Muni Ct Comunity Service COMMISSION INFORMATION MEMORANDUM
VOL. 21, NO. 38 December 17, 1999
ITEM OF INTEREST FROM SHAWN O'LEARY
It has been a good week in the category of railroad crossing repair in Salina.
Engineering Department employee Barry Hummel has completed some very
successful negotiations with the field crews for UPRR.
The recent minor derailment on South 4t~ Street provided an opportunity for us to
negotiate some additional repairs on that main line track, as well as the abandoned
track in the City parking lot. While our request for concrete panels on this section
of the main 4"~ Street line was not granted, UPRR will install the timber panels similar
to those on the remainder of 4"~ Street. We will in turn provide the necessary asphalt
paving to finish the street repairs adjacent to the new tracks. Also, UPRR agreed
to remove the abandoned track across the entire parking lot entrance at their cost.
Again, we will provide the asphalt paving to finish the repairs. This should satisfy
some concerns the Business Improvement District has expressed over the recent
years about the parking lot entrance.
In our discussions with UPRR, we also confirmed that they will be replacing the four
northernmost crossings on North Ohio Street with new concrete panels at their cost
in the next 60 days. This is part of their rehab project on that rail line that has been
ongoing for 2 years or so. We plan to proceed with our formal request for 2000 and
subsequent years for other crossing repairs throughout the City. At this time, we are
looking at some other crossings on North Ohio, Cloud Street at 4"', West State Street
and a few others.
ITEM OF INTEREST FROM MIKE MORGAN
In March 1999, Salina Municipal Court and the Salina Landfill began a community
service project in which defendants from our court are referred to the Salina Landfill
to perform required community service work. Most of the defendants that are
required to complete these hours have been granted a diversion in our court,
although some people are allowed to complete hours in lieu of paying fines. These
volunteers are used to clean up the trash that blows out along the fence line of the
facility.
There has been an average of sixteen people per month reporting to the Landfill to
volunteer their services. Since the program began, 158 people have performed
1,041¼ hours of community service work at the Salina Landfill. Staff at both
agencies see this program as a success and look forward to continuing to work
together.
ADMINISTRATIVE BRIEF FROM MIKE MORGAN
The last quarter of the year typically is a very busy time for the Human Resources
Department and this year is no exception. Major year-end projects include the following:
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CIM Page 2
· Health, Prescription, Dental and Life Insurance Renewals
· Personnel Manual Revisions including preparation and distribution
· Section 125 Open Enrollment- Education and enrollment
· Employee Council Nomination Process
· Human Resources Software Migration - Year 2000 compliant
· Processing Year 2000 Pay Plan Adjustments
Supervisory training for new supervisors will be held this month covering Sexual
Harassment and Performance Evaluations. This training reflects an ongoing commitment
to provide broad based supervisory training for over 100 hundred supervisory personnel.
Staff is continuing to monitor federal legislative issues including health care reform (Patient
Bill of Rights), pension portability and proposed changes to Family Medical Leave. As with
similar legislation, it is difficult to predict the administrative impact and the possible cost of
implementation.
Kansas Police and Fire Pension (KP&F) is offering its members, all sworn employees in
the Police and Fire Departments, an election to move from Tier I to Tier II retirement status.
This election will allow members to vest after 15 years of service instead of 20 and to retire
at age 50, instead of 55. KP&F held an informational meeting a few weeks ago and have
sent out packets for the Tier I members. The cost of this election is the total responsibility
of the employee and seems to be cost prohibitive for most employees. Thus, we expect
very few employees to move from the Tier I to the Tier II retirement option. All employees
hired after July 1, 1989 are already Tier II members.
MONDAY'S MEETING
1. Enclosed are other items on the agenda. If any Commissioner has any questions or
cannot attend the meeting, please contact me.
2. Let's begin the study session at 2:30 p.m. An agenda is enclosed.
Dennis M. Kissinger
City Manager