Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutBoard of Commissioners - Minutes - 10/18/2001, .. • • MINUTES OF THE OTTER TAIL COUNTY LABOR/MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE Otter Tail County Courthouse Commissioners' Room, Floor 1-B Thursday, October 18, 2001 1:00 p.m. Call to Order Dawn Godel called the Labor/Management Committee meeting to order at 1 :03 p.m. Attendance: Tonya Anderson, Sharon Bjork, Tim Brand, Rick Denzel, Sue Ewy, Dawn Godel, Terry Hoff, Blake Johnson. Amy Kampa, Marion Kershner, Cheryl Kottom, Larry Krohn, Don Larson, Malcolm Lee, Mick McCormick, Lori Morrell, Anne Mueller, Syd Nelson, Wayne Roisum, Wayne Stein, James Stewart, Joe Thompson, Gary Waskosky, Jodi Wentland, and Sharon Wicklund. Excused Absences: Brian Armstrong, Joanne Derby, John Dinsmore, David Hauser, Barb Jongeling, Merle King, Judie Sletta, and Rick West. Review of Mission and/or Norms of Behavior Dawn Godel read the Norms of Behavior list and Sharon Wicklund read the Mission Statement. Review of Minutes Committee members approved as presented, the minutes of September 20, 2001 by consensus. Review of Agenda Committee members approved as presented, the agenda of October 18, 2001 by consensus with the following discussion item addition: Comp-Time Accrual. Discussion Items A. Plug-Ins: Rick Sytsma, Physical Plant Manager presented the following information to the Labor/Management Committee: • There has been a request for information on plug-ins. • If Otter Tail County were to install plug-ins, each plug-in would be 1,000 watts. • Otter Tail Power currently charges the County .073 per kilowatt-hour. • One kilowatt is equal to plugging in ten television sets, one toaster or eighteen lightbulbs. • Discussion on budgeting for the cost: -How many plug-ins would the County need? -Where would the plug-ins be located? -Who would have access to the plug-ins? -Who would pay for the installation of plug-ins? -How would the County control the usage of plug-ins? -Once departments relocate to the Regional Treatment Center, the County will no longer have a parking problem. The Fergus Falls City Hall rents parking stalls to Otter Tail County for $15 per stall per month. -The installation of electric panels gets expensive; also the expense of digging. -The approximate cost of a 200-amp circuit with 20 plug-in would be $5,000. -Otter Tail County's electric bill per month ranges from $4,000 to $10,000 depending on the weather season. Otter Tall County Labor/Management committee October 18, 2001 Page 2 -If the County installed plug-ins, the electric bill per month would increase approximately 20%. -The group that would be most impacted by installing plug-ins would be the Detention Facility night staff. -Snow Removal Discussion. -How many times has a county employee been unable to start their vehicle? -If departments were interested, they could purchase a battery pack charger for approximately $60. Consensus was reached by the Labor/Management Committee to form a Plug-In Subcommittee to further review this issue. The following items may be discussed by the Plug-In Subcommittee: • How many County employees work nights? • How is County going to control usage of plug-ins? • Could there be coin meters hooked up with the plug-ins? • Other options of control. • How much will installation cost? • Possible rental of stall with meter. • Who decides on which employees get to use the plug-ins? • Cost impacts. • Would a battery pack be acceptable for departments to use? • How big of a problem is it? Lori Morrell reviewed Problem Resolution with the Labor/Management Committee. Issue: Impact on vehicles during extremely cold weather. Interests: Concern behind the issue of vehicles not starting. 1) Who is impacted? 2) Expense to County 3) Ability to get home/ability to get to job 4) County and/or private vehicles 5) Wear and tear on vehicles 6) Who is responsible to pay for a vehicle that won't start? Standardize: What standards do you need to have? Common area of practice Practical Budget Policy Think about counties with similar Law Enforcement Facilities to Otter Tail County: Stearns, Clay, Wright, Itasca, Blue Earth, and Crow Wing. Develop Options: The subcommittee can take this issue over now and discuss the options. We need both Labor and Management members on the committee. The Plug- In Subcommittee will consist of the following County employees: Ann Mueller, Gary Waskosky, Rick Sytsma, Rick Denzel, and Sharon Wicklund. Rick Denzel volunteered to lead the subcommittee. Dawn Godel requested an update from the Plug-In Subcommittee at the next Labor/Management Committee meeting. B. Client Services: Marion Kershner handed out resource information available on customer service that she and John Dinsmore have received. These packets of information are from St. Louis County. Marion mentioned that St. Louis County has created a Customer Service Department. Further -•' .. C C 0 ,,, ., .. Otter Tail County Labor Management committee October 18, 2001 Page 3 discussion followed. Group consensus was reached by the Labor/Management Committee to • watch the "Fish" video at the December 20 meeting. C. Insurance Committee Update: • • D. As the year progresses and we are soon going to be signing up for benefits for CY2002, the committee has noticed some understandable apprehension from employees. We hope some preliminary information will help. First, please be aware that we are changing our health plans effective January 1, 2002. The traditional $100 base plus plan will not change. The $300 CMM plan will not exist as of January 1, 2002. In place of that plan, the county is offering a "Copay Plan". If employees have further questions, please contact an Insurance Committee member. One thing to be aware of regarding the Copay Plan is that this plan pays for formulary drugs only -the copay is $14 per prescription with a $500 out of pocket drug maximum. If you are thinking about electing this plan and you are currently taking prescription drugs, you should check the Blue Cross Blue Shield formulary drug list to see if the drug you are taking is a formulary drug. You can do that by either checking on the Blue Cross website, www.bluecrossmn.com or by calling Blue Cross at 1-800-382-2000. If you check on the website, go to the site, click on" Guest", then click on "Find A Plan", then choose the alphabetical drug index and enter the name of the drug. If the drug name does not appear, that drug is not on the Blue Cross formulary list and would not be covered under this plan. The $750 CMM plan will be exactly the same except for 2 enhancements; 1) 100% on accident coverage, and 2) a $10 copay for formulary prescriptions and a $20 copay for non-formulary prescriptions with no drug out of pocket maximum . The County has received bids for our Long-Term Disability coverage and our Basic and Supplemental Life Insurance coverage. We are in the middle of the process at this time. We have opened bids (we received bids from 5 different carriers). A benefit analyst from MCIT is in the process of analyzing the bids which the Insurance Committee is scheduled to review on October 25th. We are hoping to award the bids the first week in November. This means that our providers for these benefits will change and everyone will need to fill out papers with the new carrier. Everyone's current coverage will be "grandfathered" in to the new company, so no one will lose coverage. The Insurance Committee has also been asked to check out the possibility of using a debit card for the flexible health account to alleviate paperwork and time in receiving your money back through this program. A couple members of the Insurance Committee attended a seminar and we asked about the debit card. At this time, many providers of the flexible spending accounts are not advising use of the debit card because the IRS has not rendered an opinion. The issues revolve around being able to monitor "approved" expenses through the program. We believe the debit card is in the future, but have elected to take a "wait and see" approach. "What's happening as far as sign-up?" We are hoping to hold an Insurance Fair the last week in November and ask the providers of our different benefits to be there so employees can ask questions when filling out benefit elections for next year. Everyone eligible for benefits for _CY2002 will be required to attend to complete the paperwork . Comp-Time Accrual: The Labor/Management Committee forwarded this item to the Personnel Committee. . . .. " Otter Tail County Labor/Management committee October 18, 2001 Page4 Public Health and Human Services Labor/Management Updates Public Health Update C The Public Health Labor/Management has been discussing the following items: • How to address staffing issues-pros and cons • Leadership skills have been really developing and the Committee has begun making decisions • Confidentiality issues • Expense checks Lori Morrell reported that the Otter Tail County Public Health Department has been doing a tremendous job with their Labor/Management Committee, and that she has been using their Committee as a reference tool for other County Labor/Management Committees. Next Meeting The discussion· items for the November agenda include: • Plug-In Subcommittee Update • Insurance Committee Update • Customer Service Subcommittee Update Adjournment At 2:58 p.m., Dawn Godel declared the meeting of the Otter Tail County Labor/Management Committee adjourned until 1 :00 p.m. on Thursday, November 15, 2001. srj Attachment C 0 . '. · ... LABOR/MANACEMENT COMMITTEE ATTENDANCE/SICN IN CHECK SHEET MEETINC DATE: October 18, 2001 • Tonya Anderson Brian Armstrong Sharon Bjork Tim Brand Rick Denzel Joanne Derby John Dinsmore .sue Ewy Dawn Godel David Hauser Terry Hoff Blake Johnson Barb Jongeling Amy Kampa Marion Kershner Merle King .heryl Kottom Excused Excused Excused Excused Larry Krohn Don Larson Malcolm Lee Mick Mccormick Lori Morrell Anne Mueller Syd Nelson Wayne Roisum Judie Sletta Wayne stein James Stewart Joe Thompson Gary waskosky Jodi Wentland Rick west Sharon Wicklund ;2/"~4~ &cyse&