Lancaster County
Board of Commissioners
Board of Commissioners
lancaster.ne.gov
STAFF MEETING AGENDA
Lancaster County Board of Commissioners
County-City Building
Meeting Room #113 - Adjacent to Council Chambers
Thursday, May 7, 1998
8:30 a.m.
AGENDA ITEM
1 APPROVAL OF STAFF MEETING MINUTES OF APRIL 30, 1998
2 ADDITIONS TO AGENDA
3 8:30am PENDING LITIGATION
Mike Thew, Chief Deputy County Attorney;
Doug Cyr, Deputy County Attorney
4 9:00am RURAL ENTERPRISE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
Troy Gagner, Economic Development Coordinator;
Jeff Reynolds
5 9:30am PEBSCO RETIREMENT PLAN UPDATE
Roger Green, PEBSCO; Diane Fite, Pension Consultant;
Peter Daiker, State Director
6 10:15am LONG TERM DISABILITY
John Cripe, Classification & Pay Manager;
Sue Eckley, County Risk Manager
7 10:30am LANCASTER MANOR REFINANCE
Bill Giovanni, Ameritas
8 10:45am LOCATION OF PROTEST HEARINGS
Tom Kubert, Great Plains Appraisal
9 ACTION ITEMS
a. Microcomputer Request C#98135 from County Attorney for
$1,670.65 from Microcomputer Fund for Compaq Deskpro,
Monitor and Software
10 CONSENT ITEMS
11 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER REPORT
a. County Lobbyist (letter from Gordon Kissel)
12 PENDING
13 DISCUSSION OF BOARD MEMBER MEETINGS
a. Joint Budget Committee - Campbell, Steinman
b. Ecological Advisory Committee - Tussing
c. Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development -
Steinman
d. Growth at the Fringe Task Force - Campbell
14 SCHEDULE OF BOARD MEMBER MEETINGS
a. Master Plan Steering Committee - Thursday,
May 7, 1998 at 1:00 p.m., at the County-City Building,
Room #106 - Hudkins
b. General Assistance Monitoring Committee -
Tuesday, May 12, 1998, at 8:00 a.m., at the County-
City Building, Room #106 -Campbell, Tussing
c. Public Building Commission - Tuesday, May 12,
1998, at 10:00 a.m., at the County-City, Room #113 -
Campbell, Tussing
d. Board of Health - Tuesday, May 12, 1998, at
7:30 p.m., at 3140 "N" Street, Room #236 - Hudkins
e. Advisory Defense Council - Wednesday, May 13,
1998, at 7:30 p.m., at the Emergency Operations
Center, Room #046 - Svoboda
f. Management Team - Thursday, May 14, 1998, at
7:30 a.m., at the County-City Building, Room #113 -
All Commissioners
g. City-County Common - Friday, May 15, 1998, at
8:00 a.m., at the County-City Building, Room #113 -
All Commissioners
15 INVITATIONS TO BOARD MEMBERS
a. 48th Annual Spring Party - Thursday, May 21, 1998, at
5:30 p.m., at the Isles Reception Hall
16 CORRESPONDENCE TO THE COUNTY BOARD
17 CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE COUNTY BOARD
18 AGENDA ITEMS FOR COUNTY BOARD MEETING OF MAY 12, 1998
19 EMERGENCY ITEMS AND OTHER BUSINESS
MINUTES
Lancaster County Board of Commissioners
County-City Building
Meeting Room #113 - Adjacent to Council Chambers
Thursday, May 7, 1998
8:30 a.m.
Commissioners Present: Linda Steinman, Chair
Kathy Campbell
Larry Hudkins
Darlene Tussing
Others Present: Kerry Eagan, Chief Administrative Officer
Melissa Koci, County Clerk's Office
Commissioners Absent: Steve Svoboda
AGENDA ITEM
1 APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF THE COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING
OF APRIL 30, 1998
MOTION: Hudkins moved and Campbell seconded approval of the
minutes of April 30, 1998. On call Hudkins, Campbell,
Tussing and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried.
2 ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA
a. St Francis Chapel
MOTION: Tussing moved and Campbell seconded approval of the
additions to the agenda. On call Campbell, Tussing,
Hudkins and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried.
3 PENDING LITIGATION - Mike Thew, Chief Deputy County
Attorney; Doug Cyr, Deputy County Attorney
Campbell moved and Hudkins seconded to enter into Executive
Session for Pending Litigation and Labor Negotiations at 8:45
a.m. On call Hudkins, Tussing, Campbell and Steinman voted aye.
Motion carried.
Campbell moved and Hudkins seconded to exit Executive Session at
9:18 a.m. On call Campbell, Tussing, Hudkins and Steinman voted
aye. Motion carried.
4 RURAL ENTERPRISE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM - Troy Gagner,
Economic Development Coordinator; Jeff Reynolds,
Senior Business Specialist for Rural Enterprise
Assistance Project
Kendall Scheer, Center for Rural Affairs REAP Project, appeared
and submitted documentation regarding the proposal for Rural
Lancaster County REAP (Exhibit A). Scheer indicated that the
Center is a non-profit organization that addresses a lot of rural
issues and is connected with rural sustainability and social
justice issues that exist in rural communities in Nebraska. He
stated the organization is developed into two areas consisting of
a Rural Opportunities and Stewardship Program and a Farm and
Community Policy Program. He said the Rural program is more of
the service and economic side of the Center whereas the Farm
Program is more of the policy side. He indicated the Center has
roughly 28 employees.
Jeff Reynolds, Center for Rural Affairs, appeared and indicated
50% of people employed in the middle border states are involved
in self-employment. He stated the Rural Enterprise Assistance
Project offers business management training and credit assistance
for small businesses, including start-up and established, home-
based and store front, full-time and part-time, farm-based or
town-based. He discussed the following five basic elements:
* The Association/Networking
* Revolving Loan Fund Access
* Unique Lending Process
* Business Training/Technical Assistance
* Local Partnership
Steinman asked what the Center does for other communities.
Reynolds indicated he uses the number of contacts, the number of
contacts the Center makes for technical assistance, the number of
loans, loan volume and loan history as performance measures.
Reynolds also indicated the total cost for the two-year contract
is $39,000 and will cover the following expenses:
* Salary and Benefits
* Travel and Per diem
* Telephone
* Supplies
* Training
* Indirect
* Equipment
* Cost + 18.5%
Troy Gagner, Economic Development Coordinator, appeared and
indicated the Board can use Block Grant Funds, but the easiest
would be to use the revolving loan funds that are already in
place. He indicated Economic Development would like to see
people go through the REAP Program successfully and move up to
one of the Block Grant Loans.
Campbell proposed to have Dave Kroeker review the documents with
Troy Gagner and the County Attorney and bring the item back to
the County Board for further review.
Tussing exited the Board meeting.
5 PEBSCO RETIREMENT PLAN UPDATE - Roger Green, PEBSCO;
Diane Fite, Pension Consultant; Peter Daiker, State
Director
Peter Daiker, State Director, appeared and submitted
documentation regarding Lancaster County's Retirement Program
(Exhibit B). He indicated PEBSCO is the largest public employee
retirement administrator of 457 programs in 6,500 cities,
counties and six state governments. He stated PEBSCO had a
presentation with the PEHP (Post Employment Health Plan),
regarding a program where an employer can put money in pre-tax
and the employee can take monies out of pre-taxed for qualified
medical expenses. He also indicated PEBSCO is adding enhanced
financial services to help serve the constituents. Daiker stated
PEBSCO developed a portfolio select that has four mutual fund
houses and twenty-one funds that can be offered as a payroll
deduction. He suggested there is an unlimited amount of space
for mutual funds so the Board can add around 7 or 8 extra funds.
Roger Green, PEBSCO, appeared and indicated because of new
administrative capabilities PEBSCO is able to offer an unlimited
number of funds as investments for the plan, where previously
Lancaster County was limited to ten. Green referred to the
Lancaster County Retirement Program Enhancements and discussed
the funds available to Lancaster County and what PEBSCO has to
offer. He said Lancaster County needs to figure out which
additional funds to add.
Campbell asked Daiker when the decision needs to be made
regarding adding funds.
Daiker reported PEBSCO will eliminate the $38 per head
administrative charge for the plan effective immediately in
anticipation of PEBSCO being awarded a five year contract
extension. He stated the elimination will result in an annual
savings to the participants of approximately $52,000. He also
indicated beginning January 1, 1999, PEBSCO would like to begin
with a three tier fee strategy, which is .20/.40/.60 basis points
depending on what funds are selected. He stated if Lancaster
County goes to a three tier and no new funds are added, a
reduction will be made of $31,710.
Steinman indicated there is no downside to adding the additional
funds and the Board needs to move on the pension reviews.
MOTION: Campbell moved and Hudkins seconded to activate the
Pension Committee to have the committee review and
recommend additional funds to be added and to review
the contract extension and make recommendations. On
call Hudkins, Campbell and Steinman voted aye. Motion
carried.
6 LONG TERM DISABILITY - John Cripe, Classification &
Pay Manager; Sue Eckley, County Risk Manager
Sue Eckley, County Risk Manager, appeared and indicated she met
with Rich Hill from UNICO regarding the three year long term
disability contract. She reported she would contact CNA and ask
for renewal information who will in return give Lancaster County
a three year guaranteed rate. She indicated Hartford, Gordis,
Guarantee Life of Omaha, TransGeneral and Guardian want to see
what Lancaster County has.
7 LANCASTER MANOR REFINANCE - Bill Giovanni, Ameritas
Bill Giovanni, Ameritas, appeared and submitted documentation
regarding Lancaster County Leasing Corporation Refunding Analysis
for Lancaster Manor Bonds (Exhibit C). He indicated the bonds
issued in 1992 still have an outstanding balance of $7,055,000
with an interest rate of 6.13% and a final maturity date of July
15, 2012. He stated the bonds can be redeemed or called on July
15, 1998 at par. Giovanni also stated if the County did a
refunding series of bonds before July 15, 1998 the County would
have to issue $7,215,000 at an estimated average interest rate of
4.8% with a final maturity date of July 15, 2012. He indicated
the estimated average annual debt service would drop to $714,000
with a savings of $634,000.
Giovanni recommended to review the Medicaid Reimbursement
Procedures with Bill Siem to ensure the County the refunding will
be cost neutral to the County.
MOTION: Hudkins moved and Campbell seconded to authorize Dave
Kroeker, Bill Giovanni and Larry Van Hunnik to contact
Bill Siem and review the proposal. On call Hudkins,
Campbell and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried.
8 LOCATION OF PROTEST HEARINGS - Tom Kubert, Great
Plains Appraisal
Tom Kubert, Great Plains Appraisal, appeared and indicated there
is a problem using Trabert Hall for Property Protest Hearings.
He suggested Lincoln Public Schools, State Fair Park or someplace
that will have 8-10 rooms with computer and telephone access. He
indicated Lincoln Public Schools will be done with school on June
1, 1998. Kubert also suggested vacant space in Gold's Galleria,
Energy Square, the Atrium Building, the former Centel Building or
Pershing Auditorium.
MOTION: Hudkins moved and Campbell seconded to authorize Kerry
Eagan to contact Cliff Dale regarding using Lincoln
Public Schools for protest hearings. On call Hudkins,
Campbell and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried.
Norm Agena, County Assessor, appeared and indicated the County
Assessor's Office would like to change one of the procedures for
filing property valuation protests for the coming year. He
reported when people file a protest, every piece of evidence the
filer presents should be given to the referee and the protestor
should not be given the opportunity to give additional
information at a Board of Equalization hearing. Agena stated it
will save the County money by sending out one less mailing and
cutback the number of hours involved in protests.
Mike Thew, Chief Deputy County Attorney, appeared and reported he
received the decision on the JC Penney TERC case. He indicated
the Court of Appeals found for the County on the case, but said
the County was arbitrary and unreasonable in the manner in which
it conducted the hearings. Thew stated he told the Court of
Appeals if the County acted arbitrary and capricious it will
force the County Board to quit trying to give taxpayers so much
input into the protest process. His suggestion was for the Board
to look at the following four options available with the
referee's recommendation:
1. Adopt it
2. Make any other order the Board thinks is appropriate.
3. Hear additional testimony.
4. Hear the case anew.
Thew also suggested a postcard does not need to be sent telling
the filer of the referee's recommendation, nor does the Board
need to send the filer a letter regarding taking final action on
a certain date or give the filer an opportunity to appear before
the County Board. He indicated when the materials for protests
are put together an explanation needs to be on the form regarding
the procedures for filing a protest and the changes for the year.
Steinman asked who would appear before the Board after the
referee hearing.
Thew said no one.
Robin Hendricksen, Deputy County Assessor, indicated the filer
gets one notice from the Board of Equalization telling the filer
the recommendation. He said there is only one hearing between
the protestor and the referee and if the filer is still not
satisfied they can appeal to TERC.
Agena indicated Douglas County adopted the new protest policy
which is the filer appears before the referee and if a case is
not made during that time the filer does not get the opportunity
to go in front of the Board of Equalization.
The Board agreed to meet following the County Board meeting on
Tuesday, May 12, 1998.
9 ACTION ITEMS
a. Microcomputer Request C#98135 from County Attorney
for $1,670.65 from Microcomputer Fund for Compaq
Deskpro, Monitor and Software
MOTION: Campbell moved and Hudkins seconded approval of
microcomputer request C#98135 from the County Attorney
for $1,670.65 from the Microcomputer Fund for Compaq
Deskpro, Monitor and Software. On call Hudkins,
Campbell, and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried.
10 CONSENT ITEMS
11 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER REPORT
a. County Lobbyist (letter from Gordon Kissel)
The Board agreed to accept the proposal from Gordon Kissel,
County Lobbyist, and pay Gordon $30,000 for the first year and
$32,500 for the second year.
2 ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA
b. Lincoln Electric System Meeting
c. Steering Committee Meeting
MOTION: Campbell moved and Hudkins seconded approval of the
additions to the agenda. On call Campbell, Hudkins
and Steinman voted aye.
2 ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA
a. St. Francis Chapel
Campbell indicated she received a letter in the mail regarding
St. Francis Chapel and would give a copy to the other Board
members.
Hudkins suggested an open letter response needs to be written and
sent to the Lincoln Journal Star regarding the article in the
paper about St. Francis Chapel.
Campbell indicated the public needs to understand the Board is by
statute required to do certain things by not giving property to
people or loaning people money and the record needs to be set
straight.
The Board authorized Kerry Eagan to draw up letter to the Lincoln
Journal.
b. Lincoln Electric System Meeting
Steinman reported she and a few representatives from Information
Services attended a meeting at LES to look at the LOTUS Notes and
its capabilities. She indicated the licenses for LOTUS cost
around $100-200.
c. Steering Committee Meeting
Hudkins asked the Board for any input regarding the situation in
the meeting room.
Eagan suggested to turn the tables around and open the room up.
Campbell suggested to use the whole room.
Hudkins indicated he would also request a clock be put up in the
room.
12 PENDING
13 DISCUSSION OF BOARD MEMBER MEETINGS
a. Joint Budget Committee - Campbell, Steinman
b. Ecological Advisory Committee - Tussing
c. Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development -
Steinman
d. Growth at the Fringe Task Force - Campbell
The discussion of Property Valuation Protests and Board Member
meetings will be held on Tuesday, May 12, 1998 following the
County Board meeting.
14 SCHEDULE OF BOARD MEMBER MEETINGS
a. Master Plan Steering Committee - Thursday, May 7,
1998 at 1:00 p.m., at the County-City Building,
Room #106 - Hudkins
b. General Assistance Monitoring Committee - Tuesday,
May 12, 1998, at 8:00 a.m., at the County-City
Building, Room #106 - Campbell, Tussing
c. Public Building Commission - Tuesday, May 12,
1998, at 10:00 a.m., at the County-City Building,
Room #113 - Campbell, Tussing
d. Board of Health - Tuesday, May 12, 1998, at 7:30
p.m., at 3140 N Street, Room #236 - Hudkins
e. Advisory Defense Council - Wednesday, May 13,
1998, at 7:30 p.m., at the Emergency Operations
Center, Room #046 - Svoboda
f. Management Team - Thursday, May 14, 1998, at 7:30
a.m., at the County-City Building, Room #113 - All
Commissioners
g. City-County Common - Friday, May 15, 1998, at 8:00
a.m., at the County-City Building, Room #113 - All
Commissioners
15 INVITATIONS TO BOARD MEMBERS
a. 48th Annual Spring Party - Thursday, May 21, 1998,
at 5:30 p.m., at the Isles Reception Hall
16 CORRESPONDENCE TO THE COUNTY BOARD
17 CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE COUNTY BOARD
18 AGENDA ITEMS FOR COUNTY BOARD MEETING OF MAY 12, 1998
19 EMERGENCY ITEMS AND OTHER BUSINESS
At the direction of the Chair, the meeting was adjourned.
Kandra Hahn
Lancaster County Clerk