City Council

MINUTES-REGULAR MEETING CITY OF GODDARD 118 NORTH MAIN, GODDARD, KS TUESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2024 The Goddard City Council met in a Regular Session at Goddard City Hall on Tuesday, August 27, 2024. Mayor Liebe called the meeting to order at 12:00 p.m. followed by the Pledge of Allegiance and the Invocation. Council members present were Krista Hall, George Liebe, Brent Traylor, and Aubrey Collins. Council member Fish was absent. Also, present were Craig Crossette, City Administrator; Ryan Shrack, Assistant City Administrator; Micah Scoggan, Community Development Director; Lance Beagley, Police Chief; Sarah Simon, Customer Care/Utility Clerk; Brooke Carroll, Chief Financial Officer; and Matt Lawn, Financial Advisor. APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA MOTION: Councilmember Liebe moved to approve the agenda as amended. Councilmember Traylor seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. CITIZEN COMMENTS Linda Geesaman, 201 North Pine, commented on the budget and encouraged the City Council to prioritize the budget on necessities and maybe put aside the North Park Improvements. EX PARTE AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST DECLARATION None APPOINTMENTS, PROCLAMATIONS, RECOGNITIONS & NOMINAITONS None CONSENT AGENDA None UNFINISHED BUSINESS None BLUE CROSS HEALTH INSURANCE RENEWAL AND FREEDOM CLAIMS INC Criag Crossette, City Administrator presented a proposal to contract with Freedom Claim Management Inc. (FCMI) to administer health insurance benefits. Freedom Claims Inc. would administer a high deductible plan with a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) which will reduce costs for health insurance over time. Freedom Claims administers the benefit in tandem with Blue Cross. This cost savings by partnering with FCMI is achieved by adopting a base plan/umbrella plan approach through the high deductible health reimbursement arrangement where the Base Plan is assumed by the 1 City Council Minutes August 27, 2024 employees and includes the same Blue Cross benefits as in prior years. The Umbrella Plan is assumed by the employer (City) and includes a high deductible. With the base and umbrella plan, the city will reimburse the provider for a portion of the medical expenses, typically by covering part of the deductible. Until the member's claims reach the deductible, the balance of these costs are paid by the City’s Medical Expense Reimbursement Account. Base Plan claims will be processed by Freedom Claims Management, Inc., after first being submitted to Blue Cross for claim discounting and review. The City and Employees save money through the premium gained in switching from an expensive, low deductible plan to an economical, high deductible plan. The high deductible plan reduces the cost of premiums. Most employees will never hit the deductible, and instead of throwing that money away, it can be put away into the Medical Expense Reimbursement Account. The money saved goes into the Medical Expense Reimbursement Account that is used to offset the healthcare costs incurred by the employees. We only pay for the actual medical services used. FCMI also oversees all the administrative duties such as open enrollment, COBRA, on-call assistance with claims, etc. The Employer (City) share will not exceed $5,600 and the Employee share will not exceed $1,500. MOTION: Councilmember Collins moved to authorize the City Administrator or Mayor to execute the contract with FCMI. Councilmember Traylor seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. MOTION: Councilmember Collins moved to authorize the City Administrator or Mayor to execute the Blue Cross Renewal as presented. Councilmember Hall seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. MONUMENT SIGN DESIGN SELECTION Ryan Shrack, Assistant City Administrator stated that earlier this year, City staff and City Council discussed and created a list of goals/projects to be addressed in 2024. One of these goals was the creation of new monument-style entrance signs into the community. An RFP for the design, construction, and installation of two (2) monument entrance signs was approved in June and proposals were submitted by two (2) sign companies. Adding new signage in the city falls under “Goal 3: Beautification of Public Space.” The City received two (2) proposals in response to the published RFP. City staff formally opened the proposals on August 6, 2024. Sign renderings can be found in the exhibit section at the end of this staff report. The following chart shows the proposals that were submitted, along with the bid prices to design, construct, and install the two (2) monument signs: Company Sign Design Total Cost Luminous Neon, Inc. Design 1 $74,324.58 Design 2 $116,190.38 2 City Council Minutes August 27, 2024 Miracle Signs Design 1 $77,100.00 City staff has reviewed the proposals and are recommending approval of Design 1 by Luminous Neon, Inc. This recommendation is based not only on the total cost to build the two (2) new entrance signs, but also due to the overall design itself. Luminous Neon’s Design 1 will have a minimal footprint and does not contain the City’s logo. This is an important consideration because if, at some point in the future, the City’s logo changes then the existing logo will have to be removed from the signs and replaced with a new one. After evaluating all bids, Luminous Neon’s Sign Design 1 was selected as the lowest bid, with a total cost of $74,324.58. City staff also recommend including a 15% contingency, totaling $11,148.69, to cover any unforeseen expenses, such as potential easement or land acquisition costs. A 50% down payment of $37,162.29 will be required upfront, with the remaining balance due upon project completion. Funding for the two monument signs will come from City Fund 10-110-8530 (General Fund - Capital Outlay - Project Discretionary Fund). The down payment will be made within the 2024 budget period, with the remaining balance potentially paid in either 2024 or 2025, depending on the project’s completion timeline. It was recommended that the City Council approve Luminous Neon’s Sign Design 1 with a bid of $74,324.58 and allow for a 15% contingency of $11,148.69 to cover potential additional project costs. City staff is authorized to execute a contract with Luminous Neon, with a total budgetary spending authorization not to exceed $85,473.27. MOTION: Councilmember Collins moved to approve Luminous Neon’s Sign Design 1 with the bid of $74,324.58 and allow for a 15% contingency of $11,148.69 for a total not to exceed $85,473.27 as presented. Councilmember Liebe seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. 2025 BUDGT WORKSHP Matt Lawn, Financial Advisor stated that the 2025 Proposed Budget has been in development over the course of several months. Input from the public and direction from the Governing Body were used to establish the priorities of the City’s financial plan for 2025. The proposed budget has been developed to reflect the vision of our citizens and the City Council. The city council has identified a need to accelerate and expand street rebuilding, maintenance, and other improvement projects beyond the regular street funding capital outlay provided in the annual operating budget. After consultation with staff, they have proposed a program to fund $5 million in street projects over the next five years (2025-2029). The proposed Special Highway/Street fund budget includes $250,000 for street projects in 2025, funded with a portion of the Sedgwick County sales tax and City of Goddard sales tax. Additional funding required to meet the goal will need to include a mill levy contribution. 3 City Council Minutes August 27, 2024 At the previous regular meeting, the city council capped the 2025 General Fund mill levy at 31.888 mills. This is an increase of six mills beyond the levy for 2024. If the full six mill increase is adopted, this mill levy will provide an additional $462,000 in funding for street improvements in 2025. The total budget for street improvement projects will be $712,000. To meet the goal of $5 million in street projects by 2029, additional funding will be required in years 2- 5. Some of the additional funding will be achieved through growth of the city’s assessed valuation, which is anticipated to average 8% or more per year over the program period. Economic factors may impact projected valuation growth, but staff are confident that using a growth rate of 8% annually will be sufficient for planning purposes. Additionally, staff recommends increasing the transfer to the Special Highway/Street fund for capital outlay street projects by $25,000 each year throughout (and beyond) the five-year program. Additional mills levy increases in years two and three are recommended to meet the funding requirements. Staff proposes adopting a two mill increase in 2026 and another in 2027. This will bring the total dedicated street funding up to ten mills in addition to what has been levied in prior years. This will supply sufficient funding to make $5 million in street improvements over the program period, including inflationary factors (estimated at 4% annually), which are anticipated in the next five years. This budget will provide adequate funding for the 5-year street program and allow other city operations to continue without delays or program cuts. Additional mills levied on property tax are required to be approved through the annual budgeting process. The required public hearings for budget adoption have been scheduled for the evening of September 3, 2024. No action regarding mill levy increases is binding until the council takes action on budget adoption after the public hearings have been completed. No action was taken. CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT Craig Crossette presented the City Administrator’s report for August 27, 2024. GOVERNING BODY COMMENTS Mayor Liebe thanked the newly formed Water Utility Ad Hac Committee for their participation in their first meeting. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Councilmember Liebe moved to adjourn the regular city council meeting. Councilmember Hall seconded the motion. The motion carried unanimously. The Meeting adjourned at 1:08 p.m. Teri Laymon, City Clerk 4