12/17/2013 Meeting Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Minutes of 12-17-2013 people for differentials and how eventually Obamacare will affect this. Copfer said Obamacare is evolving as we speak, and they are looking at areas of care and EMS services. Since the city does not have the final information yet, they are moving forward. Copfer gave examples of co-pays information and said the city will only go after the allowable amount. Councilwoman Williamson moved for adoption. The motion was seconded by Councilman Schumann. Roll Call: Williamson, no with comment. As you recall, when this Ordinance was first introduced, Council made a motion to recommend approval and place the matter on second reading. Between the time the committee met and the next council meeting, new information came to light which warranted further review by committee. A motion was made to move the legislation back to committee for further discussion. After last week's committee meeting on the same topic, the Safety committee agreed to move forward with recommending approval to all of council with suspension. This was done so in good faith with the agreement to discuss collection methods to be utilized in collecting the current outstanding debt from EMS billings. Since the last meeting, a local news article published the current debt owed to the City for uncollected EMS billings. This amount doubled from the original estimated figure of $200k to $400k. While I originally agreed to recommend approval to Council on the condition we would review and discuss the implementation of future collection practices, I have reconsidered my position on this issue. Raising EMS billing charges to collect more money, all while ignoring the outstanding debt the city is currently owed is something I do not agree with doing. My original position is that we postpone our discussion about raising rates until we can address the current issue of moving forward with the collection process to recuperate the nearly $400k the City is currently owed. I reluctantly voted yes during committee, however, seeing these new figures has made me reconsider this entire process. It is my position that Council was not fully informed of these figures in committee, and raising these rates right now is not a necessity. I do not agree with raising the rates at this time. Roll Call continued: Schumann, yes; Limpert; yes; Orlowski, no; Brossard, yes; Kearney, yes; Barker, yes. Ordinance 2013-98 adopted 5-2. Ordinance 2013-106 introduced by Mayor Kennedy was given its second reading. An Ordinance to make and transfer appropriations for current expenses and other expenditures for the City of North Olmsted for the year ending December 31, 2013, and declaring an emergency, as amended. Councilman Barker made a motion to suspend the rule requiring three readings as this was reviewed in committee. The motion was seconded by Councilman Schumann and passed unanimously. Councilman Barker moved for adoption. The motion was seconded by Councilman Schumann and passed unanimously. Ordinance 2013-106 adopted 7-0. Ordinance 2013-109 introduced by Council President Jones was given its second reading. An Ordinance to revise the Codified Ordinances by adopting current replacement pages, and declaring an emergency. Councilman Barker made a motion to suspend the rule requiring three readings as this was reviewed in committee and has to be in place by the end of the year. The motion was seconded by Councilman Kearney and passed unanimously. Councilman Barker moved for adoption. The motion was seconded by Councilman Kearney and passed unanimously. Ordinance 2013-109 adopted 7-0. Niter 7