Lancaster County
Board of Commissioners
Board of Commissioners
STAFF MEETING AGENDA Lancaster County Board Of Commissioners Tuesday, August 26, 1997 10:30 a.m. County-City Building Fourth Floor Conference Room AGENDA ITEM 1 10:30am PENDING LITIGATION Mike Thew, Chief Deputy County Attorney 2 10:35am INSURANCE RENEWALS Sue Eckley, Safety & Training Officer; Rennie Walt, Harry Koch Company 3 11:00am STAFF SECURE FACILITY Kit Boesch, Human Services; Dennis Banks, Attention Center; Jim Blue, Cedars Youth Services 4 11:30am CHANGES TO THE PROPOSED BUDGET Dave Kroeker, Budget & Fiscal Director 5 ACTION ITEMS a. Response to Department of Health & Human Services Re: Proposed Service Areas b. Request for Payment of Interest on Void Tax Certificate, KLH v. State, Docket 553, Page 238
MINUTES Lancaster County Board Of Commissioners Fourth Floor Conference Room County-City Building Tuesday, August 26, 1997 10:30 A.m. Commissioners Present: Linda Steinman, Chair Kathy Campbell Larry Hudkins Steve Svoboda Commissioners Absent: Darlene Tussing Others Present: Kerry Eagan, Chief Administrative Officer Ann Taylor, County Clerk's Office AGENDA ITEM: 1 ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA a. Natural Gas Purchase Contract b. Geographic Information System (GIS) Fees MOTION: Campbell moved and Hudkins seconded approval of the additions to the agenda. On call Campbell, Hudkins, Svoboda and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried. 2 PENDING LITIGATION - Mike Thew, Chief Deputy County Attorney; Doug Cyr, Deputy County Attorney MOTION: Campbell moved and Svoboda seconded to enter Executive Session at 10:35 a.m. for the purpose of pending litigation and personnel matters. On call Campbell, Svoboda, Hudkins and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried. MOTION: Hudkins moved and Svoboda seconded to exit Executive Session at 11:05 a.m. On call Hudkins, Svoboda, Campbell and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried. 3 INSURANCE RENEWALS - Sue Eckley, Workers' Compensation & Risk Management Manager; Rennie Walt, Harry Koch Company Sue Eckley, Workers' Compensation & Risk Management Manager, distributed copies of a marketing report and Property/Casualty insurance renewal options for Lancaster County (Exhibit A). Rennie Walt, Harry Koch Company, stated that liability insurance coverage encompasses three areas: a. General Liability b. Public Officials c. Law Enforcement Walt noted that the insurance marketplace is limited due to the nature of the risk and the already competitive premium pricing. Walt reported that three insurance companies, Coregis, GENESIS and St. Paul, submitted quotes on liability coverage. He stated that based on those quotes, his company's recommendation was that the County continue its coverage with Coregis. Eckley noted that if the County increased its self insured retention rate, GENESIS's quote would become more competitive. Walt stated that his company reviewed this option, but did not feel that the risk the County would incur would justify the savings. Eckley stated that an issue related to the exclusion of police reports from claims files released to insurance adjusters, due to confidentiality, still needed to be resolved with Coregis. Walt briefly reported on additional limits of liability per occurance and aggregate offered by Coregis. He stated that he did not recommend that the County raise its self insured retention to lower the premiums, as the County could incur increased liability if the law enforcement immunity level were declared unconstitutional. In response to a question from Steinman, Eckley reported that September 30th is the renewal date for the plan. The Board requested that the item be rescheduled for further discussion at the County Board meeting scheduled for Thursday,September 4th and that Eckley and Walt be present. Eckley was also requested to provide information regarding aviation insurance quotes at that time. 4 STAFF SECURE FACILITY - Kit Boesch, Human Services Administrator, Dennis Banks, Attention Center Director, Jim Blue, Cedars Youth Services Executive Director Dennis Banks, Attention Center Director, reviewed Attention Center/Juvenile Staff-Secure Facility population projections (Exhibit B). Banks stated that he supports the staff-secure facility concept as a short-term solution to overcrowding in the Attention Center and predicted a significant reduction in the County's liability exposure. He recommended continued study of the long-term needs of the County to determine the effectiveness of a staff-secure facility, types of juveniles housed, optimum location of the facility and whether administration should be through privatization or Attention Center staff. Jim Blue, Cedars Youth Services Executive Director, distributed a memo to the Board regarding development of a staff-secure facility for juvenile law offenders in Lancaster County (Exhibit C). Blue noted that, at the County Board's request, the potential of Trabert Hall as site for location of a juvenile staff-secure facility was evaluated. He reported that the fourth floor of the building was determined to be adequate for this use, at an estimated renovation cost of $87,000. Blue recommended that the operating budget be based on a capacity of 10 youth, although renovation would allow for a 15 youth capacity. He added that an average occupancy rate of 8.5 youth is anticipated. Blue also stated that Cedars would accept placements from other referral sources if the facility is not fully occupied by Lancaster County youth. Blue reported that the proposed $126 per diem rate includes the lease payment to the County for use of Trabert Hall. He projected an annual savings of $155,125 for Lancaster County from placements at the Attention Center (based on a $176 per diem rate for 8.5 youth). Blue projected program start-up costs of approximately $95,000 and stated that Cedars Youth Services may be able to contribute $25,000 in funds received through a grant from the Crime Commission towards that cost. He requested that Kit Boesch, Human Services Administrator, assist him in pursuing other funding sources which the County potentially has access to. Blue requested the County Board's authorization to proceed with development of a juvenile staff-secure facility at the proposed per diem rate. He noted that Cedars Youth Services reserves the right to renegotiate the contract after the first year of operation. Hudkins asked Juvenile Court Judge Tom Dawson if a juvenile staff-secure facility would be an effective option for the court. Judge Dawson stated that all juvenile placements in the staff-secure facility will be based upon court order and there is potential for more placements than currently projected. Judge Dawson stated that he was confident that all 10 placement slots could be filled by Lancaster County youth and inquired what the break number would be for additional staff if capacity were increased. Blue responded that staff and costs will increase with each increment of five youth beyond the proposed capacity of 10 youth. Judge Dawson stated that his recommendation was that the County proceed with a staff-secure facility with capacity for 10 youth initially and to continue to evaluate the program, including length of stay for juveniles. Hudkins asked if the physical layout of Trabert Hall limited the capacity to 15 youth, or if in the process of remodeling Trabert Hall, should the County look ahead at expansion of the facility to provide for placement of 20 or more youth. Blue remarked that he would not want to operate a facility of this type, physically or operationally, for more than 15 youth. Steinman stated that she viewed the staff-secure facility as an interim solution and that the entire juvenile justice system would probably undergo review within the next two years. Judge Dawson reported that, although it is too soon to evaluate the impact of the juvenile pre-trial diversion program, juvenile court filings have substantially increased again this year and he anticipates the trend to continue. MOTION: Campbell moved and Hudkins seconded to accept the summary as proposed by Cedars Youth Services and the recommendation of Dennis Banks, Attention Center Director, and to proceed with that. On call Campbell, Hudkins, Svoboda and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried. Campbell asked if the Board could assist Blue in obtaining start-up funding of the program. Boesch reported that funds in the amount of $70,000 are available through the Department of Public Institutions (DPI) and Office of Juvenile Services (OJS) for mental health assessment of youth. She stated however, that the Board must convince those agencies that the funds will be used for the intake, not psychological evaluation, of youth before those funds will be made available. Hudkins inquired whether an assessment center could be developed in conjunction with the staff-secure facility. Banks responded that he felt that to rush development of an assessment center when there are so many variables and conflicting opinions could be detrimental to the success of the program. Campbell suggested that, to prevent further delays, the Board contact the Department of Public Institutions (DPI), Office of Juvenile Services (OJS) and the Crime Commission, and offer to front the start-up costs of the program, if reimbursement may be sought later. Steinman, Boesch and Banks agreed to meet with representatives of those agencies and report back to the Board. 5 CHANGES TO THE PROPOSED BUDGET - Dave Kroeker, Budget & Fiscal Director Discussion postponed, due to time constraints. 6 ACTION ITEMS a. Response to the Department of Health & Human Services Regarding Proposed Service Areas Kit Boesch, Human Services Administrator, reported that a letter had been drafted in response to proposed administrative service area boundaries for the Department of Health and Human Services (Exhibit D). Boesch stated that the letter noted assurances given by Dennis Loose, Chief Deputy Director for Health & Human Services, to the Board at their August 21st meeting that these administrative service areas would have no effect on current regional boundaries or contracts. She stated that the need for continued support for established and successful partnerships in Lancaster County and concern regarding the potential long-range political implications of establishing boundaries were stressed in the letter. Evaluation of the boundary changes to determine success was also recommended in the letter. MOTION: Hudkins moved and Campbell seconded to authorize the Board to send the letter to the Department of Health and Human Services. On call Hudkins, Campbell, Svoboda and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried. b. Request for Payment of Interest on Void Tax Certificate, KLH v. State, Docket 553, Page 238 MOTION: Campbell moved and Hudkins seconded to authorize Doug Cyr, Deputy County Attorney, to send the request. On call Campbell, Hudkins, Svoboda and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried. ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA a. Natural Gas Purchase Contract Diane Staab, Deputy County Attorney, reported that Mid Con Gas Services Corporation was the low bidder on the Natural Gas Purchase Contract. She stated that the their bid of $5.09 per unit is less than last year's average of $5.51 per unit. Staab reported that the bid price expires on August 27, 1997, and that each member of the Natural Gas Purchase Consortium is being asked to commit to the low bid price prior to that expiration. She stated that consideration of the item would be added as an Emergency Item on the agenda for the 1:30 p.m. County Board meeting. Steinman requested that the Board be provided information regarding the average per unit price for 1995 for comparison. Staab stated that she would make a request at the Board meeting that the Board accept the low bid and authorize the Chair to sign the agreement with Mid Con Gas Services Corporation, which is still undergoing revision. b. Geographic Information System (GIS) Fees Item postponed, due to time constraints. 7 ADJOURNMENT Hudkins and Svoboda left. The Chair adjourned the meeting, as a quorum no longer existed. Kandra Hahn - Lancaster County Clerk