Local & State Headlines

City considers incurance options

• Insurance concerns prompt the Albany City Commission to consider other options.

Carlton Fletcher

ALBANY — Albany City Commissioners took a necessary preliminary step toward opting out of the city’s employee group insurance plan at a work session Tuesday.

Commissioners voted unanimously to inform other participants in the group plan — Dougherty County and Water, Gas & Light Commission — the city’s intention to start looking at other options to possibly replace the existing plan. The vote does not mean the city intends to opt out of the self-insurance plan, but it was necessary to take the action before Dec. 31 if the city decides to pursue better options.

“This is an administrative procedure, that’s all,” City Public Works Director Phil Roberson said. “Before we can opt out of the insurance program, we have to send a letter to other participants letting them know we’re considering it.

“What we’re doing is letting (the county and WG&L) know that we’re going to see what else is out there. Nobody’s intimating that this is a step to disband our consortium. We just need to do this before Jan. 1 in the event that we decide on some other plan after next year.”

The commission decided to look into the insurance issue after being forced to allocate an emergency $1.4 million infusion of reserve funds due to a shortfall in the health plan. The shortfall came as the result of an unusual number of claims by employees.

“If we don’t send this letter out before Jan. 1, we don’t have the authority to seek another deal,” City Manager Alfred Lott said. “We’re looking for direction from this commission on our future plans.”

In the weighted health consortium, the city pays 53.1 percent of costs, while the county pays 30.4 percent and WG&L 16.5 percent.

At the very end of the 3 1/2-hour meeting, commissioners voted to follow the suggestion of Planning Director Howard Brown and impose a moratorium on the usage of digital message boards until the issue is addressed and new codes written. Brown asked that a task force be created to study the issue and set guidelines.

“Times and technology have changed, but we don’t want Albany to turn into Miami or Las Vegas,” Brown said after the meeting. “Billboard owners contend that the (digital) signs do not constitute a violation of our current sign code, but there are others who say they violate our code every time the display changes.

“We need to study this issue and come up with ordinances that take into consideration the new technology.”

Albany Civic Center Director John Mazzola gave a report to the commission on the financial aspects of the city’s ties with the South Georgia Wildcats Arena2 Football team. In the third year of a five-year agreement that gives the Wildcats the majority of funds from ticket sales, concessions and signage in the civic center, Mazzola said the end result of the previous season was a $9,000 cost absorbed by the city.

“Pure and simple, did we come out on the positive side or the negative side of our deal?” Mayor Willie Adams asked Mazzola.

Lott answered for the arena manager.

“We came out very positively,” he said. “When you have between 30,000 and 40,000 people come into town and spend their money here, it has a very positive economic impact.”

Ron Feldner and Courtney Power of Integrated Science & Engineering of Savannah gave commissioners the results of a stormwater management program funding study. Feldner said the current cost of stormwater management measures was $2.5 million, but the implementation of a funding plan to manage the EPD-required program would cost between $3.2 million and $3.8 million.

“Essentially, implementation of the program is something that’s two or three years down the road,” Commissioner Dorothy Hubbard said. “I think part of this discussion has to be the impact if we don’t do anything.”

Commissioner Bob Langstaff suggested that the commission form a committee to get public input on the matter, and that was unanimously accepted.

Commissioners also gave blanket approval to renewal of all alcohol licenses in the city; approved one-day alcohol licenses for the Quail Unlimited Celebrity Quail Hunt Jan. 24-26 at Darton College; approved the Albany Restorative Justice Center, Albany High School’s Project Graduate and the Lily Pad Center for public service grants totaling $15,000, $24,000 and $10,000, respectively; and approved bids by Innovative Shade ($42,839) and OMI ($1,036,326.53) for the construction of shade structures at Paul Eames Park and water pollution management services, respectively.

Postell complained again about the absence of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization Director Pinky Modeste from the meeting and asked that Lott place his request to “put (Modeste) under our authority” on the agenda for the next commission meeting.

More Headlines>>