The health and dental insurance program for city employees was supposed to meet easy approval, since it was one of seven items on the city council’s consent agenda Monday night.

But when it was removed by a motion from Councilman Terry Miller and a second by Councilwoman LaShun Burr-Danley, the discussion was almost hard to follow.

The issue was the decision to go with a Four-Tier plan versus the Two-Tier one, and save the city some $43,000. The Two-Tier plan would cost the city $103,000, while the Four-Tier one would cost $60,504. But even that wasn’t as obvious as it sounded. The city’s contribution to the Four-Tier plan would be higher, which cancelled out what looked like savings.

Council members heard presentations from Finance Director Karin Callan and Human Resources Director Fred Perry but seemed to be still unsure whether they were spending or saving. At one point, the item was almost tabled until the next meeting, which would have been too late for the open enrollment deadline.

“I’m not very comfortable spending $43,000 today, especially without the mayor being here,” Mayor Pro Tem Roy Mims said. “I would rather have had this information Thursday night as opposed to tonight,”

But Councilman John Schildroth encouraged council members to go ahead and vote. “We budgeted it last spring, for the five percent increase. I suggest we go ahead and move on it,” he said.

Perry said adding the Four-Tier option this year delayed the open enrollment process and added that he had been assured by the Georgia Municipal Association that open enrollment would be held earlier next year.

Burr-Danley agreed that the council should move ahead and vote, saying it was a critical decision because of the city employees.

After making sure the wording was correct, the resolution finally passed, with one council member abstaining.

In other action, the council:

• authorized the mayor to sign a contract for an option to transfer real property, in favor of the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia, with revised terms and conditions varying from those approved on November 2. City Manager Bill Osborne said it would protect both the city and the Board of Regents. In short, if the Board of Regents closes the proposed Highlands College without building on new property in Douglasville or moves to another location, the option terminates and the property returns to the city’s possession. The new draft is for a 20-year period instead of 10 years.

• adopted a resolution giving an extra vacation day to diligent city employees who were scheduled to work September 21 and made it to work, despite flooding that hit the area.

• tabled a resolution to select a company to remove coyotes from within the city. “Before we go chasing coyotes, we need some time to sit down with other entities to see what we should do,” Public Safety Committee Chairman Dennis McLain said.

• approved A resolution concerning the annual Employee Awards Reception on December 21, to be held at the Downtown Conference Center.

• approved publishing in its minutes the results of the municipal general election and referendum special election held November 3.

• authorized the city manager to advertise for sealed bids for the repair of damage to the culvert and road bed on Cindy Drive.

• selected Jacobs Engineering to provide certain engineering services to the city. They have been pre-qualified by the Georgia Department of Transportation a meeting GDOT’s Local Government Certification Requirement Standards.

• approved a change in agent outlet manager for the alcohol beverage license at the Chevron, located at 6590 East Broad Street. Proposed outlet manager is Amirali Jasani.

• authorized the filing of an application with the Atlanta Regional Commission for receipt of a grant for a ten-year update of the city’s Livable Centers Initiative plan.

• granted a request for a change in zoning with a special land use permit for a privately-owned performing arts theater at 5975 Fairburn Road, for a two-year period. Application was submitted by Tony Hart.

• approved a request for a change in zoning from central business district to general commercial district for property located at 6585 Spring Street, with a stipulation that it be used only as a childcare facility. The application was submitted by Randy Kimball.

• approved a request for a change in zoning from design concept development district to single family detached residential district with a special land use permit for a place of worship with accessory use for a charter private school at 4241 Central Church Road. Application was made by Charles (Chip) Butts for Harvester Presbyterian Church. Butts plans to combine this property with his request for a revised final plat for Harvester Presbyterian Church, which was also approved.

• selected United Consultants to do an analysis and prepare a report on the Hunter Park Memorial Dam’s deficiencies.

• and authorized the mayor to sign a one-year contract with NetMotion Wireless for software support on the city’s mobile devices for $5,375.00 from January 1-December 31, 2010.