Johns Creek City Council Meeting - November 3, 2025
Johns Creek City Council Meeting - November 3, 2025
The Johns Creek City Council convened on November 3, 2025, at 7:01 PM to address routine approvals, hear public comments, and discuss employee benefits renewals. Notable actions included approval of the Cigna health insurance renewal with a move to a level-funded plan and a vote split 6-1. The meeting also featured public comment on police funding and community appreciation.
Consent Calendar
- Minutes of October 20, 2025: Unanimously approved.
- Meeting Agenda: Unanimously approved.
- Consent Agenda (Renewal Quotes from Travelers for Workers' Compensation and Other Insurances): Unanimously approved.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Teacher Pickens (10540 Colony Glen Drive): Expressed strong support for the police department's 2026 budget requests, commending Chief Mitchell's 32 years of experience. He characterized the requests as valid needs, not wasteful spending, and urged council members to respect differing opinions and work collaboratively.
- Seema (a Johns Creek resident of 12+ years): Thanked the council for the city's safety and quality-of-life improvements, highlighted progress on the town center construction, and wished everyone well in the upcoming election.
Discussion Items
- M.1 - Employee Benefits Renewal (Cigna and The Standard): Assistant City Manager Love presented the renewal of medical, vision, and dental coverage with Cigna, as well as short-term disability, long-term disability, and life insurance with The Standard. Key points:
- The health insurance renewal was zero-based due to improved claims experience from wellness initiatives funded in the 2025 budget.
- The plan is shifting from fully insured to a level-funded model, adding GLP-1 drugs to the formulary and introducing a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) via Garner Health Technology at a city cost of $143,767.
- Compared to the budgeted 7.5% increase ($1.3M), the zero-based renewal yields approximately $1 million in savings on health and vision; dental renewal at 7.5% yields about $46,000 in savings.
- Employee cost increases: High-deductible family plan premiums rise ~$19/paycheck; dental premiums less than $1/paycheck. For a $63,000 salary employee, net increase is $16.14/pay period after factoring in cost-of-living adjustment.
- Council members praised staff for the wellness program's success and asked about using savings for wellness initiatives or transitioning to a self-funded plan. Staff noted the level-funded approach is a stepping stone and savings can be set aside for future smoothing.
Key Outcomes
- M.1 - Vote on Employee Benefits Renewal: Motion by Councilmember Tunky, second by Councilmember Coughlin. Approved 6-1 (one nay).
- Directives: Staff was encouraged to consider establishing a separate fund for savings from the 50/50 claims surplus split with Cigna to mitigate future premium spikes.
- Next Steps: Open enrollment for employees begins the week of November 10, 2025. The council will review benefits options annually.
Meeting Transcript
Thank you, Mayor. We're recording. All right. Welcome everyone. I'd like to call this meeting of the Johns Creek City Council to order this November 3rd, 2025 at 7.01 p.m. Thank you. At this time, I'll call roll. Please. Councilmember Tunky? Councilmember Skinner. Here, Councilmember Aramelli. Present. Councilmember Coughlin. I too am present. Yes. I'm here. Councilmember Alwin. Here. Thank you, Mayor. We have a corn this evening. Great. Next item. Mayor, I think you're going to lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. Okay. One nation undervisible liberty and justice problem. Mayor's opening remarks. I just want to alert everyone. We have a ceremony commemorating Veterans Day this Saturday November 8th. And this will be to honor our veterans at the Veterans Memorial Walk in Newtown Park. This event is held in partnership with the John Screw Veterans Association. We also have the Literary Fair coming up Saturday, November 15th. It will be here at City Hall from 12 to 5 p.m. This event will feature local authors in the OC room and speakers and panel discussions here in the council chambers. And then something that I'm personally excited about is we've got new landscaping along Jones Bridge. That project was going on for a couple of years, and it's nice to see that we're uh rebutifying that area with lots of new trees and shrubs. And uh there might be a little bit more, but uh for the most part that's been done, and uh hopefully we'll get to enjoy that. But for anything else, you can go to the city website at Johnscreek GA.gov. Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. The next item on the agenda are the minutes. You have the October 20th work session summary and council meeting minutes before you propose that we approve the minutes as presented. All right, thank you, Councilmember Aramelli. Is there a second? I'll second that. Thank you, Councilmember D.B. Is this their discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor. Okay. Next item. Thank you.
openpublica.com