Personnel & Pension Board

Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 1 of 4 September 19, 2023 Regular Meeting Room 213, 2nd floor, 5:00 PM, City Hall Building Norwich, Connecticut 06360 I. Roll Call Meeting called to order by Paul Schroder at 5:03pm A. Members Present 1. Paul Schroder, Chair (voting member) 2. Rich Morelli, Vice Chair (voting member) 3. Bob Pounch, (voting member) 4. Mike Dziavit, (voting member) B. Members Absent 1. Gary Gross, (alternate) 2. Robert Buckley, (alternate) D. Others Present 1. Brigid Marks, Director of Human Resources 2. Michael Gualtieri, City Treasurer 3. Evelyn Lopez, Retirement Plan Administrator 4. David Sears, UBS 5. Mark Shegoski, UBS (via phone) 6. Ashley Martella, UBS (via Phone) II. Minutes A. Minutes of the July 18, 2023 Personnel & Pension Board Meeting. Motion to accept July 18, 2023 minutes made by Rich Morelli, seconded by Bob Pounch, all in favor. III. New Business A. Council reappointments of Paul Schroder – Chairman and Richard Morelli - Vice Chairman and appointment of Robert Buckley as an alternate member. Motion to acknowledge reappointments and appointment made by Paul Schroder, seconded by Mike Dziavit, all in favor. Paul Schroder made a motion to add an item to the agenda under suspension of rules B, to section III new Business, seconded by Mike Dziavit, all in favor. B. UBS Investment Review Mark Shegoski, David Sears and Ashley Martella from UBS Financial Services, Inc. provided a brief overview of the current stock market. They all talked about the performance, interest rates and inflation and struggles with the current stock market. The portfolio was reviewed by David Sears. The pension fund asset allocation as of August 31, 2023 was 67.4% equity, 28.3% fixed income and 4.3% real estate. The OPEB fund asset allocation as of August 31, 2023 was 71% equity and 29% fixed income. UBS made one recommendation. UBS recommended no changes in the planned upcoming POB proceeds investment. Therefore, the recommendation is to move $5,720,822 million from POB proceeds to the pension plan. Motion made by Mike Dziavit to approve investment of $5,720,822 million as planned, seconded by Bob Pounch, all in favor. C. (Formerly B.) Application for retirement: 1. Christine M. Dawley, Administrative Assistant – BOE, for a normal retirement effective July 01, 2023. 2. Maureen Kearney-LaFlamme, Paraeducator – BOE, for a normal retirement effective July 15, 2023. Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 2 of 4 September 19, 2023 Regular Meeting Room 213, 2nd floor, 5:00 PM, City Hall Building Norwich, Connecticut 06360 3. Nelida S. Darragh, Kitchen Worker – BOE, for a deferred retirement effective June 16, 2023, payable April 30, 2030. Motion to approve retirement applications made by Rich Morelli, seconded by Bob Pounch, all in favor. D. (Formerly C.) Pension Calculations: 1. Betsy M. Barrett, City Clerk, retired July 19, 2023. Her annual pension calculation is $24,901.16 with a 100% joint & survivor benefit reducing her pension to $23,058.47. Her application was approved at the February 21, 2023 meeting. 2. Nelida S. Darragh, Kitchen Worker – BOE, retired June 16, 2023. Her annual pension is $3,142.17. Her application is on the agenda at this meeting. 3. Christine M. Dawley, Administrative Assistant, retired July 01, 2023. Her annual pension calculation is $15,510.66. Her application is on the agenda at this meeting. 4. Maureen Kearney- LaFlamme, Paraeducator – BOE, retired July 15, 2023. Her annual pension calculation is $25,834.61. Her application is on the agenda at this meeting. 5. Nancy Piscatelli, Paraeducator – BOE, retired August 24, 2023. Her annual pension is $17,385.35. Her application was approved at the June 20, 2023 meeting. 6. Mark V. Sicuso, Fire LT, retired July 16, 2023. His annual pension calculation is $52,400.55. His application was approved at the March 21, 2023 meeting. Motion to approve the pension calculations made by Mike Dziavit, seconded by Bob Pounch, all in favor. E. (Formerly D.) Applications for refund/rollover of pension contributions: 1. Yelitza Brooks, Family ENGMT/Attendance Coordinator, who terminated effective June 30, 2023. Refund of $14,692.64 including interest. 2. Michelle Ciccarelli, Paraeducator, who terminated effective July 28, 2023. Refund of $36,216.45 including interest. 3. Donald Cox, Janitor, who terminated effective September 04, 2023. Refund of $33,141.27 including interest. 4. Kathleen Edmond, Secretary – BOE, who terminated effective June 30, 2023. Refund of $5,778.75 including interest. 5. Sarah Herrick, Secretary – BOE, who opted out of fund effective September 05, 2023. Refund of $61,071.14 including interest. 6. Kelly Howser, Register Behavioral Tech. – BOE, who terminated effective August 25, 2023. Refund of $14,845.11 including interest. 7. Jena Pucillo, Manager of Media Comm. – BOE, who terminated effective June 15, 2023. Refund of $9,976.37 including interest. 8. Cynthia Rios, Administrative Coordinator, who terminated effective July 13, 2023. Refund of $41,922.54 including interest. 9. Virginia York, SLP Assistant, who terminated effective June 30, 2023. Refund of $2,250.38 including interest. Motion to approve refund/rollover application made by Mike Dziavit, seconded by Rich Morelli, all in favor. F. (Formerly E.) Notification of Death: 1. Henry W. Belisle, Maintenance Mechanic – NPU, DOD August 25, 2023, who retired on January 21, 1992. Survivor benefit to be paid to his spouse, Elizabeth, in the amount of $17,680.17. Motion to acknowledge notification of death made by Mike Dziavit, seconded by Rich Morelli, all in favor Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 3 of 4 September 19, 2023 Regular Meeting Room 213, 2nd floor, 5:00 PM, City Hall Building Norwich, Connecticut 06360 2. Normand Cote, Police Officer, DOD August 03, 2023, who retired on September 17, 1985. No further benefit due. 3. Virginia M. Lamarsh, Outreach Worker/Senior Center, DOD August 23, 2023, who retired on October 08, 1993. No further benefit due. 4. William T. Lobacz, City Assessor, DOD July 22, 2023, who retired on January 8, 1992 (no obituary). No further benefit due. Motion to acknowledge notification of death made by Bob Pounch, seconded by Mike Dziavit, all in favor. G. (Formerly F.) Eligibility List Extensions: 1. Request from Joshua Pothier, Comptroller, to extend the Accounting Generalist list for six (6) months. The list expires October 7, 2023. Motion to extend the eligibility list for six (6) months made by Chris Golas, seconded by Mike Dziavit, all in favor. 2. Request from Christopher LaRose, NPU General Manager, to extend the Utility Construction Pipefitter Apprentice list for one (1) year. The list expires November 4, 2023. 3. Request from Christopher LaRose, NPU General Manager, to extend the Utility Construction Pipefitter list for one (1) year. The list expires November 3, 2023. Motion to extend eligibility list for six (6) months made by Chris Golas, seconded by Mike Dziavit, all in favor. H. (Formerly G.) Employees to be admitted into the City of Norwich Employees’ Retirement Fund: Motion to admit the following employees into the City of Norwich Employee’s Retirement Fund made by Rich Morelli, seconded by Bob Pounch, all in favor. NAME POSITION DATE OF ACADAMY LAST DAY REQUEST/EVAL HIRE GRADUATION ON RECEIVED DATE PROBATION Brett Egan Utility Construction 02/13/2023 N/A 08/12/2023 08/08/2023 Pipefitter Apprentice Jacob Dilts Asst. Program 02/21/2023 N/A 08/20/2023 08/15/2023 Coordinator Mario Gagliardi IT Tech User Support 01/23/2023 N/A 07/22/2023 07/10/2023 Aileen Kosecki Manager of Financial 07/10/2023 N/A N/A 08/07/2023 Services (BOE) Jordan Nute Police Officer 01/05/2022 07/18/2022 07/17/2023 07/18/2023 Jeffrey Paquet Apprentice Water 02/06/2023 N/A 08/05/2023 08/01/2023 Plant Treatment Operator I.(Formerly H.) 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 Ronald Desroches Jr. Firefighter 09/11/2023 Hamden, CT Personnel & Pension Board Minutes Page 4 of 4 September 19, 2023 Regular Meeting Room 213, 2nd floor, 5:00 PM, City Hall Building Norwich, Connecticut 06360 Katherina Grey Assessment Technician 09/05/2023 Griswold, CT Adam Lee Janitor 08/21/2023 Norwich, CT Noah Parlato Firefighter 09/11/2023 East Haven, CT J. (Formerly I.) Approval of 2024 Meeting Schedule. Motion approve 2024 meeting schedule made by Rich Morelli, seconded by Mike Dziavit, all in favor. Paul Schroder made a motion to add an item to the agenda under suspension of rules, to section III new Business, seconded by Mike Dziavit, all in favor. K. Request from BOE employee Courtney Duff to join the Employee Retirement Pension Fund and buyback interim period Evelyn Lopez provided the P&P Board members background information on Ms. Duff’s request. Paul Schroder and board members discussed/review the circumstance of Ms. Duff’s request to join the Employee Retirement Pension Fund. P&P Board members voted to approve Ms. Duff’s request. Ms. Duff is required to buy back her interim period 05/25/2022 – 09/24/2023. Motion made by Paul Schroder to approve request, seconded by Mike Dziavit, all in favor. L. (Formerly J.) Request from BOE employee Jessica Ortiz to extend her deadline to rollover her pension contributions into another plan (distribution period). Evelyn Lopez provided the P&P Board members information on Ms. Ortiz’s request. Paul Schroder and board members discussed Ms. Ortiz’s request to extend the deadline for the distribution period. P&P Board voted to deny the request to extend the distribution period. Motion to denied Ms. Ortiz request was made by Paul Schroder, seconded by Mike Dziavit, all in favor. IV. Correspondence None V. Adjournment Motion to adjourn made by Mike Dziavit, seconded by Bob Pounch, all in favor. Meeting adjourn at 6:03pm. Respectfully submitted, ______________________ Evelyn Lopez, Secretary