Personnel & Pension Board

Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 1 of 4 January 21,2020 Regular Meeting Room 213,2"d floor,6:00 PM,City Hall Building Norwich,Connecticut 06360 I. Roll Call Meeting called to order by Paul Schroder at 6:00 pm. A. Members Present 1. Paul Schroder, Chair (voting member) 2. Scott Suplita, Vice Chair (voting member) 3. Chris Golas (voting member) 4. Shiela Hayes(voting member) 5. John John (voting member) 6. Richard Morelli(alternate) B. Members Absent 1. Andre Rosedale (alternate) 2. Rob Dempsky (alternate) C. Others Present 1. Brigid Marks, Director of Human Resources 2. Michael Gualtieri, City Treasurer 3. Sandra Pimentel,P&P Board Secretary II. Minutes A. Minutes of the November 19,2019 Personnel & Pension Board Meeting. Motion to approve the November 19, 2019 meeting minutes, as amended, made by Paul Schroder,seconded by John John,all in favor. III. Old Business A. UBS settlement agreement for excess OPEB managementfees. Hooker & Holcombe was awarded the Investment Fee Review for the audit of the Pension and OPEB funds at the November 2019 meeting. Josh Pothier submitted the status of the review.In early December,Art Meizner of Hooker & Holcombe contacted all entities that have provided services to the Pension and OPEB fimds to request detailed information for the period July 1, 2014 to December 31, 2019. They are on schedule to deliver the completed report to the Board at the February 2020 meeting. rV. New Business A. 2020 interest rate for employee contributions. Josh Pothier submitted the calculation of the 2020 interest rate. The average from the last five calendar years of the Average Yield on 10-Year Treasury Bonds is 2.272%. This was confirmed by Mike Gualtieri. Motion to adopt the 2020 interest calculation for employee contributions made by Paul Schroder,seconded by Shiela Hayes,all in favor. B. 2018-2019 pension and OPEB plan comparisons. Josh Pothier submitted the comparisons of the City of Norwich Pension and OPEB plans for fiscal year 2018-2019. He noted the both the Pension and OPEB Plans did well relative to its peers and while the Pension Ftmded Ratio is low, the OPEB Fxmded Ratio is very favorable compared to the other towns. Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 2 of4 January 21,2020 Regular Meeting Room 213,2"d floor, 6:00 PM,City Hall Building Norwich,Connecticut 06360 Mike Gualtieri submitted a real-time balances of the investment accounts. The combined balance is $219,400,556.14. Motion to add to the Pension and OPEB Plan Comparison to the February 2020 meeting agenda for discussion with UBS and accept the UBS investment made by Paul Schroder, seconded by Shiela Hayes, all in favor. C. Status of actuarial valuations from Milliman. Josh Pothier submitted the status of the actuarial valuations. Milliman is currently conducting a final review of the pension valuation. Milliman requires some additional information from tlie City and the BOE before the OPEB valuation can be completed. Both are on track to be completed before tlie February 2020 meeting. Motion to accept the status submitted by Josh Potlrier made by Paul Schroder, seconded by Cluis Golas, all in favor. D. Applications for Retirement: 1. Cher Golas, Food Service Secretary-BOE,for a deferred retirement effective February 14, 2018. 2. Robert Paradis, Laborer,for a normal retirement effective November 19, 2019. 3. Denise Amburn, Manager of Financial Services-BOE, for a normal retirement effective February 29, 2020. 4. Jarrell Roberts,911 Dispatcher,for a normal retirement effective March 3,2020. Motion to approve the retirement applications made by Shiela Hayes,seconded by Chris Golas, all in favor. E. Pension Calculations: 1. Cher Golas, retired February 14, 2018. Her annual pension is calculated for $7,386.25 deferred to December 26,2029. Her application is on the agenda at this meeting. 2. Robert Paradis, retired November 19, 2019. His annual pension is calculated for $27,306.16. His application is on the agenda at this meeting. 3. Deborah Jakubielski, retired November 19, 2019. Her annual pension is calculated for $20,423.92. Her application was approved at the November 2019 meeting. 4. Donna Colonni, retired December 21, 2019. Her annual pension is calculated for $11,420.55. Her application was approved at the November 2019 meeting. Motion to approve the pension calculations made by Shiela Hayes,seconded by John John, all in favor. D. Application for refund/rollover of pension contributions: 1. Michael Joyce,IT-Network Support-NPU, who resigned effective October 30,2019. Refund of $8,638.56 including interest. 2. Cristel Hodge, Paraeducator-BOE, who resigned effective November 1, 2019. Refund of $7,069.95 including interest. 3. Derrick Picard, Computer Repair Tech-BOE, who resigned effective November 27,2019. Refund of $4,283.83 including interest. 4. Jessica Heikila, Paraeducator-BOE, who resigned November 5,2019. Refund of $2,395.83 including interest. Motion to approve the refund applications made by Shiela Hayes,seconded by John John, all in favor. E. Notification of Death: 1. Nancy Bender, DOD November 15,2019, who retired from the BOE on August 29, 2013. Survivor benefit to be paid to her spouse, William Bender Jr, in tlie amount of $6,521.30. Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 3 of 4 January 21,2020 Regular Meeting Room 213,2"'^ floor,6:00 PM,City Hall Building Norwich,Connecticut 06360 Motion to acknowledge the notification of death and approve the survivor benefit made by Shiela Hayes,seconded by John John, all in favor. Louise Sanquedolce,DOD December 2,2019,surviving spouse of Angelo,Comptroller, who retired on Jime 2,1998. No further benefit due. 3. Mario Lonardelli, DOD January 9,2020, who retired from Public Works on February 5, 1987. No further benefit due. Motion to acknowledge the notifications of death made by Shiela Hayes, seconded by John John, all in favor. New Employees: Motion to acknowledge the new employees made by John John,seconded by Shiela NAME POSITION DATE OF HIRE CITY/STATE Kendra LaTorraca Accoimting Clerk-PW 12/9/2019 Bozrah CT Scott Hammer Police Officer 12/13/2019 Oakdale CT Kyle Blake Laborer 12/16/19 Norwich CT Joshua Davis Laborer 1/6/2020 Pawcatuck CT Jasmine Shank CARl 1/6/2020 Norwich CT Recreation Facility Jimmy Haring 1/6/2020 Uncasville CT Maintainer 1 Gary Gross Police Officer 1/8/2020 E Hampton CT Sarabeth Hanyckyi Police Officer 1/8/2020 Niantic CT G. Employees to be admitted into the City of Norwich Employees' Retirement Fund: Motion to admit the following employees into the City of Norwich Employees' ACADAMY REQUEST DATE OF GRADUATION LAST DAY ON /EVAL NAME POSITION HIRE DATE PROBATION RECEIVED Karen Rankowitz Paraeducator-BOE 05/09/2019 n/a 11/25/2019 12/18/2019 Accoimting Clerk- Nicole Doyle 07/01/2019 n/a 12/31/2019 01/02/2020 PW Brian Long City Engineer 7/11/2019 n/a 1/11/2020 01/13/2020 Administrative Justine Navan 08/15/2019 n/a 11/12/2019 12/02/2019 Assistant-BOE Ammie Blais Paraeducator-BOE 08/26/2019 n/a n/a 09/19/2019 Administrative Natalie Rashleigh 9/03/2019 n/a 12/03/2019 12/12/2019 Assistant-BOE John John made a motion to add under suspension of rules a discussion concerning Ordinance 1712,seconded by Shiela Hayes, all in favor. H. Ordinance 1712 was brought forth in 2015 to address the issue of participation in the pension plan while receiving benefits. It was recently brought to the Board's attention a City retiree receiving a pension was currently employed by the BOE, Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 4 of 4 January 21,2020 Regular Meeting Room 213,2nd floor,6:00 PM,City Hall Building Norwich,Cormecticut 06360 but has waived participation in the plan. The Board questioned whether this situation is subject to suspension of benefits per Ordinance 1712. Motion to request an opinion from Mike Driscoll concerning applicability of Ordinance 1712 to a retiree who is receiving benefits and has waived his right to participate made by Paul Schroder,seconded by Shiela Hayes.Paul Schroder, Scott Suplita, Shiela Hayes and Chris Golas in favor; John John abstained. rV. Correspondence None V. Adjournment Motion to adjourn made by John John, seconded by Shiela Hayes, all in favor. Meeting was adjourned at 6:43 pm. Respectfully submitted, Sandra Pimentel,Secretary