HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOUNCIL STUDY - 2010-11-08 CITY OF LIVONIA— CITY COUNCIL
MINUTES OF STUDY MEETING HELD NOVEMBER 8, 2010
Meeting was called to order at 8:00 p.m. Present: Maureen Miller Brosnan,
Conrad Schwartz, John Pastor, Brian Meakin, Joe Laura, Laura Toy and James
McCann. Absent: None.
Elected and appointed officials present: Mayor Jack Kirksey; Don Knapp, City
Attorney; Mark Taormina, City Planner; Todd Zilincik, City Engineer; and Terry Marecki,
City Clerk.
President McCann announced there are two X-items that will be discussed at the end of
the regular agenda.
President McCann announced a Public Hearing for the following item to be held in the
Auditorium of the Livonia City Hall, 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia, MI.
Monday, November 22, 2010 at 7:00 p.m.
The City of Livonia will hold a Public Hearing on Monday, November 22,
2010 at 7:00 P.M. in the Auditorium at 33000 Civic Center Drive, Livonia,
Michigan for Petition 2010-07-06-01 submitted by the City Planning
Commission pursuant to Council Resolution 225-10 and Section 23.01(a)
of Zoning Ordinance No. 543, as amended, to determine whether or not to
amend Subsections (b) and (d) of Section 18.42A (Wireless
Communication Facilities) of Article XVIII to better insure that operators
and colocators do not have radio frequency (RF) energy emissions or
other detrimental field output and to require colocators and operators to
notify the Inspection Department of changes in ownership and contact
information.
Councilmember Meakin announced the Livonia Community Foundation will host its
annual wine tasting event on Thursday, November 11, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. at the One
Under Banquet Center. Please call his office for information on tickets at (734) 425-
7555, tickets are also available at the door.
AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None.
1. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO SELL CITY-OWNED PROPERTY
PURCHASED FROM FANNIE MAE FORECLOSED PROPERTIES: Livonia
Housing Commission, re: located at 20198 Antago for a total sale price of
$577500.00. (CR 139-10)
Jim Inglis, Executive Director of Housing, said this property was purchased in
April 2010 through the Neighborhood Stabilization Program. They acquired this
home through Fannie Mae in the amount of $33,200.00. He said some of the
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Councilmembers did visit this home back in June; he said they will be extending
them an invitation to come back and take a look at it before the new occupants
take over the property. The rehabilitation of the home is done and they have an
appraisal. The appraised value came in at $57,500.00. A low proposal was
received from Mr. Andrew Matthews. They are asking Council to approve the
sale of the property in the amount of$57,500.00 to Mr. Andrew Matthews.
Pastor offered the approving resolution for the Regular Agenda.
Laura asked Inglis about the appraisal and purchase bid. He asked if the
appraisal was comparable to other homes in that area. Inglis replied yes.
DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR
2. REQUEST FOR AUTHORIZATION TO ENTER INTO A COMMUNICATIONS
SYSTEM AGREEMENT WITH MOTOROLA, INC.; REQUEST TO PURCHASE
INFRASTRUCTURE EQUIPMENT FROM SOLE SOURCE SUPPLIER; AND
REQUEST TO APPROVE FREQUENCY RECONFIGURATION AGREEMENT
(FRA) WITH NEXTEL WEST CORPORATION: Division of Police, re: to comply
with the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) order for the
reconfiguration of the 800 MHz radio band and to allow the City to migrate into
the statewide interoperable Michigan Public Safety Communications System
(MPSCS).
Police Chief Robert Stevenson was present to ask Council for approval for this
extremely important project that will greatly impact public safety here in the City
for many years to come. He said it is a very long proposal but basically it is to
buy a new radio system for the City. This is a project that they literally have
hundreds of staff hours devoted to. The Law Department has been extensively
involved with this project with the negotiations and going over the contracts with
the outside vendors. They have obtained over $200,000.00 of various grant
funds to help belay the cost of this project.
Captain Ben McDermott, Livonia Police Department, said they are seeking
Council approval of a Motorola Equipment Proposal and a Communications
System Agreement with them. He said they are asking to waive the bid process
because they are the sole source supplier of this equipment. He said they are
also seeking approval of a Frequency Reconfiguration Agreement with Nextel
West Corporation. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has ordered
the reconfiguration of the 800 MHz radio band and that's to minimize the harmful
interference to public safety radio communications systems operating in that
band. This order requires the City to reconfigure its equipment and to move to
new radio frequencies assigned by the FCC. In order to accomplish this, their
current radio system has to be rebanded; in other words, retuned, or replaced.
The Nextel West Corporation has been ordered by the FCC to provide
comparable facilities and pay the minimum amount necessary to accomplish the
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City's frequency rebanding and reconfiguration. Coincidentally, the City's Public
Safety Communication System has reached its end of life; its serviceable life is
pretty much over and is in need of replacement. The City's current stand alone
radio equipment is not truly interoperable with neighboring communities and is no
longer supported by the manufacturer. Therefore, rather than rebanding their old
Ericcson equipment they leveraged the rebanding mandate and negotiated a
buyout within the frequency configuration agreement with Nextel and the FCC.
As a part of this agreement, Nextel has agreed to pay the City a sum equal to the
cost of retuning their existing equipment and replacing the old untunable
equipment with comparable rebanded equipment. Taking advantage of this cash
out option provides them with up to $1,227,000.00 and Nextel will provide them
with half that amount, roughly $600,000.00 within 30 days of receiving and
executing the signed Reconfiguration Agreement. The other half of the payment
will be made once the City has completely reconfigured its equipment and moved
to a new system. These funds will be used to purchase new interoperable radio
equipment and infrastructure which will allow the City to migrate from a stand
alone system into the Statewide fully interoperable Michigan Public Safety
Communications System (MPSCS). The City's current tower will be integrated
into the Wayne County System as well as the MPSCS. This will improve
coverage for the City's first responders and all the other City departments as
well. All the City departments, Police, Fire, and Public Service will utilize this
equipment. The new system will give the City regional coverage by linking us into
State system and the County subsystem. The Division of Police is requesting the
purchase of infrastructure for the new communication system from Motorola.
Motorola prepared a proposal and will supply the equipment at a cost of
$1,780,713.00. The cost did not include the cost of portable and mobile radios
that will be needed for the system. The Department of Public Safety is currently
evaluating the various authorized mobile radio units that have been
recommended to be utilized on the system and that evaluation is ongoing. He
expects that evaluation to be done within the next two weeks. The Department of
Public Safety is requesting permission to enter into a Communications System
Agreement with Motorola, in other words a contract, to purchase the
infrastructure equipment as described in their proposal. They further request a
waiver to the sealed bid process because Motorola is the sole source provider.
Last, they request permission to accept the proposed frequency reconfiguration
with Nextel. The funds will be expended from money received from that
frequency reconfiguration agreement to make this purchase. They will also use
911 surcharge funds budgeted in next year's budget and also from some justice
system grant funds. No general fund money will be used for this purchase.
President McCann stated that Nextel had another reason for providing the City
with the $600,000.00. He said it comes down to those frequencies that Nextel is
trying to pick up nationwide. They are expanding their network. They have had
some confliction with some communities, including Livonia. Part of the
agreement is that they have to pay the actual minimum cost for Livonia to switch
frequencies. Captain McDermott confirmed that is correct. President McCann
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said this new radio system is quite unique because if the City has an officer in
Detroit or an officer is picking up a prisoner up in Saginaw, these radios will
remain in contact with the City. Captain McDermott confirmed that is correct, he
said it is a Statewide system. President McCann asked Captain McDermott if the
State had resolved the issue with the shortage of Logical Identification (LID)
numbers for the individual radios. He replied yes it has been resolved and he has
been assured by the State that there are plenty of LID numbers and said that
Livonia can join anytime it is ready.
Toy offered the approving resolution for the Regular Agenda.
Captain McDermott added at this point in time they are finishing a study on
perhaps doing a combined dispatch with Canton Township, as well as some of
the City's other regional neighbors in the future. Canton has already made the
decision to go to the Statewide system, so this plays a factor into the possibility
of a combined regional dispatch. All of the neighbors they have spoken to are all
pretty committed to joining the MPSCS.
Pastor said they stated Nextel was the sole provider, he asked if they were the
only ones in this game or if they are the sole supplier of the system they are
specifying. Captain McDermott replied by stating they are the only ones that the
MPSCS people have authorized and have allowed them to do this particular work
on the system. He said when he says that it is just the backbone. He has
designed the purchase so this is like the first phase and this is just the
infrastructure.
Captain McDermott said they are looking at doing some evaluations of some
other equipment and after that they'll be in a position to make a recommendation
to Council on which console and which mobiles they want to purchase for the
Police and Fire Departments. He said they have already made a determination
on what to purchase for Public Service and a good portion of that equipment is in
the process of being purchased through a federal grant.
Laura said it is his understanding that the Michigan State Police is running testing
right now for systems and it is going to be at least one and one half years of
testing and is ongoing right now. He said he knows that for a fact. Laura said,
when McDermott says interoperability he (Laura) understands that to mean that
they can talk to any other agency, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan State Police
or anybody. He said to McDermott that he previously stated Canton is going to
pick up the same system and so they will be able to common dispatch. He said
common dispatch would already occur if you had interoperability. Captain
McDermott said there are different levels of interoperability. The interoperability
matrix basically has five levels; this would put Livonia at the top of the matrix
because they would be sharing the same system as opposed to using a different
system that would allow them to talk to the other agencies by using a patch. They
would have the same equipment so that they could just seamlessly talk to them
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by flipping their channel with nothing else being done. Laura asked McDermott, if
the State Police is not in on this then what police forces are on this system. Laura
said if they are at the top of the pyramid that should mean that they should be
able to do common dispatching, they should be able to talk to anybody. He said
he is totally confused by what they are saying. He said he knows that they are
not talking to the State police and he said that should be one of their payload
parent organizations. Laura asked them if CLEMIS was doing this also.
Police Chief Robert Stevenson said the Statewide system would allow them to
seamlessly talk from one of the units here in Livonia to one of its units up in
Mackinaw, directly and seamlessly. He said about 40% of the state has migrated
to the Statewide system. He said when we talk about interoperability, they do
have the ability if they went to some other City to patch in but it is not seamless
and they would not have the same coverage throughout the state. They could be
a stand-alone 800 frequency radio system that could have some limited
operability but this is a seamless system that would allow them to go through the
whole state. Laura asked what the pressure was to have this system, who was
mandating this. Captain McDermott replied stating that the FCC has a mandate
that they narrow band or reband their equipment to free up the frequencies that
they are currently assigned. He said if Laura is talking about talking with the
State police, he said they can talk to the State police using this system. He said
they would have their own frequencies and then they would have shared
frequencies or what they call event channels that they could dial to in a matter of
a second and be able to talk to anyone who is on this system that would go to
that event channel. So if there were a major event where something happened,
those people on the shared system would go to the event channel and they
would be talking among multiple jurisdictions all on that same channel. Laura
said the interoperability, the ultimate system is where you don't have to switch at
all, and they would be able to access all frequencies where they can go back and
forth automatically. He said then you would have the common dispatching. Also,
not having the Michigan State Police onboard right now is a concern to him. He
asked McDermott if there was a time period that they had to have this done.
McDermott said the State Police is utilizing this system right now. Laura said they
are doing a Statewide test, he knows that for a fact. McDermott said the State
Police has been utilizing this system for several years already. Laura said he
knows that right now they are doing a Statewide test to see what they will be
doing for the next year and a half. He inquired if they were going to have repeater
systems with the radio. McDermott said there will not be any remote repeaters;
he said they will utilize their tower with new equipment hung on their tower. He
said they will also utilize every other tower that is in the MPSCS system.
McDermott said to Laura he was confused about this year and a half testing.
McDermott said the Michigan State Police are doing an upgrade to their current
system. Laura said it is going to be interoperable and said it goes further than
that; they will be getting demo units from the National Guard. Laura asked
McDermott what the expected life of the system is, he replied about 15 years on
average. Laura asked the Chair if this item could be put on the Regular agenda.
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President McCann added that the he attended the conference with Captain
McDermott and Chief Stevenson. He said Michigan was one of three states that
currently had a Statewide system and of all the different states that came to the
conference, Livonia was one of the biggest envies. Minnesota and Arizona were
both working on it. A few other states are beginning the process. The system
itself, even though they may be looking at upgrading it, was the one that
everyone else was talking about at the conference.
Laura said it is not his intent to diminish what the Captain and Chief are saying,
he said he perhaps knows a little too much on the subject matter. The premiere
system out in the field right now is CHIPS which is utilized by the California
Highway Patrol which has seamless interoperability going North to South or any
direction. He said perhaps he has a different idea of interoperability. He
suggested they discuss it further in depth offline. He said he would dig out the
information he has. He apologized, but said what they are saying to him is
foreign to him and to what he knows. McDermott assured him that this is a
Statewide system that has been in place for years that is currently undergoing an
upgrade; it is part of a P25 system. It is at the first phase, they are looking at
phase two somewhere down the line years from now. The State MPSCS helped
them design what they are doing.
Brosnan said she would like to point out for the viewing and listening audience at
home what the advantage of the system is. One of the key things they mentioned
previously is the central event channel that if there is a significant event that all
Public Safety entities can communicate on one central location. She said that is
something that they don't have right now. She asked McDermott to explain what
exactly that is and how it would benefit the public. McDermott replied that
currently they operate a system that is stand alone. Whatever the tower radiates
in the center of the City, probably a few miles outside the City is the boundary
line that their vehicles and radios can receive and communicate with central
dispatch. Anything beyond that falls off and they have no way to communicate
with that vehicle or person on a portable radio. The new system would utilize
multiple sites that have been in place for several years on the Statewide MPSCS.
It allows an officer, wherever he or she may go in the state of Michigan, the
ability to seamlessly communicate with every other car that is on that system and
back to their home base dispatch. They could communicate utilizing multiple
event channels and common channels that are common to anyone that is on this
system as well as their own proprietary channels that they currently have that will
be rebanded to operate on this Statewide system. Brosnan said to the average
resident then, they ought to be assured that this system and this investment
helps to protect our officers as they go beyond what the bounds of
communication that is currently used and it protects them as well as the incidents
of emergencies go broader and broader and they find themselves in bigger
emergency management situations. McDermott said they are following what the
federal government wants all agencies to do. This is a huge upgrade to the City's
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current system. In the fact that no matter where the officer goes they can
communicate. He said their detectives and narcotics officers currently conduct
business outside the City limits routinely. They conduct interviews and some
times make arrests. The only way they communicate is through this system.
They have purchased some hand held radios which they are utilizing on a very
limited basis. This would allow everyone on that system to do that as well. It is a
huge safety benefit for the officer if he has to leave the City for whatever reason;
for example, if he is involved in a chase, if he is going to pick up a prisoner, or if
he is conducting some kind of narcotics investigation. He said routinely they have
to leave the City boundaries to enforce the law. Brosnan asked McDermott if this
system allowed us to bring information in to help prevent crime in the City.
McDermott said it allows them to communicate a lot more efficiently, so he would
say yes. Brosnan said the investment the City would be making is $1,780,000.00.
She asked McDermott if that was less the $600,000.00 Nextel contribution. He
replied that was correct and said that is for the infrastructure. He said the entire
project, he is estimating at around $3,200,000.00 with the rolling stock and
everything else that goes with it. There is close to $1,200,000.00 in the buyout
from Nextel that will be placed toward that as well as about $250,000.00 in grant
funds that they have obtained because they do want to go to this interoperable
system.
Meakin asked if this would help the City in regionalizing the dispatch and helping
to expand the system, making them the leader in this project. McDermott replied,
absolutely yes. Meakin said eventually they are putting a lot of pressure on them
and a lot of other Departments to consolidate services with other municipalities
which will hopefully eventually save them money throughout the region.
McDermott confirmed that would be correct.
President McCann said it is his understanding the City's tower will now be used
for this system and will assist the State Police and all the other police agencies.
McDermott confirmed that is correct, he said it will be part of the system so other
agencies will be able to roam onto it, however, the City's five channels that they
currently have will be proprietary to the City so they have priority. So that if there
were some gigantic event going on here, Livonia's officers, public service
workers, Fire personnel and such would have priority over anyone else. As part
of this system, what they are doing is joining a sub system because it is going to
be a simulcast site with multiple channels being placed at their facility. So there
will be a lot of extra channels that they can utilize on a daily basis. He said if
there ever was any threat of overload, in other words, there won't be any
overload to the system because of that and they will get greater coverage as
well.
Mayor Kirksey commented about the current system and said it has reached its
end of usefulness. He added that the City has some advantages, the way this
project is being financed because of the time and energy that was done by the
Police Department staff and wished to express his appreciation for their efforts.
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He said as Chief Stevenson mentioned earlier, the Law Department also spent
time and energy on this project in reviewing the proposed contracts, he wished to
also recognize their efforts as well.
DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR
3. AWARD OF BID: Public Service Division, re: for one (1) 12" Drum-Style Chipper
from funds budgeted in the 2010-2011 Refuse Fund.
Don Rohraff, Superintendent of Public Service, said this is a request to purchase
a new chipper. It will be replacing a worn out eight (8) year old chipper that is
currently being used. There were a total of six (6) bids received; they are
recommending the low bidder. The low bid came in at $20,000.00.
Laura offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda.
DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT
4. AWARD OF BID: Public Service Division, re: for two (2) Trailer-Mounted Leaf
Collectors from funds budgeted in the 2010-2011 Refuse Fund.
Don Rohraff, Superintendent of Public Service, said this is a request to purchase
two (2) brand new trailer-mounted leaf collectors. These will be replacing one 11-
year old and one 13-year old leaf collectors. These are currently being used;
however, they are worn out and need to be replaced. He said they received two
(2) bids and are recommending the low bidder.
Brosnan offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda.
DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT
5. REQUEST TO APPROVE ADDITIONAL APPROPRIATION AND
EXPENDITURE: Engineering Division, re: for construction engineering costs in
connection with the Lyndon Avenue Reconstruction Project - Middlebelt to Henry
Ruff, until Federal funding becomes available for reimbursement. (CR 269-09)
Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, said this is a request for Council approval of
expenditure in the amount of $25,000.00 to MDOT, in an effort not to lose any
ACT 51 funds. He said he anticipates receiving these funds back at a later date.
Just for a point of clarification, he said this project was bid back in the Spring, the
anticipated cost allotted for this project was $635,000.00. He said they came in at
$673,000.00. They anticipate getting back $40,000.00 for construction
engineering services.
Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda.
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DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT
6. ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSE TO COUNCIL RESOLUTION 346-10-
Engineering Division, re: construction of a new sidewalk along Newburgh Road
between Seven Mile and Eight Mile Roads.
Todd Zilincik, City Engineer, said they were able to take a look at this area
between Seven Mile and Eight Mile Roads with regards to sidewalks, as a result
of Mr. Ron Riggio, 37204 Bretton, coming to Council and expressing concern for
the safety of the pedestrians in that area. After looking at the location, they broke
it up into two segments. The first segment would be from Seven Mile Road to
Pembroke at the U.S. Post Office, continuing on north from Pembroke by the
U.S. Post Office to Eight Mile Road. He said based on the location out there, if a
sidewalk were to be constructed they recommend it be placed on the east side of
the road which already has existing segments of sidewalk along the corridor.
Brose Electric has some existing sidewalk along there along with the Plaza. He
said they would have to fill in some gaps. Approximately 1,150 lineal feet, up to
Pembroke, again some of the existing sidewalk ramps would have to be
upgraded. He said currently what can be seen now along Newburgh Road is part
of the resurfacing project and is ADA compliant. The cost of this location is
somewhere between $35,000.00 and $50,000.00 which would not include survey
services or potential locations for utilities that may be in conflict. The second
segment they looked at was from the U.S. Post Office on Pembroke heading
north to Eight Mile Road. Their recommendation would be to put a sidewalk on
the west side of Newburgh Road along Greenmead soccer fields and the
historical Blue House there. Obviously, you have the golf course on the east side
and maybe obstacles, as the gentleman alluded to, a net may be required and
obviously the cost would be a little more expensive. The cost estimated on that
project would be somewhere between $60,000.00 and $75,000.00. Based on
that, they provided three recommendations. The key factor for these projects is
funding, as far as, how they will pay for these projects. Sidewalks along the major
roads are the responsibility of the City. There are three recommendations they
are providing to Council, the first creating a special assessment district along the
sidewalk where the existing parcels exist. Second would be to adopt a sidewalk
program throughout the City where they can identify high priorities that the
residents may need that they may budget funds for in a future Fiscal Year
Budget. Third potentially levy a millage to handle the sidewalk and complete
streets. A prime example of this is on Greenmead. He said he doesn't want to
see the City put a sidewalk in only to realize that there should be at least an eight
foot wide bike path constructed there. He said the key things to consider are
funding and timing when the road projects come forward.
Brosnan said her thoughts initially were if there was going to be construction
done along the area, to incorporate the sidewalks in the project to minimize the
cost to the City. She said to Zilincik, she didn't find that in his report. He said
basically, the road construction project along Newburgh was approved prior to
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him being hired in as the City Engineer. Brosnan said she takes that to mean,
unfortunately, the time for incorporating those sidewalks into the road
construction project has passed. Zilincik said that is correct.
Brosnan offered the resolution to refer the matter to the Infrastructure and
Community Transit Committee for further consideration.
Brosnan said she is particularly interested in perhaps incorporating this area into
a Sidewalk Gap Program. She said she thinks there's great possibility for them to
take a look Citywide at what a Gap Program might look like. She thinks it fits well
with the complete streets legislation that was recently passed. While there is no
funding for that, she said they have keep reminding themselves of that fact, but it
will at least help in the long run to know where the gaps are and what the costs
are and to have a plan to address them.
Meakin said while those are good ideas, two of the ideas would require either a
special assessment or a millage. He said he hasn't heard that there is enough
interest in this from the citizens.
Meakin offered the resolution for no further action.
DIRECTION: 1) REFER TO INFRASTRUCTURE REGULAR
& COMMUNITY TRANSIT COMMITTEE
2) NO FURTHER ACTION
X-1. REQUEST TO RENEW LIABILITY AND PROPERTY INSURANCE COVERAGE:
Department of Finance, re: with the Michigan Municipal Risk Management
Authority (MMRMA) for the period of December 1, 2010 through November 30,
2012
Coline Coleman, Chief Accountant, said the proposed renewal is for
$1,209,312.00 which is 2.5% less than the current policy price. The price will be
guaranteed to increase no more than 8% for the next year.
Toy asked if they looked anywhere else or whether or they did any bidding. Toy
said she realizes this is a unique one but how does it compare with anything
else. Coleman said it is hard to find comparable coverage right now in the State
of Michigan; right now there is nothing in the commercial insurance that is really
comparable. Services provided by MMRMA are unique. She said it would require
additional City personnel if the City were to become self insured. She said there
is a net excess asset distribution for 2010 in the amount of $308,960.00 that the
City will be eligible for if it does this renewal.
Pastor offered the approving resolution for the Regular Agenda.
DIRECTION: APPROVING REGULAR
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Donna Riggio, 37204 Bretton, asked President McCann if it were too late to
comment on the previous item. President McCann said yes, that he had already
called for comments. He did inform her however, it will be on the Agenda for the
voting meeting November 17, 2010. She asked if a petition with signatures from
residents in the subdivision would help. President McCann said support of the
parties that would be directly affected by the Special Assessment would have
bearing on the matter. He said along the Greenmead area that would include the
City and the citizens of Livonia.
Coleman said with her tonight in the audience were Larry Drummy and Michael
Rhyner, Executive Director of MMRMA. They were available to answer any
questions of Council.
X-2. REQUEST TO ACCEPT QUOTATION FOR LIFE INSURANCE AND
ACCIDENTAL DEATH AND DISMEMBERMENT INSURANCE: Department of
Finance, re: from Hartford Insurance Company for the period of December 1,
2010 to November 30, 2013, this reflects a decrease of approximately 26 percent
from the current rate.
Coline Coleman, Chief Accountant, said they have received seven (7) quotes.
Hartford Insurance has offered the lowest cost. Brian Mills of Hartford Insurance
Company was not able to be here tonight. She said if Council had any questions
for him she would be happy to convey them to him. She said Mr. Biga is also
present to answer any questions Council may have.
Laura asked Coleman if this was for employee life insurance. Coleman replied
yes. He asked if the City pays for this. She said yes, she added coverage varies
according to income levels. She also said with Hartford, employees can
contribute to increase their level of coverage. Mr. Biga added that supplemental
insurance is not available under the current contract. Biga said with the new
contract with Hartford up to an additional $100,000 of supplemental insurance
can be purchased.
Brosnan asked how is it that the City is seeing a 26% decrease in rates. She
asked if it were because there is a younger work force, less people, they are just
more competitive, or the poor economy. Biga replied all of those are probably
true. He said he thinks the market is very competitive right now. Hartford was one
of the previous suppliers and they want the City's business again. He said they
were very pleased with services Hartford provided in the past and would like to
have them back and it is good that their pricing is very competitive. Brosnan
asked when did the City last work with them, Biga replied about two years ago.
He said they were with Hartford for at least two contracts for a total of four years.
Toy offered the approving resolution for the Consent Agenda.
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DIRECTION: APPROVING CONSENT
AUDIENCE COMMUNICATION: None.
As there were no further questions or comments, Council President McCann adjourned
the Study Session at 8:58 p.m. on Monday, November 8, 2010.
DATED: November 16, 2010 TERRY A. MARECKI
CITY CLERK