Gahanna City Council Committee of the Whole Meeting - August 25, 2025
Gahanna City Council Committee of the Whole Meeting - August 25, 2025
The Gahanna City Council met as the Committee of the Whole on Monday, August 25, 2025, at 7:20 PM in the Council Chambers. The meeting was delayed due to a preceding special meeting and adjourned at 7:56 PM. All Council members were present. The agenda included healthcare insurance changes, an electric supply agreement, a Purdue opioid settlement, a zoning correction, and supplemental appropriations. No public comments were received. The committee recommended several items for introduction and adoption at the upcoming regular Council meeting on September 2, 2025.
Consent Calendar
- RES-0035-2025: Authorizing the City to exit the Central Ohio Health Care Consortium (COHCC) effective January 1, 2026.
- RES-0036-2025: Establishing a health benefits self-insurance program and authorizing third-party administrative agreements and an internal service fund.
- RES-0038-2025: Authorizing the City Attorney to enter the Purdue Direct Settlement for national opioid settlement funds.
- RES-0037-2025: Authorizing the transfer of funds from Public Safety Contract Services and State Treasury Contract Services to Materials and Supplies accounts.
Discussion Items
Items from the Department of Administrative Services – Health Insurance Transition
Senior Director of Administrative Services Miranda Vollmer presented an overview of the proposed transition from the COHCC to a standalone self-funded health insurance program. She summarized a 2024 benefits assessment by NFP and a 2025 RFP. Key recommendations included maintaining UMR for medical and RxBenefits for prescription drugs, adding First Stop Health for virtual urgent care (replacing OSU urgent care), PeopleEQ/WellnessIQ for wellness, and CuraLinc for employee assistance (EAP). Vollmer projected minimum savings of $800,000 for 2026 with a 0% premium increase for employees. Specific projections included: UMR 4.2% lower spend over consortium levels, pharmacy costs up to 8.1% below consortium, First Stop Health annual cost of $13,000 versus OSU’s proposed $270 per visit, and wellness savings over $10,000. Councilmembers asked about consortium dynamics, risk pooling, stop-loss coverage ($100,000 deductible), virtual care logistics, employee disruption, and catastrophic claim exposure. Vollmer confirmed the transition would be seamless due to same networks, new insurance cards in January, and enhanced benefits at lower cost. Several council members expressed strong support, with Councilmember Schnetzer calling it a “no-brainer.” The committee recommended introduction and adoption on the consent agenda for September 2, 2025.
Items from the Senior Director of Operations – Electric Supply Agreement
Senior Deputy Director Corey Wybensinger presented RES-0039-2025 to authorize Mayor Jadwin to enter an electric supply agreement for 67 city accounts (municipal buildings, parks, streetlights, lift stations). The agreement would follow a competitive procurement through Tradition Energy via the Omnia Partners consortium. Wybensinger explained that recent market volatility had flattened pricing and staff recommended a 12-month term (December 2025 to December 2026) rather than a longer lock-in. The plan is to pursue 100% renewable energy for all accounts if cost-feasible, with a projected differential of approximately $9,600 for 4 million kilowatt-hours. The indicative price is around $0.07 per kilowatt-hour. The procurement timeline includes a September 2 Council approval, September 3 market bid solicitation between 10:00 AM and noon, and a signed agreement required by 4:30 PM that day to lock rates. Councilmember Renner praised the thorough presentation and asked for reporting back; Wybensinger confirmed a copy of the signed agreement would be provided to Council within 10 days. Councilmember McGregor clarified the renewable cost difference. The committee recommended introduction and adoption on the regular agenda for September 2, 2025.
Items from the City Attorney – Opioid Settlement and Council Rules
City Attorney Tamilarasan presented RES-0038-2025 to authorize her participation in the Purdue Direct Settlement, a new national opioid settlement. She noted that Gahanna joined the One Ohio plan in 2021 and has accrued about $123,000 in opioid settlement funds to date, with no expenditures yet. She sought explicit Council authority for this specific settlement. In response to questions, she clarified that the $123,000 is the aggregate from about a dozen settlements, and there is no immediate deadline to spend the funds, though reporting requirements apply once funds are deployed. Councilmembers expressed support. The committee recommended introduction and adoption on the consent agenda for September 2, 2025.
Discussion: Review of Council Rules of Procedure
City Attorney Tamilarasan initiated a discussion on proposed revisions to the Council Rules of Procedure, focusing on when to use resolutions versus ordinances. She recommended that absent a statutory requirement for an ordinance (e.g., code changes, appropriations, property transactions), resolutions should suffice for administrative actions. She has drafted a redline and solicited comments from the Clerk and administration; the draft will be circulated to Council for review at the next Committee of the Whole meeting. She also noted that practice requires legislation to originate in Committee before going to full Council, and she is examining whether the rules clearly reflect that path. The committee took the matter under advisement.
Items from the Council Office – Zoning Correction
Clerk VanMeter presented ORD-0037-2025 to amend Ordinance 0027-2025 (approved July 7, 2025) to correct the address of CenterPoint Church from 670 McCutcheon Road to 620 McCutcheon Road. The error appeared only in the supplemental agreement; the access easement itself contained the correct address. City Attorney Tamilarasan confirmed the correction does not delay the easement execution. The committee recommended introduction and first reading on the regular agenda for September 2, 2025, and second reading/adoption on the consent agenda on September 15, 2025.
Items from the Department of Finance – Supplemental Appropriations and Fund Transfers
Finance Director Joann Bury presented two mid-year adjustment items. ORD-0038-2025 authorizes supplemental appropriations: a transfer to the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) fund to cover a slight grant/loan shortfall, payroll items for Mayor’s Court, and additional contract services for the Police Department’s Justice Fund using grant reimbursements. RES-0037-2025 transfers funds from surplus contract services to materials and supplies accounts in the Police Department. The committee recommended ORD-0038 for introduction/first reading on September 2 and adoption on consent September 15, and RES-0037 for introduction/adoption on consent on September 2.
Key Outcomes
- The committee recommended introduction/adoption on consent for: RES-0035-2025, RES-0036-2025, RES-0038-2025, and RES-0037-2025 at the September 2, 2025 regular Council meeting.
- The committee recommended introduction/adoption on regular agenda for: RES-0039-2025 at the September 2, 2025 regular Council meeting.
- The committee recommended introduction/first reading on regular agenda for ORD-0037-2025 and ORD-0038-2025 on September 2, 2025, with second reading/adoption on consent on September 15, 2025.
- The council rules of procedure discussion will continue at the next Committee of the Whole meeting with a redline document.
- The meeting adjourned at 7:56 PM.
Meeting Transcript
All right. Good evening, everyone. Today is Monday, August 25th, 2025. I've got 721. Thank you, everyone, for your patience while we wrapped up our special meeting. One quick housekeeping item before we get started. In recognition of the Labor Day holiday, our regular council meeting will fall on Tuesday, September 2nd. And with that, we will get started first with items from the Department of Administrative Services. Good evening, Director. I'm assuming you're gonna take both of these in tandem. I am good. Good evening, everyone. So today I'm here to talk about employee health insurance. Um so I just have a few slides to go over for today. So I did submit a memo to council along with recommendations from our um benefits advisor, NFP. So I'll just briefly go over that. So in 2024, the city contracted with NFP for a benefits advisor to uh look at our employee health benefits. Um we are currently in the Central Ohio Health Care Consortium or the COHCC. So their focus was on assessing the financial and operational implications of transitioning to a self-funded model. And this year in 2025, NFP on our behalf conducted an RFP for health uh benefits services. Um in addition to that, um, once the results came back, uh there are a group of us conducted finalist interviews for pharmacy benefit management, and then in addition, about 25 city employees and our partners from the union uh conducted finalist demonstrations for a wellness program. The recommendations from our partners at NFP are to exit the COHCC for 1126 and enter a standalone self-funded program. Uh this will provide city employees with an excellent health benefits program while being mindful of taxpayer dollars. It'll allow greater flexibility in vendor selection, transparency and claims management, and it'll we'll have complete governance over our own plan design and funding strategy instead of one vote of 12 in the consortium. Um, as you'll see on the screen and in the report, um, we're recommending for health insurance to stay with UMR and prescription drug drug coverage with RX benefits. These are the same providers as the city has through the central through the COHCC, so there'll be zero disruption for employees. In addition, they will be uh RFPing stop loss carrier in August of 2026. I'm sorry, 25, that's a mistake. Thank you, Councilmember Jones, for pointing that out earlier, and then I typed it anyway. Um so the stop loss would be for 1126 as well. They're recommending to exit our contract with OSU for urgent care and wellness, and then transition additional programs to instead of the OSU urgent care to provide a virtual urgent care through first stop health, a wellness program through people EQ through wellness IQ instead of OSU, and then to move our EAP services to CuraLink. In addition with these recommendations, 2026 premium rates will have a 0% increase for employees. First stop health provides a 24-7 virtual urgent care system. Uh the wellness program will be enhanced by using technology from People EQ, including a user-friendly website and mobile app that will assist in fund and engaging program to further enhance our wellness programming and wellness coaching. The transition to CureLink will provide employees with uh vital tools for their well-being. It will provide employees and their dependents access to 24-7 certified mental health professionals who answer the phone when you call, and a wide range of services, including support link, which is a dedicated and specialized service tailored to first responders. So our first responders would receive a separate uh phone number from other city employees. Those counselors on the other end of that line have trauma informed care certifications to answer the needs of first responders. Uh it's probably hard to see on the screen, but in the report attached to the agenda from NFP is a calculation of cost for. So in this chart, uh the top chart on the green is the estimated 2026 costs under new vendor arrangements. The orange underneath would be if we stayed in the COHCC. And if you'll remember, we transitioned our ancillary benefits of uh dental vision and life insurance to MetLife last year. Um and so the orange provides if we would have stayed in the consortium. You'll see that the savings are projected to be approximately $800,000 in the minimum for next year. Um all appropriations for this program will be included in the 2026 operating budget that will be presented in October. Uh the UMR on the conservative projection from our partners at NFP demonstrates a 4.2 lower spend over the consortium levels currently. Pharmacy is a projected cost savings up to 8.1% below the consortium agreement. And first stop health will offer significant savings over OSU urgent care as OSU urgent care proposed a $270 per visit fee, where first stop health is a total of about $13,000 for the entire year. And wellness will have over a $10,000 savings and again greater access to engagement tools and management of that program. So their crest requests you have here today are two resolutions.
openpublica.com