Lancaster County
Board of Commissioners
Board of Commissioners
lancaster.ne.gov
STAFF MEETING AGENDA
Lancaster County Board Of Commissioners
Thursday, August 20, 1998 - 8:00 a.m.
County-City Building - Meeting Room #113
AGENDA ITEM
1 APPROVAL OF STAFF MEETING MINUTES OF AUGUST 13, 1998 AND
BUDGET WORKING SESSIONS ON JULY 14 AND AUGUST 11, 1998
2 ADDITIONS TO AGENDA
3 8:00am COMMISSIONERS MEETING REPORTS
4 8:30am HEALTH INSURANCE UPDATE - Bill Kostner, City Risk Manager
5 9:00am DISABILITY INSURANCE - Sue Eckley, County Risk Manager;
John Cripe, Classification & Pay Manager, Rich Hill, UNICO
6 9:30am ATTORNEY SALARIES - Gary Lacey, County Attorney;
Dennis Keefe, Public Defender
7 10:00am JUSTICE & LAW ENFORCEMENT CENTER CHANGE ORDER NO. 004,
REQUESTED BY COUNTY COURT ($11,391)
Chris Beardslee, Sinclair Hille;
Don Killeen, County Property Manager;
Steve Flanders, Project Manager;
Judy Leech, County Court Administrator
8 10:30am LANCASTER MANOR SCREENED DECK
Larry Van Hunnik, Lancaster Manor Administrator
9 ACTION ITEMS
a. Schedule Special Hearing on Tuesday, September 1, 1998,
at 1:30 p.m., for Final Tax Request for Lancaster
County and Rural Library
10 CONSENT ITEMS
11 ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER REPORT
12 PENDING
13 DISCUSSION OF BOARD MEMBER MEETINGS
a. Master Plan Steering Committee - Hudkins
b. Parks & Recreation Advisory Board - ?
c. Government Access & Information Committee - Steinman
14 SCHEDULE OF BOARD MEMBER MEETINGS
a. City-County Super Common - Friday, August 21, 1998, at
8:00 a.m., at the Cornhusker Hotel, Grand Ballroom
All Commissioners
b. Visitors Promotion Committee - Monday, August 24, 1998,
at 1:30 p.m., at the Convention & Visitors Bureau,
Williamsburg Room - Steinman
c. Information Services Policy Committee - Tuesday,
August 25, 1998, at 11:00 a.m., at the County-City
Building, Room #106 - Steinman
d. District Energy Corporation - Tuesday, August 25, 1998,
at 12:00 p.m., at Lincoln Electric System, 6th Floor
Boardroom - Hudkins, Svoboda
e. Budget Monitoring Committee - Tuesday, August 25,
1998, at 12:00 p.m., at the County-City Building,
Room #113 - Campbell
f. Community Mental Health Center Advisory Committee -
Wednesday, August 26, 1998, at 12:00 p.m., at the
Mental Health Center, Basement Conference Room -
Svoboda
g. City-County Super Common - Friday, August 28, 1998, at
8:00 a.m., at the Cornhusker Hotel, Yankee Hill II
Room - All Commissioners
15 INVITATIONS TO BOARD MEMBERS
a. Lincoln Fire Department's "Media Activity Day" -
Thursday, September 10, 1998, at 12:45 p.m., at the
Southeast Community College Fire Training Facility,
8800 "O" Street
16 CORRESPONDENCE TO THE COUNTY BOARD
17 CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE COUNTY BOARD
18 AGENDA ITEMS FOR COUNTY BOARD MEETING OF AUGUST 25, 1998
19 EMERGENCY ITEMS AND OTHER BUSINESS
STAFF MEETING MINUTES
Lancaster County Board Of Commissioners
County-City Building
Meeting Room #113
Thursday, August 20, 1998
8:00 a.m.
Commissioners Present: Linda Steinman, Chair
Kathy Campbell
Larry Hudkins
Commissioners Absent: Bernie Heier
Steve Svoboda
Others Present: Diane Staab, Deputy County Attorney
Melissa Koci, County Clerk's Office
AGENDA ITEM
1 APPROVAL OF STAFF MEETING MINUTES OF THE COUNTY BOARD
OF COMMISSIONERS MEETING OF AUGUST 13, 1998 AND BUDGET
WORKING SESSION MINUTES OF JULY 14 AND AUGUST 11, 1998
MOTION: Hudkins moved and Campbell seconded approval of
the minutes. On call Campbell, Hudkins and
Steinman voted aye. Motion carried.
2 ADDITIONS TO THE AGENDA
a. Final Values
MOTION: Campbell moved and Hudkins seconded approval of
the additions to the agenda. On call Hudkins,
Campbell and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried.
2 ADDITION TO THE AGENDA
a. Final Values
Dave Kroeker, Budget & Fiscal Officer, appeared and submitted
documentation regarding the adjusted tax request budget for FY99.
Kroeker indicated the valuation went down $10,000,000 from
whatwas used in an earlier estimate and the rate previously was
.2780 and the change brings the rate to .2783. Kroeker said when
the final number is available a notice needs to be published 5
days prior to the public hearing and it has to state what the
rate would be with the new value if the County had last year's
tax asking and that would drop to $.26.
Kroeker stated the City and the Health Department are planning to
fund a Community Resource Directory through December 1998 which
is $12,000. The Health Department's share is going to be $6,000
and $6,243 will be shared between County and City, with the
County's share being $2,309. Kroeker also indicated there is a
$225 reduction on the Women's Commission.
Kroeker also reported the County was billed $15,000 for half of
the maintenance with the new Tesseract Payroll System, which has
not been budgeted.
9 ACTION ITEMS
a. Schedule Special Hearing on Tuesday, September 1,
1998, at 1:30 p.m., for Final Tax Request for
Lancaster County and Rural Library
The Board agreed to schedule a public hearing for final tax request
for Lancaster County and Rural Library on Tuesday, September 1, 1998
at 1:30 p.m. and schedule a public hearing for the adoption of the
final budget on Tuesday, September 8, 1998 at 1:30 p.m.
Kroeker reported the Agricultural Society's rate should be
.001315 and the Railroad Transportation and Safety District and
Rural Library is .026.
Kroeker indicated he needs to discuss with Diane Staab, Deputy
County Attorney, sending out resolutions to each entity on the
final tax and levy.
3 COMMISSIONER MEETING REPORTS
13 DISCUSSION OF BOARD MEMBER MEETINGS
a. Master Plan Steering Committee - Hudkins
Hudkins reported the Steering Committee discussed problems with
some of the doors and windows in the new City-County Building.
b. Parks & Recreation Advisory Board
There was not a board member that attended the meeting.
c. Government Access & Information Committee - Steinman
Steinman reported the Community Technology Fund Application to
the State for the grant is looking very good and the following
items were discussed at the GAIC meeting:
* Privacy issues on OASIS and a conference being held in
Nebraska City regarding privacy issues
* Kiosk completion date is set for the beginning of September
* Rates setting for the Authority of the GAIC and a resolution
that will allow for the Board's authority for changes to be
made
Campbell indicated the City Council and County Board need to be
informed of any changes.
Steinman also reported the Register of Deeds came to the GAIC
meeting and indicated they are hoping to go on the mainframe by
March 1, 1999. Steinman said the Register of Deeds is also
having problems with the imaging system and indicated they would
like to go on Keyfile.
d. Growth at the Fringe - Campbell
Campbell reported the committee received a report from Public
Works on the cost of roads and sewers. Campbell indicated the
City is going to put together a report and analysis of 6 or 8
options that may be there to fund development roads, sewer and
water. She stated the committee will then decide what to
recommend.
4 HEALTH INSURANCE UPDATE - Bill Kostner, City Risk Manager
Bill Kostner, City Risk Manager, appeared and indicated he has
not received any pricing back from United Health Care, however,
they provided some pricing to the City. Kostner stated the City
will be voting on the plan the week of August 24th and
if the plan is approved by the 27th, the City would move to a
point of service plan.
With regards to the Vision Service Plan, Kostner indicated he
received three responses back on the RFP. He stated the three
responders were Lens Express, Vision Care Advantage with the
Signature Group and Vision Service Plan. Kostner reported the
County-City Vision Plan committee will review each responder.
Kostner noted he spoke with Brad Scherer, Bryan LGH, who
indicated there has been no change regarding the contracts.
19 EMERGENCY ITEM
MOTION: Hudkins moved and Campbell seconded to add an emergency
item and enter into Executive Session for the purpose
of discussing labor negotiations. On call Campbell,
Hudkins and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried.
MOTION: Hudkins moved and Campbell seconded to enter into
Executive Session at 8:41 a.m. for the purpose of
discussing labor negotiations. On call Campbell,
Hudkins and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried.
MOTION: Campbell moved and Hudkins seconded to exit Executive
Session at 9:31 a.m. On call Hudkins, Campbell and
Steinman voted aye. Motion carried.
5 DISABILITY INSURANCE - Sue Eckley, County Risk Manager;
John Cripe, Classification & Pay Manager; Rich Hill, UNICO
Rich Hill, UNICO, appeared and submitted a summary regarding
Lancaster County's Long-Term Disability Insurance.
Hill indicated the current carrier for Lancaster County's Long- Term
Disability is CNA and the renewal period is October 1st through
September 30th. He noted one difference between carriers
in which CNA does provide a $1,000 benefit for a person who is
hired and has a pre-existing condition. Hill indicated all
carriers are the same with regards to duration of benefit, rate
guarantee and benefit integration. He also noted the survivor
income benefit and the amount of benefit is different on the
carriers with CNA only paying 1 month; Sun Life and UNUM, 6
months; and Principal and Guarantee Mutual, paying 3 months.
Hill suggested to go back to CNA and ask them to tell the Board
how much extra the pre-existing condition benefit is worth and if
they are willing to change the length on the survivor income
benefit and adjust the premium.
Steinman asked a question in regards to the rate per $100 of
covered salary.
Hill indicated the rate has been the same since the beginning of
the contract but now there are other carriers that are willing to
write it at a lower rate.
MOTION: Campbell moved and Hudkins seconded to authorize UNICO
and the County Risk Manager to return to CNA for
discussions on long-term disability and report back to
the Board after the discussion. On call Campbell,
Hudkins and Steinman voted aye. Motion carried.
6 ATTORNEY SALARIES - Gary Lacey, County Attorney;
Dennis Keefe, Public Defender
Gary Lacey, County Attorney, and Dennis Keefe, Public Defender,
appeared and submitted documentation regarding non-negotiated
salaries for Attorney I and II's in both offices.
Lacey indicated the Board can account for the higher figure in
the County Attorney's Office as compared to the Public Defender's
Office because of the proportioned number of Attorney I's that he
has compared to the Attorney II's, which is based on seniority.
He indicated the Personnel Department survey indicated that
higher paid Attorneys with more experience were right on target
and that the younger Attorneys on his staff were being under paid.
Hudkins questioned the Attorneys who are receiving a 13.92% increase.
Lacey indicated the two Attorneys are relatively new people who
have done an outstanding job for Lancaster County.
Steinman asked if the salaries are in line with the Personnel
Department.
Lacey said he didn't know.
Campbell indicated the County Board needs to sit down with the
County Attorney and Public Defender to discuss what the Board
wants to know with regards to attorneys' salaries.
Lacey said in the National District Attorney's Association there
is a sub-group called Prosecutor's In Capitol Cities and they
have unique problems that are unlike any other problems that are
encountered in other jurisdictions even though they might be
larger. Lacey indicated he based his salaries on cities of
Lincoln's size that are Capitol cities.
7 JUSTICE & LAW ENFORCEMENT CENTER CHANGE ORDER NO. 004,
REQUESTED BY COUNTY COURT ($11,391) - Chris Beardslee,
Sinclair Hille; Don Killeen, County Property Manager;
Steve Flanders, Project Manager; Judy Leech, County
Court Administrator
Steve Flanders, Project Manager, appeared and submitted
documentation regarding proposed revisions to District Court in
the Hall of Justice.
Flanders indicated Judge Burns would like to make a change to the
plans for the Hall of Justice which would include making what is
now two offices for referee's into a chamber for a judge and
changing a current chamber into an office for one referee. He
reported the office for the referee would be built so that it
could be converted into two offices in the future. Flanders
indicated the estimated cost will be between $5,000 and $10,000.
The Board agreed that because Judge Burns is the only judge who
knows of the change, all of the judges need to get together to
discuss the changes.
Chris Beardslee, Sinclair Hille, appeared and submitted
documentation regarding the Justice and Law Enforcement Center.
Beardslee noted the amount for the proposed change order should
be $10,579. He indicated the main change for the Criminal and
Traffic counter has been the glass configuration. The original
proposal was to have 2 foot high aluminum posts that would
support a band of tempered glass and have a pass through with a
hole in it and to have a sit down counter. Beardslee indicated
one of the changes is to have the counter at stool height or bank
teller type height and the other change is to have glass from the
countertop to the underside of the soffit. Beardslee also noted
the glass will be staggered, and with the glass being full height
it will allow for mini-blinds at each station.
Judy Leech, County Court Administrator, indicated the glass will
be tempered glass and there will not be a hole. Leech stated
there will also be a couple of slits cut at two spots for the
Bailiff to place the files.
MOTION: Campbell moved and Hudkins seconded to authorize Change
Order No. 004, requested by County Court in the amount
of $10,579. On call Hudkins, Campbell and Steinman
voted aye. Motion carried.
8 LANCASTER MANOR SCREENED DECK - Larry Van Hunnik,
Lancaster Manor Administrator
Larry Van Hunnik, Lancaster Manor Administrator, appeared and
indicated the following changes will occur for the new screened
deck that will be located on the west side of the courtyard:
* Removal of the brick front
* Removal of a section of two windows to put a door in
* Redwood siding will be added to the front along with a cedar trim
Steinman asked Van Hunnik about the size of the deck.
Van Hunnik indicated it will be 6 x 20 and also noted there is a
slight slope around the bottom going to a floor drain.
Campbell asked when the project was going to get started.
Kathy Smith, Purchasing, appeared and indicated advertisement has
been set up for next Wednesday and the following Wednesday with
bid opening on September 16th. The County Board will
probably
vote on the issue around October 1st with the project
being
completed around Thanksgiving.
MOTION: Hudkins moved and Campbell seconded to authorize to
take the Lancaster Manor screened deck project to bid.
Hudkins asked a question regarding the cost of the screened deck.
Smith indicated under $15,000.
Campbell suggested to Van Hunnik to recommend Bernie Rempe for a
Volunteer of the Month Award to recognize his contribution.
ROLL CALL: On call Hudkins, Campbell and Steinman voted aye.
Motion carried.
19 OTHER BUSINESS
Steinman indicated she received a letter from NACO informing the
Board about the Juvenile Justice hearing schedule. She also
stated the Crime Commission is holding public hearings to receive
input on key juvenile justice issues because they are developing
a 3-year plan for the State of Nebraska. Steinman noted the
closest public meeting is in Beatrice on September 9, 1998 at
1:00 p.m and she would attend.
Steinman also reported she received a notice on a conference that
Lancaster County can have regarding the new transportation law.
A meeting would have to be setup with NACO National to setup a
downlink site if Lancaster County is interested in doing it.
14 SCHEDULE OF BOARD MEMBER MEETINGS
a. City-County Super Common - Friday, August 21, 1998,
at 8:00 a.m., at the Cornhusker Hotel, Grand Ballroom -
All Commissioners
b. Visitors Promotion Committee - Monday, August 24,
1998, at 1:30 p.m., at the Convention & Visitors
Bureau, Williamsburg Room - Steinman
c. Information Services Policy Committee - Tuesday,
August 25, 1998, at 11:00 a.m., at the County-City
Building, Room #106 - Steinman
d. District Energy Corporation - Tuesday, August 25,
1998, at 12:00 p.m., at Lincoln Electric System,
6th Floor Boardroom - Hudkins, Svoboda
e. Budget Monitoring Committee - Tuesday, August 25,
1998, at 12:00 p.m., at the County-City Building, Room
#113 - Campbell
f. Community Mental Health Center Advisory Committee -
Wednesday, August 26, 1998, at 12:00 p.m., at the
Mental Health Center, Basement Conference Room -
Svoboda
g. City-County Super Common - Friday, August 28, 1998,
at 8:00 a.m., at the Cornhusker Hotel, Yankee Hill II
Room - All Commissioners
By direction of the Chair, the meeting was adjourned.
Kandra Hahn
Lancaster County Clerk