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Mounds View City Council October 24, 2005 <br />Regular Meeting Page 9 <br />• Councilmember Thomas suggested that be delayed. until .January of next year, after the election <br />and the holidays. <br />MOTION/SECOND: Thomas/Flaherty. To waive the reading and adopt Resolution 6665 <br />Approving the Terms of Proposal for the sale by the City of Blaine of its G.O. Capital <br />Improvement Bonds, for SBM Fire Department Improvements, as amended to reduce the bond <br />amount to $8,050,000. <br />Councilmember Stigney drew the Council's attention to the last Now Therefore Be it Resolved <br />paragraph, noting the extract of minutes shows a member introduced the motion and it was <br />seconded. He asked if it should be included in the same document, noting this is a different <br />format. <br />City Attorney Riggs advised that the document follows the standard format of bond consultants <br />and while not typical, is no different from what is adopted. He assured the Council this format <br />change is not a significant concern. <br />Ayes-5 Nays-0 Motion carried. <br />H. Resolution 6654 Approving New Health Care Insurance Provider for 2006 <br />• City Administrator Ulrich explained that over the past year, the City purchased employee group <br />health insurance with HealthPartners through Johnson McCann, the City's broker and consultant <br />since January of 2005. Johnson McCann started the bid process again for 2006. In conjunction <br />with the annual renewal process, Johnson McCann was able to get more competitive rates from <br />other insurance companies, much better than the current health insurance provider whose rates <br />would be increasing rates by 18% in 2006. <br />City Administrator Ulrich stated the City sought proposals from five insurance companies but <br />Medica and Preferred One did not submit a proposal. Proposals were received from existing <br />carrier Health Partners and Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) and BCBS in the Cooperative.. As <br />far as coverage, all groups were bidding on the same package for the same coverage. He <br />explained that the difference in premiums is reflected in the staff report. BCBS provided a more <br />comprehensive package than Health Partners for the same coverage so Staff recommends the <br />Council approve BCBS. The second decision whether is to go with them as an independent or <br />cooperative. A number. of cities have bid BCBS through the cooperative; the administrative <br />company is known as Appletree Institute. They serve a number of cities, schools, and counties, <br />primarily in southwest Minnesota but now more in the metropolitan area. City Administrator <br />Ulrich explained the advantage of a co-op is that it provides stability of rates. In looking at this. <br />number over time, the indication was that rather than going up and down each year, it is more <br />stable and predictable for budgeting each year. <br />• City Administrator Ulrich stated there would be a 7.76% increase in the rate with the cooperative <br />compared to 18% if the City stayed with Health Partners and somewhere in-between if going <br />