Personnel & Pension Board

Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 1 of 4 February 18,2020 Regular/Investment Meeting Room 213,2"'^ 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. Chris Golas (voting member) 3. Shiela Hayes(voting member) 4. Richard Morelli (alternate - seated as a voting member) B. Members Absent 1. Andre Rosedale (alternate) 2. John John (voting member) 3. Rob Dempsky (alternate) C. Others Present 1. Brigid Marks, Director of Human Resources 2. Michael Gualtieri, City Treasurer 3. Josh Pothier, Comptroller 4. Sandra Pimentel,P&P Board Secretary 5. Art Meizner, Hooker & Holcombe 6. Marc Shegoski, UBS 7. David Sears, UBS XL Minutes A. Minutes of the January 21,2020 Personnel & Pension Board Meeting. Motion to approve the January 21, 2020 meeting minutes, as amended, made by Shiela Hayes,seconded by Chris Golas, all in favor. III. Old Business A. UBS settlement agreement for excess OPEB management fees. Hooker & Holcombe was awarded the Investment Fee Review for the audit of the Pension and OPEB funds at the November 2019 meeting. Completed report to be presented to the Board at the February 2020 meeting. Art Meizner from Hooker & Holcombe presented the City of Norwich Expense Audit for the Pension and OPEB plans: The time frame of the review was 2015-2019. Per a recent study, the average basis points for municipalities dropped from 60 basis points to 55. The basis points in 2015 for the pension fund were 60. During the review time frame, a flat custodial fee was negotiated and the investmentfee dropped due to the inclusion ofindex fimds in the asset mix and the change from the Matrix platform. In 2019, the UBS fee dropped from 12% to 10%. The City's Pension Fund expenses for 2019 were at 41 basis points, below the average cost. Basis points for OPEB were 60 in 2015 and dropped down to 40 in 2019. The fee rebate calculated in 2019 was netted to the fees for 2018. B. 2018-2019 Pension and OPEB Plan comparisons submitted at the January 2020 meeting. Motion was made to add discussion with UBS to the February 2020 meeting. There was a question on the investment mix, particularly the Corporate and Government Bonds, as compared to the other towns in the comparison. UBS believes the difference is in the reporting by the other towns. A complete breakdown of the mix may not have been available. Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 2 of 4 February 18,2020 Regular/Investment Meeting Room 213, 2"^' floor, 6:00 PM,City Hall Building Norwich,Connecticut 06360 C. 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 tlie Board's attention a City retiree receiving a pension was currently employed by the BOE,but has waived participation in the plan. The Board questioned whetlier this situation is subject to suspension of benefits per Ordinance 1712. Motion was made 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. Mike Driscoll submitted a legal opinion. The ordinance in part states "shall not be entitled to receive pension and retirement benefits from the city during such period of re- employment." In his opinion, the city should suspend the pension while in active permanent employment with the city. Motion to suspend Edwin Peckham's pension effective March 1, 2020 due to reemployment witli tlie City of Norwich made by Paul Schroder, seconded by Chris Colas, aU in favor. D. MiUiman conducting a final review of the pension valuation to be presented at the February 2020 meeting. Josh Pothier distributed Milliman's Pension Fund Actuarial Valuation for July 1,2019. The Actuarially Determined Contribution will increase from $12,073,000 to $12,759,364 and is 60.1% funded. Milliman implemented all changes approved by the Board in November 2019. Milliman is still reviewing the OPEB valuation, but tliey provided summary information. The Actuarially Determined Contribution will decrease this year to $4,385,681. Mike Gualtieri submitted a real-time balances of the investment accoimts. The combined balance is $220,767,111.47. Motion to accept Milliman's Pension Fund Actuarial Valuation and OPEB addendum as of July 1,2019 presented by Josh Pothier made by Shiela Hayes,seconded by Chris Colas, all in favor. IV. New Business A. Employee Representative election results. Brigid Marks reported only two candidates were nominated for tire three open positions, therefore no election was necessary. Chris Colas and Nate Kannas are the Employee Representatives. Their term will expire on March 1, 2022. The Alternate Employee Representative seat will remain unfilled for this term. B. Investment Review with UBS. David Sears and Marc Shegoski presented the UBS House View: UBS is calling for continued expansion and enduring bull market, supported by a strong labor market. Inflation is imder control. The Fed is on hold. Tariffs reached their peak last year.Stocks are at an aU-time high, with bond yields low. The portfolios were reviewed by David Sears: The pension fund asset allocation on February 14,2020 was 64% equity,30.15% fixed income and 3.62% real estate. It increased from $186,898,987 on October 31, 2019 to $197,797,259 as of February 14, 2020. The OPEB fund asset allocation on December 31, 2019 was 68.8% equity, 31.2% fixed income. The OPEB fund increased from $21,615,718 as of October 31, 2019 to $22,747,714 as of December 31, 2019. Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 3 of 4 February 18,2020 Regular/Investment Meeting Room 213,2"d floor,6:00 PM,City Hall Building Norwich,Connecticut 06360 The Investment Policy was reviewed for 2020. The assumed rate of return was reduced to 7.25% and the target asset allocation was adjusted to include the real estate investments in the Pension Frmd. Motion to approve the revisions to the Statement of Investment Policy as presented made by Paul Schroder,seconded by Shiela Hayes,all in favor. C. Applications for Retirement: 1. Scott Suplita, Fire Captain,for a normal retirement effective February 15,2020. 2. Griselda Rodriguez, Account Clerk II-NPU,for a deferred retirement effective February 15,2020, payable July 23,2038. 3. Sandra Kuchta, Accountant,for a deferred retirement effective February 15,2020,payable April 30,2026. 4. James Troeger, Building Official,for a normal retirement effective February 20, 2020. 5. LeeAnn Gomes, Director of Human Services, for a normal retirement effective July 21, 2020. 6. William Dewey,Gas/Water/Sewer Foreman-NPU,for a normal retirement effective June 2,2020. Motion to approve the retirement applications made by Shiela Hayes, seconded by Rich Morelli, all in favor. D. Pension Calculations: 1. Carol Wood,retired January 4, 2020. Her annual pension is calculated for $38,179.85. Her application was approved at the July 2019 meeting. 2. Jill Smith,retired January 18,2020. Her annual pension is calculated for $34,630.77. Her application was approved at the November 2019 meeting. Motion to approve the pension calculations made by Shiela Hayes,seconded by Chris Golas, aU in favor. D. Application for refund/rollover of pension contributions: 1. Ayesha Ahmed,Paraeducator-BOE, who withdrew effective December 27,2019. Refund of $9,173.89 including interest. 2. Stephanie Tate,Paraeducator-BOE, who resigned effective November 18,2019. Refund of $6,806.41 including interest. 3. Ying Zheng,Paraeducator-BOE, who resigned effective January 10, 2020. Refund of $3,238.08 including interest. 4. Heather Hawkins,Paraeducator-BOE, who resigned February 7,2020. Refund of $2,456.24 including interest. Motion to approve the refund applications made by Shiela Hayes,seconded by Chris Golas, all in favor. E. Notification of Death: Therese Deslandes,DOD February 7,2020,surviving spouse of George Deslandes who retired from NPU on June 13,1992. No further benefit due. Motion to acknowledge the notifications of death made by Shiela Hayes, seconded by Chris Golas, all in favor. F. Request from Acting Chief Wucik to extend the eligibility list Fire Captain eligibility list for six months. Motion to extend the Fire Captain eligibility list for six months made by Shiela Hayes, seconded by Rich MoreUi, all in favor. Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 4 of 4 February 18,2020 Regular/Investment Meeting Room 213,2nd floor,6:00 PM,City HaU Building Norwich,Connecticut 06360 New Employee(s): Motion to acknowledge the new employees made by Shiela Hayes,seconded by Chris NAME POSITION DATE OF HIRE CITY/STATE Rachel Willey 911 Dispatcher 01/19/2020 Griswold CT H. Employees to be admitted into the City of Norwich Employees' Retirement Fimd: 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 Kitchen Worker- Julie Slover 05/10/2019 n/a 08/07/2019 10/19/2019 BOE Kitchen Worker- Shawn Poirier 08/26/2019 n/a 11/24/2019 12/30/2019 BOE Kitchen Worker- Joie Reels 08/26/2019 n/a 11/24/2019 12/30/2019 BOE Chanmgrat Kitchen Worker- 08/26/2019 n/a 11/24/2019 12/30/2019 Aiemsomang BOE Rachelle Rolfe Paraeducator-BOE 08/26/2019 n/a 01/24/2020 02/11/2020 Craig Berard Janitor 11/19/2018 n/a 02/08/2020 01/17/2020 LAN Technician/ Joseph Wasilewski 08/12/2019 n/a 02/11/2020 02/10/2020 User Support IV. Correspondence None V. Adjournment Motion to adjourn made by Shiela Hayes, seconded by Rich MoreUi, all in favor. Meeting was adjourned at 7:31 pm. Respectfully submitted, c Q O gf Sandra Pimentel,Secretary