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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - 11/04/1991 - Committee of the WholeCOMMITTEE MEETING OF THE WHOLE NOVEMBER 4, 1991 A Committee Meeting of the Whole was called to order by Mayor Busse on Monday, November 4, 1991 at 7:30 P.M. in the Aldermen's Conference Room in the McHenry Municipal Center. The following Aldermen were in attendance: Bolger, Donahue, Serritella. Locke arrived at 7:42 P.M. Absent: Patterson, Lieder, Adams, Smith. City Staff in attendance were: City Clerk Gilpin, City Administrator Peterson, Director of Public Works Batt. The purpose of the Committee Meeting of the Whole was to discuss the Crystal Lake Road Traffic Study, the McCullom Lake Diagnostic Study, Health Insurance for employees and sale of the old City Hall building. CRYSTAL LAKE TRAFFIC STUDY When the original traffic study was presented to the Council on October 16, 1991 by John Smith from Smith Engineering Consultants and Frank Koepke from the Metro Transportation Group, one of the unresolved items was ownership of the Crystal Lake Road right-of-way. Director Batt talked to County Highway Superintendent Jim Rakow and was told that 500 feet north of Elm Street where Crystal Lake Road changes to four lanes (roughly north of Wood Street), it is a County Highway. That means the improvements that were recommended in the Crystal Lake Road Traffic Study are in County jurisdiction. Rakow told Batt that he agreed that a traffic signal is needed at Lillian Street, which led Batt to believe that if the City wanted to proceed on the recommendation of the traffic report to install a traffic signal at Lillian Street intersection, Rakow would have no problem in working with the City to install this traffic signal at the City's cost. Batt felt that if the Council wanted a traffic signal, it could be installed if everything went smoothly and all that had to be done was to design it and get the County approval to build it. Striping could be done immediately and it might be possible to install a three-way stop at the Lillian -Crystal Lake Road intersection as an interim measure. Following discussion, the Committee felt that all four recommendations of Smith Engineering should be implemented, but that if the fourth recommendation, which was the consolidation of the post office and Ace Hardware access drives, could not be accomplished, that should not hold up the rest of the recommendations. It was also recommended that right turn lanes be installed on Crystal Lake Road at the Lillian Street and Royal Drive intersections, as well as at the McHenry High School West Campus north and south parking lot driveways. The consensus was to approach the County, give them a copy of the study, indicate to them that there is a serious problem at the intersection of Lillian and Crystal Lake Roads, and because it is a County road, the City is willing to do its part if the County is willing to do its part. It was announced that the NIPC people could not be at this Committee meeting until 9:30 P.M. Therefore, the McCullom Lake Diagnostic Study was deferred until they got to the meeting. HEALTH INSURANCE The Finance Committee asked that the Health Insurance program be presented to the Committee Meeting of the Whole so that all Aldermen could be informed of the Finance Committee's discussions. Busse said that during the budget hearings last year, there was a great deal of concern over the escalating costs of health insurance. Originally, there was a 30% increase in Blue Cross/Blue Shield, and through negotiations the percentage was brought down to 20%. At that time the Council decided to continue with the existing coverage for a limited period of time until we could evaluate other options. Some of the other options were to look into self -funding through a pooled risk program, reducing some of the benefits such as raising the deductibles but not cutting back in coverage, and to have our staff solicit input from the employees on feedback as to what their needs were. November 4, 1991 Page 2 When Peterson did his study, he found that the majority of employees had strong feelings about retaining Blue Cross/Blue Shield as opposed to exploring self -funding options. The cost of insurance for the current year is $286,000 and if you look at a scenario of 20% increase over five years, the City would be paying approximately $600,000 in 1996-97. Peterson did investigated two pooling programs to determine comparable coverages with the same level of benefits at the same cost level. Busse said that in summary, if the Council's top priority is to maintain the level of benefits, then you would have to look at the self -insured pool. Another option is stay with Blue Cross/Blue Shield, but recognize that perhaps the City would have to look at a higher deductible, or a different kind of co -pay arrangement. The third option would be to bite the bullet and maintain the coverage and the carrier, and perhaps look to do something less with salaries. In the future, it appears that with the tax cap in effect and with sales revenues down, if the money goes for health insurance coverage, it will have to come from salaries, or if it doesn't come from salaries, it will have to cone from health insurance. It was the final recommendation of the Committee that representatives from Blue Cross/Blue Shield and other pooled insurance companies should meet with the City Council to discuss their various plans so the Council can hear first-hand the pros and cons of each of those carriers. 14CCULLON LAKE DIAGNOSTIC STUDY Even though the NIPC people did not arrive, the Committee decided to discuss the matter at this time. The matters to be decided were: 1) What were the appropriate uses of the lake: 2) What type of methods need to be implemented to achieve the desired results: 3) How to enforce regulations; and 4) How to fund the improvements. It was felt that the lake should continued to be used for passive uses such as swimming, fishing, sailing, sailboarding, small horsepower boats and pontoon boats. Lengthy discussion took pla who wished to bring in canoes, that more access points to the point could possibly be at thi in that location would be for unloading boats from trailers. general public more use of the methods could be implemented bu :e on access points to the lake for people rowboats, sailboards, etc. It was agreed lake are necessary. One additional access East Beach site. However, public access walk-ins only and not for backing up and It was also suggested that to allow the lake, possibly boat rentals or other such the Park Department. Also discussed were weed harvesting, septic problems from West Shore Beach area, control of overland flows and retainage ponds which would allow water to percolate back into the ground. Mayor Busse called for an Executive Session at 9:10 P.M. to discuss sale of the old City Hall building. The meeting returned to Open Session at 9:32 P.M. Motion by Serritella, seconded by Donahue, to adjourn. Voting Aye: Bolger, Donahue, Locke, Serritella. Voting Nay: None. Absent: Lieder, Smith, Adams, Patterson. Motion carried. The Committee meeting adjourned at 9:32 P.M.