This item is for comments and questions from the audience about items that are not included on today's agenda.

The City Council will consider Consent Agenda items by one motion with no discussion unless the City Council, Staff or the audience requests removal of an item from the Consent Agenda.  The City Council will consider an item removed from the Consent Agenda as the next item after their action on the Consent Agenda.

Staff enclosed the regular claims for City Operations in the amount of $ 634,931.01.

Staff enclosed the Public Housing Authority regular claims in the amount of $ 16,779.49.

The Aquatic Park Filter Replacement project was originally bid in December 2020; all bids came in over budget. Those bids were rejected at the December Council meeting. Staff and the engineer re-worked the placement of the new filter and re-bid in late January 2021.

The Bonner Springs Fire-EMS department has been examining our current billing practices over the past several months. Our research is clearly showing significant opportunity to 1) increase our cost recovery 2) reduce workflow efforts 3) Improve reporting and analytics.  In January of 2021, we integrated both Fire and EMS into a single reporting and data management system (ESO). This is greatly improving all aspects of the operation within our department. With the new system, we have integrations never possible before. One of those is related to our EMS cost recover / billing efforts.

Currently, we spend a significant amount of time dealing with the workflow process involved with EMS cost recovery. This includes time spent within City Admin, Finance and Fire-EMS. The new integrations within ESO provide direct patient Health Data Exchange (HDE) with the hospitals. This integration reduces out efforts trying to field collect insurance and patient information that is often out of date, or incorrect.  The new solution will exchange this data directly with the hospitals ensuring greater accuracy and reduced efforts.  Furthermore, the new EMS Cost Recovery Provider uses very different algorithms (Payor-Logic) to better process claims and find supplement solutions for payments. The reporting modules also give access to far greater analytics to help support our decision-making processes in planning and operations. Finally, the provider has a direct integration with ESO that simplifies the exchange and review of Patient Care Reports (PCRs) to ensure we are correctly ‘coding’ and categorizing our services for maximin recovery. It is in the interest of the provider to ensure we are realizing our cost recovery opportunity creating a valuable partnership in ensuring a cost-efficient Fire-EMS service to be serve our citizens at most reasonable cost. In our research we have reached out to several other agencies in the metro area and nationally who are using this provider with success. They all appear very pleased and have stated increased recovery as a result of their services.

Attached is the proposed contract format and service prospectus. Note that servicer “Fire Recovery” does not ‘bill’ for their service, but rather collects a processing fee for accounts they are able to collect on. This fee is at a savings from our current provider rate, but more importantly the integrations with ESO will realize a significant improvement in workflow, accuracy, reduced write-offs and increased recovery rates.

With the council’s endorsement to move forward, we will fully engage with “Fire Recovery” to manage our EMS cost recovery efforts. This process will involve working with City Finance, City Admin, Fire-EMS and “Fire Recovery” to detail our specific workflow process and integrations prior to entry into full contract and transition from our existing provider. 

The Bonner Springs Police Department has been researching and evaluating the benefit of purchasing and deploying an ALPR system for a number of years.  An ALPR system has numerous investigative, proactive enforcement and reactive enforcement attributes that will enhance the effectiveness and quality of service that we provide to the citizens of Bonner Springs.

An ALPR system can read thousands of license plates up to 150 MPH more effectively and efficiently then the human eye can scan even a single license plate.  This allows for a patrolling officer to focus on their surroundings rather than focusing on license plates and relaying this information to dispatch or to their MDT for a response. This enhanced technology allows for officers to locate missing persons, Amber Alerts, stolen vehicles, wanted individuals, stolen license plates or people of interest safer and significantly quicker.

Phase I includes detailed survey information, detailed geotechnical data, and a guaranteed not to exceed price for completion of the construction project (Phase II).  At the completion of Phase I, the City has no requirement or obligation to proceed any further with the project and/or with this Contractor.

The Phase I compensation is $795,115.  The selected contractor is Crossland Heavy Contractors in team with Black & Veatch Consultants, both of Kansas City.

Funding for the project has been requested through the KDHE, State Revolving Fund with Council action on February 8.  Interim funding for the Phase I Agreement is anticipated to come from internal funding until the SRF Loan is approved by Council in the next 60 to 90 days