Minutes 09-11-2014 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Commissioner Price said something needs to be done about service to Durham Tech in Durham. She said Durham will be offering the go-pass, which means that anyone there can get on the bus and go to Durham Tech at no cost. She suggested the same should be done here. Commissioner Rich said she likes option 2, but she is intrigued with what Commissioner Pelissier said about doing studies regarding the two day a week route. She said her concern is taking out the loop at the expense of putting extra days in for a northern route. She would like to see some review and flexibility of this, and she asked how long it would take to get this. Bret Martin said the service standards being adopted would be for 12 months notice of the routes to the public and then evaluation of data after 6 months of service. He said this means it would take 18 months total. Craig Benedict said if some of these grants come in it might be possible to implement the commuter loop within the next year. Chair Jacobs said he agrees with Commissioner Pelissier and Commissioner Rich. He likes option 2, but he does not want to give up the Efland/Hillsborough commuter loop. Commissioner Gordon asked if the discussion is to go only one day a week for the zonal routes. Chair Jacobs said the staff asked for feedback on options, and it seems that there is a preference for option 2 with some combination. Commissioner porosin said it sounds like the consensus is option 2, with yes on the Hillsborough Loop. Commissioner Pelissier asked if the new grant could be used for the Efland Hillsborough circulator route. Bret Martin said this grant is only for one year, but he is confident that additional sources of revenue will be made available. Commissioner Gordon said when staff comes back with this, the zonal routes need to start with two days a week, and it is important to be fair to the both ends of the County. 2. Employee Benefits Updates and Preliminary Recommendations Reqardinq Benefits Effective January 1, 2015 Brenda Bartholomew said Mark Browder presented the renewal options for 2015. Mark Browder said he would be reviewing Attachment B, and the renewal estimate for the health plan. He discussed several PowerPoint slide spreadsheets. He said slide 15 is a reminder that the County transitioned from being fully insured to self funded. He said the budgetary numbers were left the same as they were in 2013. He said slide 16 is an experience review since the plan has been self-funded, and he pointed out the 1 percent change in cost from 2013. He said the plan is currently running well and at budget. Mark Browder said slide 17 shows renewal calculations. He said when all of the costs are wrapped into one amount, they equal a 13 percent increase for 2015. He said 5 percent of that increase is due to healthcare reform changes, which means the plan itself would only call for an 8 percent increase. He said there are two renewal options for the 2015 plan year, as outlined in the abstract and on slide 8: Option 1: Renewal of the current two plans, the Point of Service Plan (POS) and the High Deductible Plan (HDP), without any change to plan design for six-months. Employees will continue to pay 2014 rates for dependent coverage. The County will bear the increased cost for dependent coverage for the six-month renewal period.