BY TOM GRACE
COOPERSTOWN NEWS BUREAU
COOPERSTOWN _ Faced
with the high and rising cost
of health care for public employees
and retirees, Otsego
County is set to embark on a
program to seek long-term
cost control.
At Wednesday’s meeting
of the Otsego County Board
of Representatives, county
Treasurer Daniel Crowell
outlined where the county
stands, and where it may be
headed.
“In 2009, our health plan
cost our local taxpayers and
employees over $10 million,
presenting one of the largest
expenditures of the year for
both groups,” Crowell told
board members.
Since 2005, the price of
the county’s plan has risen
nearly 10 percent a year,
with the medical claims portion
rising nearly 20 percent
a year, he noted.
Crowell said the county
should seek proposals from
potential claims administrators
to see what can be done
to restrain costs, but he cautioned
that now is not a good
time for the county to make
large-scale changes with
Congress poised to vote on
sweeping reforms.
He laid out a tentative
schedule for the county to
follow this year, with discussions
involving management,
union officials and health experts
beginning this month.
The process may lead
to the county, whose plan
is administered by EBSRMSCO
Inc., selecting a
new claims administrator
in the fall, he said. EBSRMSCO
is an employeebenefits
company with offices
throughout upstate
New York, according to
the company’s website.
In other business, the
board:
• Heard from Mark
Hoppe and Lee Palmer
of Blue Wing, the county’s
telecommunications
consultant, on plans to
upgrade its public safety
communications system.
Hoppe said recent initiatives
from the New York
State Police to share services
may reduce county
costs as microwave towers
are replaced and the
county converts from 2.1
Ghz to 6 Ghz. The changeover
in microwave frequency
has been forced
on municipalities by the
Federal Communication
Commission, which auctioned
the 2.1 Ghz bandwidth
to private companies.
In a related matter, the
board approved authorizing
Chairman Sam Dubben,
R-Middlefield, to
enter into a lease agreement
with Lois Kubu for
a “one-acre plot of land
located on the high point
of East Hill in the town of
Cherry Valley.”
The lease calls for initial
payments of $4,800 a
year for the site, which
will be occupied by a microwave
tower about 180
feet tall.
The resolution was
passed unanimously by
members present, with
Rep. Betty Anne Schwerd,
R-Burlington, absent.
• Exempted the county’s
hiring freeze for certain
posts at Otsego Manor,
the county’s nursing
home. Jobs exempted are
“all professional nursing
positions, universal
aides, certified nursing
assistants” and universal
workers.
• Authorized Dubben to
enter into a $225,000 contract
with the Ad Workshop
of Lake Placid to design
the county’s tourism
program advertising.
Rep. Cathy Rothenberger,
D-Oneonta, noted
that every year the board
pledges to have local
firms bid on this contract,
although that has never
happened.
“We always say we need
to go to an RFP (request
for proposals), but we
never do,” she said.
Rep. Keith McCarty,
R-Springfield, echoed
these sentiments and
voted against the resolution,
which passed by
a weighted vote of 5,305
for it, 377 against and 485
absent.
TOM GRACE can be reached at
tgrace@thedailystar.com or
847-9806.
