Volunteer Firefighter Relief Fund Committee

City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes Meeting 117 February 8, 2010 The Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee held its 117th meeting on Monday, February 8, 2010, at 5:00 p.m. in room 209, City Hall, Norwich, Connecticut 1. Roll Call a. Members Present: Richard Benoit, Taftville Karen Mankowski, Occum Brigid Marks, City of Norwich Personnel Manager Thomas Quinley, Yantic Red McKeon, Occum/Past Chairman Brian Curtin, City Treasurer Ed Martin, Laurel Hill (Joseph Kochanski absent) Donald Leary, East Great Plain Frank Davis, Citizen Appointee Art Meizner, Hooker & Holcombe (guest) b. Members Absent: Joseph Ruffo, Comptroller Joshua Pothier, Assistant Comptroller Richard Benoit called the meeting to order at 5:02 p.m. 2. Minutes: A correction to the December meeting minutes – under new business 5b it should read not active as of 2000. A motion was made by Donald Leary to accept the meeting minutes with correction, seconded by Frank Davis. Approved. A motion was made to suspend the regular agenda by Thomas Quinley, seconded by Red McKeon. Approved. Art Meizner reported on the status of the Relief Fund. A review of the 4th quarter performance report for the City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund, dated February 8, 2010. Page 3: Market Recap: U.S. stocks up 6% with bonds in at 0.2%. The portfolio currently consists of 50% bonds and 50% equities. Page 4: Fixed Income Treasuries did not do well. Page 5: Staying put worked best for the last quarter. We are 50/50 versus 60/40. Page 6: Shows returns. Performance for 2008 was comparable to 1037. The year 2009 worked out well. Approximate calculated return for equities for the year - 11/8%. Page 7: Started buying bonds in 2009.  City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes Meeting 117 February 8, 2010 Page 8: Possibly add REITS into the portfolio in late 2010. Page 9: Expect to have inflation. We are in the middle of a recovery now. Page 10: 1% or 2% should go into commodities now, and then later in the 3rd or 4th quarter may increase investment. Page 11: Pretty much “low” for the dollar. Dollar valuation currently low, global bonds benefited from the dollar’s valuation. Page 12: Do not pull back on international stocks. Page 13: 2010 is the “year of recovery and transition”. U.S. will accelerate and then flatten. It will not be a stunning year this year. Page 15: Summary of the portfolio. Page 16: $1.4million. The 4th quarter is up 3.31%. For 2009, the portfolio is up 24.5%; since 02/2008, however, it is down 1.36%. Page 18: Russell Quantitative Large Blend up 29.66% and 23.16%. Russell Small – up 32.3% Russell Intermediate – up 29.54% and 36.8% Russell Emerging – up 84.05% Russell Bonds – up 14.93% and 18.64% American Funds – 10.64% Loomis Global – 22.32% In summary, the portfolio is up 3.37% for the 4th quarter and 23.93% for the year 2009. Recommendation: the portfolio is working fine, no change at this time is recommended. Page 19: Commodity discussion: Commodity investment is a good hedge against inflation. Diversifying PIMCO Commodity Amount recommended is 2% from Small Cap into PIMCO, does the board agree? A motion was made by Thomas Quinley to move 2% from Small Cap into PIMCO. Seconded by Frank Davis, unanimous agreement – approved. Next meeting review, May 10, 2010. Brian Curtin, City Treasurer, stated that the Committee needs to move some funds and recommends moving approximately $150,000.00 when the timing is right. The City is covering expenses.  City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes Meeting 117 February 8, 2010 Election of officers: A motion was made by Red McKeon to maintain the officers as is. Seconded by Donald Leary, approved. Richard Benoit, Chair Brigid Marks, Vice-Chair Thomas Quinley, Secretary Joshua Pothier, Treasurer Motion made by Thomas Quinley to return to the regular agenda. Seconded by Frank Davis, approved. 3. Treasurer’s Report – Mr. Curtin misspoke, the recommended transfer of funds to cover expenses should be $50,000 not $150,000. Motion made by Thomas Quinley to accept the Treasurer’s Report, seconded by Donald Leary. Approved. 4. New Business a. Submit Tax Information for the Tax Abatement by March 1, 2010, for use by the Tax Assessor’s Office. b. Beneficiaries – forms are available to pick up those who may have not completed one! c. Kevin Foley’s request discussed. The Ordinance section 4.3.1 clearly states that there are no provisions for adjustment. 1. Review of the draft’s wording – this “draft” proposal is to be reviewed as part of the 2010 Ordinance review process. The draft is dated December 18, 2008. 2. Ed Martin made a motion that the Committee deny Mr. Foley’s request to adjust his loss of time due to a non-fire related illness. (See attached documents for details). Seconded by Red McKeon, unanimously approved. d. All Department Summaries have been supplied to the Committee with the exception of Laurel Hill. A motion was made by Thomas Quinley to suspend the rules, seconded by Donald Leary. Approved. A. Met Life / Barnum Financial a. BFG – Barnum Financial Group, Scott Mypick – an office of Met Life. b. Any interest by the Committee in listening to Scott Mypick’s proposal? c. A motion was made by Frank Davis to deny the request for proposal review by BFG, Scott Mypick, at this time. The Committee is currently happy with H&H; but will keep BFG in mind for a possible future review of their proposal. Seconded by Thomas Quinley. Approved.  City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes Meeting 117 February 8, 2010 B. A refund request was made by Ed Martin for approximately 5 years. Motion made by Thomas Quinley to refund contributions based on records verified by the Comptroller’s Office, seconded by Frank Davis. Approved. C. Red McKeon requested to buy back military time of 3 years. Maximum time allowed when Red was active was 30 years of service. Mr. McKeon is currently being paid for 30 years of service at the rate approved when he was last an active member. He has not been active since 1998. The Ordinance was changed in 2005 to allow 35 years of service. If he had continued to remain active after 2000 then the additional time could have been purchased. Red does not qualify for any additional buy-back. 1. Thomas Quinley made a motion to deny Red McKeon’s request to buy back additional military time due to his inactive status as of the year 2000. Seconded by Donald Leary, approved unanimously. D. Donald Leary brought forward a new member resignation. Jack Cipriano has approximately 5 years in the Plan. Thomas Quinley made a motion to accept the resignation, seconded by Frank Davis. Approved. The Comptroller’s Office to verify years of service and provide a refund as appropriate. E. New Members: 1. James Fear – EGP 2. Joseph Smith – EGP 3. Paul Tardif – Laurel Hill A motion made by Thomas Quinley to accept new members, seconded by Frank Davis. Approved. F. Name Change: Alicia Malone of EGPVFD has married. Hew new name is Alicia Raymond. Name is in parenthesis on the EGP summary. G. The first meeting date for 2010 Ordinance revision discussions has been set for the second Monday in March. A motion was made by Thomas Quinley to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Donald Leary. Approved. Meeting adjourned at 6:32 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Thomas G. Quinley Secretary  City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes Meeting 117 February 8, 2010