Personnel & Pension Board

Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 1 of 4 February 15, 2022 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 5:00 pm. A. Members Present 1. Paul Schroder, Chair (voting member) 2. Shiela Hayes, Vice-Chair (voting member) 3. Chris Golas (voting member) 4. Mike Dziavit (voting Member) 5. Rich Morelli (voting member) 6. Bob Pounch (alternate –seating as voting member) B. Members Absent 1. Francis Gavigan (alternate) C. Others Present 1. Brigid Marks, Director of Human Resources 2. Evelyn Lopez, Retirement Plan Administrator 3. Marc Shegoski, UBS 4. Ashley Martella, UBS 5. David Sears, UBS 6. Joseph Crowley, Employee (Fire Dept.) II. Minutes A. Minutes of the January 18, 2022 Personnel & Pension Board Meeting. Motion to approve the January 18, 2022 minutes made by Rich Morelli, seconded by Shiela Hayes, all in favor. III. Old Business A. Board of Education (Food Service) employee eligibility 1. Brigid Marks, HR Director to report findings of research to P&P board members. Tabled from the January 18, 2022 meeting. Brigid Marks reports that BOE (Food Service) things are working fine and no action is necessary at this time. Motion made by Paul Schroder to acknowledge that no action is required on this item, seconded by Rich Morelli, all in favor. B. Domestic Relations Order (DRO) process 1. P&P Board members to discuss options. Tabled from the January 18, 2022 meeting. Brigid Marks, HR Director provided an overview of the past and current issues with regards to DRO’s. She also explained the need for a standardized DRO form and referenced the November 16, 2021 P&P meeting where Becky Sielman from Milliman strongly suggested that the City of Norwich come up with a DRO form. Brigid Marks recommend to approve for Becky Sielman, Actuary to come up with form. She also provided her opinion between the shared interest and the separate interest DRO forms and which one would be the easiest to implement. Paul Schroder opened the floor for further discussion. Board members discussed the pros, cons and cost of having a standardized form and whether one format is better over the other. Motion made by Mike Dziavit to ask Becky Sielman, Milliman, to create a DRO form for the P&P board to review, seconded by Chris Golas, all in favor. Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 2 of 4 February 15, 2022 Regular Meeting Room 213, 2nd floor, 5:00 PM, City Hall Building Norwich, Connecticut 06360 C. Review of board member term and expirations. 1. Evelyn Lopez to research and report finding at the February 15th meeting. Evelyn Lopez confirmed that Chris Golas and Michael Dziavit and one vacant alternate employee representative terms will be expiring on March 1, 2022. Board members were informed that a nomination and election will be set in motion to fill the expiring terms for all three employee representatives. It was also noted that Shiela Hayes, Bob Pounch, and Francis Gavigan (appointed) members’ terms will be also expiring March 1, 2022. Shiela Hayes, mentioned that appointed board members should contact the Mayor’s Office in regards to their expiring terms. She suggested for appointed members to email application to Mayor’s office. D. Letter from Joseph Crowley. 1. Research and report finding at the February 15th meeting. Tabled from the January 18, 2022 meeting. Brigid Marks provided a detailed report with regards to Joseph Crowley’s request to purchase disability time for 2008-2009. Mr. Crowley was given the opportunity to speak on his recollection of events. Ms. Marks discussed in great detail the process and documentation that Human Resource has on file with regards to Mr. Crowley’s disability buyback requests. Ms. Marks noted that Human Resource does not have/received a request from Mr. Crowley requesting to purchase disability time for 2008-2009. Paul Schroder opened the floor to board members for further discussion. Michael Dziavit, provided board members his personal opinion and expressed his concerns with regards to the handling of Mr. Crowley’s request to purchase disability time. Bob Pounch and Chris Golas discussed the pros and cons in allowing employees relief to purchase disability time after their allowable time to purchase has expired. Both members voiced their concerns with the impact and repercussion of such actions. Motion to ask for legal advice from corporate counsel on this matter was made by Chris Golas, seconded by Michael Dziavit, all in favor. IV. New Business Paul Schroder made a motion to add to the agenda under suspension of rules, B to section IV, seconded by Rich Morelli, all in favor A. Investment review with UBS. Ashley Martella, David Sears, and Marc Shegoski gave an overview of the current stock markets. They talked about performance and interest rates, inflation and struggles with supply and demand. The portfolio was reviewed by David Sears: The pension fund asset allocation as of December 31, 2021 was 66.8% equity, 29.5% fixed income and 3.7% real estate. The OPEB fund asset allocation as of December 31, 2021 was 69.5% equity, 30.5% fixed income. The pension fund increased by 12.21% and OPEB fund by 12.63% in calendar year 2021. B. POB proceeds memo from UBS and Status update on Pension Obligation Bonds memo from Joshua Pothier, City Comptroller. POB Proceeds memo from UBS. Motion to table to March 15, 2022 meeting made by Paul Schroder, seconded by Rich Morelli, all in favor. Status update on Pension Obligation Bonds Memo Paul and board members briefly discussed memo from City Comptroller. Paul Schroder pointed out two items that need further clarification: increased interest cost and the decreased in savings from $46 million to $20 million. Board members would like further Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 3 of 4 February 15, 2022 Regular Meeting Room 213, 2nd floor, 5:00 PM, City Hall Building Norwich, Connecticut 06360 explanation to be provided for these two items. UBS will review with Board at next P&P board meeting of March 15, 2022. Motion to accept the Annual Pension Plans Comparison made by Paul Schroder, seconded by Rich Morelli, all in favor. C. Application for retirement: 1. Laurent Dufault, Head Custodian – BOE, for an early retirement effective with a revised date of January 14, 2022. Original application had an effective date of December 3, 2021. 2. Ryan D. Kelsey, Police Sergeant, for a normal retirement effective February 5, 2022. Motion to approve retirement applications made by Rich Morelli, seconded by Chris Golas, all in favor. D. Pension Calculations: 1. Delmar Carter Jr., Police Officer, retired January 8, 2022. His annual pension calculation is $ 59,419.08. His application was approved at the January 18, 2022 meeting. 2. John Davis, Chief Utility Construction Pipefitter, retired January 4, 2022. His annual pension calculation is $ 108,407.43. His application was approved at the November 16, 2021 meeting. 3. Debra Delaporta, Administrative Specialist, retired January 1, 2022. Her annual pension calculation is $ 21,395.18. Her application was approved at the October 19, 2021 meeting. 4. Laurent Dufault, Head Custodian – BOE, retired January 15, 2022. His annual pension calculation is $ 31,105.83. His revised application is on the agenda at this meeting. 5. LeeAnn Gomes, Human Services Director, retired January 5, 2022. Her annual pension calculation is $ 74,548.82. Her application was approved at the October 19, 2021 meeting. 6. Christine Lopes, Utilities Records & Inspections Supervisor, retired January 8, 2022. Her annual pension is $58,196.54. Her application was approved at the November 16, 2021 meeting. 7. Nancy Malinick, School Nurse -BOE, retired January 11, 2022. Her annual pension is $ 36,749.25. Her application was approved at the November 16, 2021 meeting. 8. Loren Waggoner, Facility Maintenance Supervisor, retired January 5, 2022. His annual pension is $ 52,403.79. His application was approved at the January 18, 2022 meeting. 9. Keith Wucik, Battalion Chief- Fire, retired January 4, 2022. His annual pension is $70,759.20. His application was approved at the January 18, 2022 meeting. Motion to approve pension calculations made by Chris Golas, seconded by Rich Morelli, all in favor. E. Application for refund/rollover of pension contributions: 1. Alexis Ramirez, Safety Officer – BOE, who terminated effective December 23, 2021. Refund of $ 16,416.72 including interest. Motion to approve refund/rollover of pension contributions made by Chris Golas, seconded by Mike Dziavit, all in favor. F. Notifications of Death: 1. Virginia Gay, DOD February 2, 2022, who retired from NPU on January 29, 2002. No further benefit due. 2. Richard Lacroix, DOD 01/31/2022, who retired from Police on January 07, 1987. No further benefit due. (No obituary). Motion to acknowledge the notifications of death made by Chris Golas, seconded by Mike Dziavit, all in favor. Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 4 of 4 February 15, 2022 Regular Meeting Room 213, 2nd floor, 5:00 PM, City Hall Building Norwich, Connecticut 06360 3. Carol Macpherson, DOD January 30, 2022, who retired from Human Services on August 1, 2006. Survivor benefit to be paid to her spouse, John, in the annual amount of $ 7,081.78 4. Josip Peperni, DOD November 16, 2021, whose retirement application (Non-Service Connected Disability Pension) was approved at the January 18, 2022 meeting. Survivor benefit to be paid to his spouse, Katie, in the annual amount of $ 69,361.49. Motion to acknowledge the notifications of death and approve survivor benefits made by Mike Dziavit, seconded by Chris Golas, all in favor. G. New Employees: Motion to acknowledge the new employees made by Mike Dziavit, seconded by Chris Golas, all in favor. NAME POSITION DATE OF HIRE CITY/STATE Asst. Zoning/Blight Enf. Xanah Coates 02/14/2022 Norwich, CT Officer North Franklin, Ethan Gagnon Firefighter 01/27/2022 CT Apprentice Water Plant Nathan Griffiths 02/28/2022 Moosup, CT Treatment Operator Jonathan Hoffman Recreation Facility Maintainer I 01/27/2022 Preston, CT Nathanael Lee IT- Specialist- Network Focus 02/28/2022 N/A Orla Mckiernan-Raftery Deputy Comptroller 02/07/2022 Thompson, CT Revenue Collection Clerk- Nallely Mejia 02/07/2022 Norwich, CT Bilingual Jeb Soberal Firefighter 01/24/2022 Glastonbury, CT IV. Correspondence No correspondence V. Adjournment Motion to adjourn made by Mike Dziavit, seconded by Chris Golas, all in favor. Meeting was adjourned at 6:11pm.