Personnel & Pension Board

Personnel & Pension Board Agenda Page 1 of 3 October 19, 2021 Regular Meeting Room 213, 2nd floor, 5:00 PM, City Hall Building Norwich, Connecticut 06360 ~Please call to attend by phone 860-215-8140. Meeting ID 4038191. ~ I. Roll Call Meeting called to order by Paul Schroder at 5:07pm. A. Members Present 1. Paul Schroder, Chair (voting member) 2. Shiela Hayes, Vice-Chair (voting member) (Phone) 3. Mike Dziavit (voting member) 4. Rich Morelli (voting member) Arrived at 5:09pm 5. Chris Golas (voting member) 6. Bob Pounch (alternate) B. Members Absent 1. Frank Gavigan (new alternate) C. Others Present 1. Brigid Marks, Director of Human Resources 2. Evelyn Lopez, P&P Secretary 3. Michael Gualtieri, City Treasurer 4. Mike Driscoll, Corporation Counsel 5. Marc Shegoski, UBS (Phone) 6. David Sears, UBS (Phone) 7. Unidentified guest (Phone) II. Minutes A. Minutes of the September 21, 2021 Personnel & Pension Board Meeting. Motion to approve the September 21, 2021 minutes made by Chris Golas, seconded by Mike Dziavit, all in favor. III. Old Business A. Discussion of pension contribution choices upon termination for vested participants. Because these former participants are also eligible to receive a deferred pension, a request for Corporation Counsel, Mike Driscoll to attend meeting was made to discuss further the latest opinion letter. Attorney Driscoll expanded on his legal opinion regarding the City mandating vested terminated employees designating a choice between a deferred pension, rollover of pension contributions, or refund of pension contributions within a specified amount of time after leaving employment. He advised not to change the rules for those who have already left employment and recommended we send out an annual communication to these people reminding them of their choices. He also suggested, going forward, we include information during orientation on this topic including a sign off document that acknowledges the employee has read and understands the information. Paul Schroder made a motion to amend the agenda under suspension of rules to add Michael Gualtieri, City Treasurer to give an updated on Pension Obligation Bond (POB) under New Business, seconded by Mike Dziavit, all in favor. Personnel & Pension Board Agenda Page 2 of 3 October 19, 2021 Regular Meeting Room 213, 2nd floor, 5:00 PM, City Hall Building Norwich, Connecticut 06360 IV. New Business A. Michael Gualtieri, City Treasurer, Pension Obligation Bond (POB) update. Mr. Gualtieri provided an update on the Pension Obligation Bonds (POB). He stated if the referendum passes, it would allow the City to issue the POBs at historically low interest rates. This would allow the City to fund the pension plan 100% at potentially a much lower long-term cost to taxpayers. The plan is currently funded at 56%. Mr. Gualtieri stated, if the referendum passes, we hope to issue the bonds no later than February 2022. B. Application for retirement 1. Debra M. Delaporta, Administrative Specialist, for a normal retirement effective January 1, 2022. 2. Lee-Ann Gomes, Director of Human Services, for a normal retirement effective January 5, 2022 3. Timothy J. Rykowski, Police Lieutenant, for a normal retirement effective October 4, 2021. Motion to approve the retirement applications made by Bob Pounch, seconded by Mike Dziavit, all in favor. C. Pension Calculations: 1. David Przygoda retired September 10, 2021. His annual pension calculation is $ 40,080.38. His application was approved at the June 15, 2021 meeting. 2. Timothy Rykowski, retired October 4, 2021. His annual pension calculation is $ 64,279.10. His application is on the agenda at this meeting for approval. D. Notifications of Death: 1. Kevin P. Keegan, DOD September 12, 2021, who retired from NPU on May 3, 2014. No further benefit due. 2. Anastas Provatas, DOD September 15, 2021, who retired from Police on September 7, 2008. No further benefit due. Motion to approve the pension calculations made by Richard Morelli, seconded by Chris Golas, all in favor. E. Eligibility List Extensions: 1. Request from Patrick McLaughlin, Public Works Director, to extend the Janitor eligibility list for one (1) year. The current list expires on November 9, 2021. Paul Schroder opened the floor for board members to discuss further the pros and cons behind the one year extension. Chris Golas provided his opinion as to why they should only extend the eligibility list for only six (6) months. Motion to extend eligibility list by six (6) months was made by Mike Dziavit, seconded by Bob Pounch, all in favor. F. New Employees: Motion to acknowledge new employees made by Mike Dziavit, seconded by Bob Pounch, all in favor. NAME POSITION DATE OF HIRE CITY/STATE Krista Anthony Customer Service Rep I 09/15/2021 Norwich, 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’ Retirement fund made by Mike Dziavit, seconded by Bob Pounch, all in favor. Personnel & Pension Board Agenda Page 3 of 3 October 19, 2021 Regular Meeting Room 213, 2nd floor, 5:00 PM, City Hall Building Norwich, Connecticut 06360 NAME POSITION DATE OF HIRE ACADAMY LAST DAY ON REQUEST/EVAL GRADUATION PROBATION RECEIVED DATE Kerry Adams Register 08/26/2021 N/A N/A 09/14/2021 Behavior Technician Skyler Gallivan SLP Assistant 08/26/2021 N/A N/A 09/23/2021 Thomas Geer Computer 10/04/2021 N/A N/A 10/06/2021 Repair Tech Jessica Grillo Register 08/26/2021 N/A N/A 10/06/2021 Behavior Tech Theresa Maheu Register 10/01/2021 N/A N/A 10/06/2021 Behavior Tech Raissa Mosher HR Specialist 10/04/2021 N/A N/A 10/05/2021 Harold Job Coach 08/26/2021 N/A N/A 10/07/2021 Neumann Natalie Academic 9/20/2021 N/A N/A 09/27/2021 Rashleigh Specialist Susan Topping Register 09/16/2021 N/A N/A 09/27/2021 Behavior Tech H. Approval of 2022 Meeting Schedule. Motion to accept the 2022 meeting schedule was made by Richard Morelli, seconded by Bob Pounch, all in favor. I. Board of Education (Food Service) employee eligibility. Motion to have Brigid Marks, HR Director to investigate, research and report findings to P&P board members at the November 16, 2021 meeting was made by Paul Schroder, seconded by Richard Morelli, all in favor. J. Review current Domestic Relations Order (DRO) process. Motion to have Brigid Marks, HR Director to investigate, research and report findings to P&P board members at the November 16, 2021 meeting was made by Mike Dziavit, seconded by Richard Morelli, all in favor. IV. Correspondence None V. Adjournment Motion to adjourn meeting made by Paul Schroder, seconded by Richard Morelli, all in favor. Meeting was adjourned at 6:15pm.