector.



He then presented the high level summary of the solutions that we have

looked at. He pointed out that this page is not included in the packet

received by the members of Council. He then outlined some key points for

solutions and are listed at follows:



? Reallocate available resources.

? Preserve and enhance the most important benefits.

? Increasing employee/retiree contribution.

? Reduce or revise some benefits.

? Implement initiatives to lower the trend of future cost increases.

? Hire providers with products, services and programs that are more favorable

to the City.

? There is not enough flexibility in the plan.

? Retiree Medical Liability- Consider pre-funding those obligations.



In response to comments from Mayor Peters regarding the drug card piece of

the benefits, Mr. Kager agreed in that there is room to negotiate better

arrangements with pharmacies.



Mayor Peters pointed out that we have talked about as we hire new

employees in the future they would have a 401K versus not being on the pension

fund. Mr. Kager agreed in that the City could have generational plans that

have something on one group of people and a different something for a later

group of people.



Mr. Kager then addressed the Pharmacy Plan Design Changes which include:

Medical/Dental, Paid Leave/Disability, Prevention/Wellness and Care & Disease

Management and Pension/Deferred Compensation.



Mr. Kager focused on the high level current plan features and briefly

reviewed the two Medical & Pharmacy Benefits packages and are listed as Option

?A? and Option ?B?. He mentioned that these are high-level summaries being

presented today; a final proposed benefit package would be developed after

quotes have been obtained.



Mr. Kager proposed the following changes for the HMO plan and are listed

as follows:



OPTION ?A?:



HMO PLAN:



? One-time Confinement Fee of $250.00 whenever someone is admitted into a

medical facility.

? Out-of-Pocket ? Individual/Family to be limited to $1,500. for out of pocket

expenses a year and $3,000. for the family.

? Office Visit ? PCP/Specialist- $5.00 increase from $20/$30 {Currently

$15/$25}





PPO PLAN:



In-Network:



? Office Visit ? PCP/Specialist- $5.00 increase from $20/$30 {Currently

$15/$25}



Out-of-Network:



? Deductible ? Individual/Family- increase from $300. to $500. and increased

from $600. to $1,000. for families.



Mr. Kager pointed out that the Consumer Directed health plan is listed at

Option ?B?. He explained that this is an innovative way that may be a

long-term way to change employee behavior and perhaps save some money.



Pharmacy:



~ $15.00 for generic, Preferred Brand - $30.00, elected to use a Non-Preferred

Brand - $45.00.

~ Mail Order (HMO Only) ? Currently the cost is $15.00 for generic- proposal

(G) - $30.00, (PB) - $60.00, and (NPB) - $90.00



Dental:



~ Deductible ? increase from $5.00 to $75.00



Life Insurance:



~ Basic Employee Life Benefit/Maximum- Recommending Option ?B? to raise it to 2

x salary instead of the current 1.5 x salary.



He pointed out that for pre-65 retirees, who don?t have access to

Medicare, they currently have the same plan of benefits as active employees and

we are recommending that the same options for Option ?A? and ?B? as suggested

for active employees also be used for retired employees as well.



Mr. Kager reminded everyone that retirees over 65, who have Medicare and

the City?s Plan, get 100% of their medical cost paid for fully. Mayor Peters

added that the exception is prescriptions. Mr. Kager continued by saying that

is uncommon to provide a benefit that provides 100% of all charges; therefore,

the proposal is to drop that down from 100% to 90% and introduce a deductible

of $500.00 a calendar year.



Medicare Eligible Retirees (Over-65) Option ?A?



? Medicare Coordination - Carve Out, which means that if Medicare pays 50%;

then, this plan would pay the difference between 50% up to 90%



Councilor Allen expressed concerns with the implementation of deductibles

for retirees. Mr. Kager explained that once we receive the price tag, we would

have to do some type of grandfathering.



Mr. Kager then briefly reviewed the Healthcare Employee Contributions by

recommending a 30% cost-sharing for Medical/Pharmacy for active employees,

Pre-65 ? 45% cost-sharing, Over 65 - 45% cost sharing.



There was continued discussion on the matter with Mr. Kager responding to

various questions from the Mayor and members of Council.



Mr. Kager then outlined the Paid Leave aspect of his presentation as it is

currently being provided.



Mayor Peters advised that there is no incentive for employees to continue

to work past 55, because the employee?s benefit is not going to change. He

suggested that every year after 55 or after the 30 years of service that the

employee continues to get the 2% per year. Mr. Kager contended that one of the

things that we are looking at regarding the pension, which provides an accrual

per year that?s equal to 2% of pay up to 30 years. He advised that what some

organizations do is for the years thereafter; they drop it down to .25% or .50%

of pay instead of the 2% of pay. He pointed out that the incentive right now

to continue to work is the fact that the employee?s pay continues to go up;

therefore, if the employee has the benefit of 60% of pay compensation; then,

the employee is actually going to be getting a little bit larger benefit over

time.



Mr. Kager continued to review the current Disability/Paid Leave benefits

and offered his recommendations.







OPTION ?A?:



Paid Leave:



Vacation or PTO:

? Holidays ? nine days.

? Vacation ? 10/15/20, recommending PTO, which is a paid time off system where

vacation and sick are added together. Add five additional days for PTO and

allow employees to take them as they choose.

? Maximum Accrual up to 90 days.

? Termination ? Use the time or be cashed out.



Sick Leave Plan:



? Sick Leave Reserve ? Additional 6 days of leave.

? Termination ? Unused days are forfeited.

? At Retirement ? Can be taken.



Mr. Kager explained that under Long-Term Disability for both Option ?A?

and Option ?B?, we substituted the existing Social Security determination to

more of an insured arrangement. He said that under that arrangement for

general government employees, an insurance company would make a judgment on

whether or not the employee would be able to perform their own occupation for a

period of two years and if the employee is not, in their opinion; then, they

would pay a benefit to the individual beginning in this case in 90 calendar

days. He pointed out that for Public Safety, we said a one-year own

occupation. He briefly explained the difference for the general employees

versus a public safety employee. He said that after that time period is

completed; then, it would be a judgment by the insurance company whether or not

the employee is able to perform any occupation; which is much better than

social security?s definition. He added that we are also recommending a 50%

benefit as a core to make sure that the employee has some income coming in with

the option to allow the employee to buy up to 60% benefit level.



He then provided an overview of Option ?B? Plan for the Disability/Paid

Leave, which he found to be very controversial and is listed as follows:



OPTION ?B?:



Paid Leave



Vacation or PTO



? PTO - 15/20/25 days

? Maximum Accrual ? Carryover one-year?s PTO allowance

? Termination ? Can be taken or cashed out



Sick Leave Plan



? Sick Leave Reserve - Not Provided



Mr. Kager quickly pointed out that we would never consider taking away any

banked days. He suggested the employees retain those days to possibly have an

early retirement day or perhaps to supplement the income.



Short Term Disability



? City Government provides short-term disability.



Defined Benefit Pension Plan

? Benefit Accrual Rate ? currently ? 2% times Final Average Earnings times

service (Maximum benefit 60%) ? Recommendation ? A% (<2%) Final Average

Earnings times service

? Normal form of payment ? Currently life annuity with 10 year certain ?

Recommendation- Life annuity



Mr. Kager explained that the benefit would be paid for the life of the

employee and would stop once the employee passes away. He advised that the

plan would offer the option for an employee to have continuation for a spouse

or family member. He also mentioned that the benefit accrual rate is high and

are recommending that it be lower, but at this point, we don?t know how much

lower. He pointed out that we have illustrated 1.5%, but we don?t know if that

is going to be the number.



Mayor Peters said that we are putting millions of dollars into our pension

fund. He asked if Mr. Kager was referring to changing the percentage for new

employees or changing it for the employees retiring in the near future, at

which time, Mr. Kager replied by providing different scenarios and pointed out

that a person very close to retirement would have relatively little impact

going from 60% to 59% and those are the people that have built their career and

life around an expectation; therefore, we would not want to dramatically change

their benefits that close to retirement. He said that this would be a

prospective change only and not a retrospective change. Mayor Peters disagreed

with this analogy, by saying that he does not believe that it should be changed

for any employee that is already on board, because that is almost like a

contract with that employee when they are hired. Mr. Kager contended that if

it remains 2% for all of the employees on board; then, the City has not saved

or reduced the cost at all, which means that the City would have to make up the

$45 million.



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NOTE: Councilor Allen left the meeting at approximately 12:20 p.m.

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Mayor Peters maintained that most people know that the City employees do

not make as much money as they could in the private sector, but are devoting

their life to public service and one of the benefits of being in public service

would be a good benefits package. He contended that if it gets to where we are

shifting that over to the employees; then, the recommendation would be taken

the incentive away from being in public service.



There were some discussions regarding the disability plan. Mr. Kager

maintained that people cannot contemplate disability; they become disabled when

it is least expected, because no one plans to become disabled; however,

everyone plans to retire. He suggested that encouraging people to save for

retirement should be a goal. He pointed out that right now, the City has a

deferred compensation plan with very low participation. He added that this

could be the analogy of a match in a 401K plan to get people enthused about

saving for retirement and to do that the City would put some money on the table

with the employees money.



Continuing with his presentation, Mr. Kager suggested that the pharmacy

plan designs be implemented rapidly without changing the benefit plans. He

said that the other initiatives, doing the reality of budgeting and the

enrollment process and getting quotes from other vendors, he would project that

by January of 2004 some of these programs could be effective. He identified

time lines for the possible implementation of some of the proposed

recommendations.



Mr. Kager relayed the sentiments of the Employees? Benefits Committee and

are listed as follows for consideration:



o Increasing life time maximum on medical

o Putting a per confinement deductible for PPO

o Consider mail order for PPO

o Higher co-pay or contributions for PPO to steer to HMO

o FSA (Flexible Spending Account) which allows people to put monies aside to

cover expenses that are not covered by the plan

o Life style drugs included feature in the pharmacy plan

o Put sick leave back into retirement calculation. (This statement was

corrected to read ?vacation time? instead of ?sick leave?)



Mr. Kager briefly explained their recommendation to omit the sick leave

from the retirement calculation. He pointed out that this allows the employee

to boost their earnings above what they normally earn, and this cost the plan

money. He said that this is an unanticipated boost. He advised that this is

an unusual feature to have in; therefore, we are suggesting that it be taken

out. He also called attention to the overtime.



At this time, Mr. Kager responded to various questions from the members of

Council. Human Resources Director Tom Barron, came forward at this time to

explain that the City?s plan requires us to include that into the computation,

but there is not a law that says we have to do that. Human Resources Director

Tom Barron made one correction in pointing out that the last item should be

annual leave and not sick leave; the vacation time is calculated into

retirement. Mr. Kager suggested paying the employee for that vacation time but

not allow the employee to have a lifetime increase in pension.



After Mr. Kager responded to various questions, he concurred that the

actual figures should be presented to illustrate the point he is trying to

make; therefore, he would provide those numbers to the members of Council.



o 60% to 80% reimbursement is too low



Mr. Kager explained that the Employees? Benefit Committee felt that our

suggestion of 60% to 80% was too low and that the 100% was really a need. He

said that most plans are designed for 60% to 80% to encourage employees to come

back to work. Councilor Suber then asked if it was a State Law that reads that

an employee cannot be reimbursed more than 80% of that employees pay based upon

disability, at which time, Mr. Kager advised that he would check into this

matter. He then continued presenting some of the comments from the Employees?

Benefit Committee.



o The nine holidays should be included in the PTO

o Make sure employees don?t lose accruals.

o Buy up to 25 and out of 30

o Employees near retirement loose very little

o Small retirement accrual beyond 30 years

o Long term retirement coverage



Councilor Davis pointed out that there are some bits of information that

are not included in the packet. He requested to receive copies of this

information to include the feedback from the Employees? Benefit Committee.



o Retirees on limited income cannot afford high premiums

o 75% of workers are lower paid employees and don?t want a large out-of-pocket

cost



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NOTE: Councilor McDaniel left the meeting at approximately 12:35 p.m.

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In conclusion, Finance Director Kay Love responded to various questions

from the members of Council regarding the HMO versus the PPO. City Manager

Cavezza added that this is a complex briefing with there being no decisions

made. He emphasized that these are merely options, and we would come back to

Council for a decision when the final packet is put together. He advised that

there would be a lot more opportunities for people to input into these before

Council is ever asked to make a decision.



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UPCOMING EVENTS:



City Manager Cavezza made the following announcements regarding some

upcoming events and are listed as follows:



? Candlelight Vigil: Tonight at 7:00 p.m., there would be a candlelight vigil

in observance of ?National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.?



? Retirement Ceremony: On October 30, 2002, there would be a retirement

ceremony for Chief Wesley Mott, Jr. at the FOP Lodge.



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UPTOWN COLUMBUS:



Councilor Woodson requested that the staff address the issues that have

been occurring downtown, because the focus seems to be on one particular

business, but we need to address issues with the Police Chief regarding the Ten

Hundred block on down to the Twelve Hundred block.

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TOWNHALL MEETING:



Councilor Davis announced that a productive meeting was held last night in

District 2, planning zones 1 and 2. He reported that we received some valuable

input from the citizens there. He then commended City Manager Cavezza and his

staff for doing a wonderful job.



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

meeting was adjourned, upon the adoption of a motion made by Councilor Suber.

Seconded by Councilor Woodson, which carried unanimously by those six members

of Council present for this meeting with Mayor Pro Tem Rodgers, Councilors

Allen and McDaniel having already left the meeting, with the time being 12:50

p.m.



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Sandra T. Davis

Deputy Clerk of Council

The Council of Columbus, Georgia