COBB COUNTY - Cobb County could be offering more incentive for those eligible for the county's proposed early retirement.

Tony Hagler, director of the county's human resources department, will be asking county commissioners today to approve an amendment to the medical plan policy for eligibility requirements for retirees. The amendment would allow those with less than 15 years of service with the county to participate in the medical benefit plan until the employee turns 65 years old.

The current policy is for those without 15 years of service to immediately be taken off of the county's shared medical plan upon retirement. The proposed plan says that the county will contribute 2.5 percent of the health premium cost for each full year of service up to a maximum of 30 years of service (or 75 percent.) So employees who are eligible to retire before their 65th birthdays with 10 years of service to the county can have 25 percent of their health insurance premiums paid by the county until they reach 65 years old. One hundred seventy current employees are eligible to participate in the medical benefit plan incentive.

The county approved an early retirement plan on Jan. 12 that would allow those eligible to retire before the end of 2011 to make their decision by March 30, and start retirement no later than April 30. The retirement incentive will be capped at 60 percent of employees' 2009 earnings to include a combination of up to 480 hours of annual leave, 480 hours of sick leave for those age 60 or older, and 2 percent per year of service capped at 30 years.

The intent for the early retirement plan is to save the county money on positions that mostly will not be re-filled once they become vacant, and will therefore save money in what are expected to continue to be economically difficult fiscal years for the county. Currently, 450 employees are eligible for the early retirement and approximately 125 are expected to accept the incentive, county spokesman Robert Quigley said.

Also today:

n Rob Hosack, director of the county's community development agency, will conduct the first public hearing to amend almost a dozen of the county's codes. One amendment that Hosack originally proposed, but will ask the county to pull from the agenda for further research, is the county's regulations for height of residential properties.

"We developed a new method of determining the height and came to a maximum of 50 feet, but we have heard some concerns from the community that it is too high, so we'll go back and see what we can do to soften that and recommend that the amendment not be approved until we can do so," Hosack said.

The county's definition of "engaged in business" for those required by the county to get a business license is expected to be amended, as Hosack will ask the county to approve a definition that tightens up the broad definition that exists now.

"We've had various suggestions for what we can do to tighten it up, because right now almost anything could be considered running a business and therefore requiring a business license," Hosack said.

He said the change comes after the county hired a private company at the end of the summer to identify businesses the county may not be aware of, which included several LLC's and shell corporations. Hosack said those probably would not be considered typical businesses, but the county was unable to provide direction to them until the board approved a change in the code's wording.

n County commissioners will be asked to approve a grant application to purchase, demolish and remove 31 residential properties within the FEMA-designated 100-year floodplain, and a grant for the purchase, demolition and removal of 72 residential properties outside of the floodplain. All properties sustained substantial damage during the September flood.

n Board members are expected to approve the purchase of surveillance cameras with audio for all Cobb Community Transit buses. Each bus will have eight cameras in the interior and exterior of each bus for maximum coverage, and will cost the county a little more than $600,000.

n An afternoon work session will include a presentation by the Atlanta Regional Commission concerning its new Regional Transportation Committee; updates on the design of the new parking deck and progress of the new superior court building project; an informational presentation by Economic Development Manager with the City of Marietta Beth Sessoms regarding the city's initiative to transform the Franklin Road corridor; an updated presentation relating to financial resources made available to Cobb County through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009; and three plans proposed by the Cobb Emergency Management Agency.