BOS set to adopt new employee medical plans

The Yuma County Board of Supervisors is set to adopt employee medical premium rates and plan options for 2017-18 when it meets for its regular meeting Monday.

Actions being recommended by the Yuma County Employee Benefit Trust and county staff include no increase in either the county’s or employee’s contribution toward the premium; a $100 increase in the PPO deductible to $600; increase co-pays for primary care physician visits by $5 to $20 and for specialists by $5, to $35.

Also, a third PPO plan could be offered, with 70/30 coinsurance, $1,000 deductible, $6,000 maximum cost out-of-pocket, co-pays of $30 for primary care and $40 for specialists, and an option to use the SSA Mexico network.

Premiums are set to increase about 1 percent this year through the county’s self-insured program, and the co-pay increases would help to absorb the cost, according to a staff report.

The meeting begins 9 a.m. Monday at the Board of Supervisors’ Auditorium, 198 S. Main St., Yuma. Other items include:

• Zoning reversion hearings for two properties on which the owners have not met the deadline for development, at the northwest corner of County 17 1/2 Street and the alignment of Avenue A 5/8 near Somerton and at the intersection of Avenue 4 1/2 E and County 12 1/2 Street, near Yuma.

The board can choose to revert the parcels to their original zoning or grant the property owner an extension to meet the development requirements.

• A proposed $629,547 contract with DPE Construction for phase II of the San Luis Area Drainage Improvements.

• A resolution which would remove a stop sign at the intersection of Avenue I and County 18th Street. The Yuma County Water Users Association has reconstructed an irrigation canal and its headwalls which restricted sight at the intersection. As a result the stop sign for northbound traffic on Avenue I is are no longer needed, according to a staff report.

Message boards and other signs will warn drivers about the change before and after it is made, and a “cross traffic does not stop” sign will be added to the remaining stop sign on westbound County 18th, the report says.

• A budget amendment transferring $410,000 from a road project on County 12th Street to cover the county’s final costs on the 2017 chip sealing program, which came in higher than expected due mostly to the use of higher-visibility thermoplastic pavement striping, according to a staff report.

• A recommendation to the state liquor board on a regular liquor license application for Bottoms Up Pub, 11411 S. Fortuna Road.