Volunteer Firefighter Relief Fund Committee

City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes 123rd Meeting December 12, 2011 The Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee held its 123rd meeting on Monday, December 12, 2011 at 5:00 p.m. in room 209, City Hall, Norwich, Connecticut 1. Roll Call a. Members Present: Richard Benoit, Taftville Joshua Pothier, Assistant Comptroller Red McKeon, Occum/Past Chairman Joseph Kochanski, Laurel Hill Donald Leary, East Great Plain Frank Davis, Citizen Appointee Thomas Quinley, Yantic Art Meizner, Hooker & Holcombe (guest) b. Members Absent: Joseph Ruffo, Comptroller Brian Curtin, City Treasurer Brigid Marks, City of Norwich Personnel Manager Karen Mankowski, Occum Richard Benoit called the meeting to order at 5:04 p.m. Mr. Benoit called on Mr. Art Meizner to report on the Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Status. Art Meizner reported on the Funds 3rd Quarter status, ending September 30, 2011:  Mr. Meizner reported that this was a terrible quarter, one of the worst on record. Over all in the Fund was down 9.35% in the 3rd quarter.  Page 3: S&P down 14% for the quarter, down 9% for the year. Causes are related to the situation in Europe, Congress and the sensitive market. This provided the “perfect storm” for the market, “risk was on”. Treasuries were the only thing that worked. Since October 1, 2011, things have been looking up.  Page 4: The graph demonstrates the stock market gyrations.  Page 5: The market was weirdly “cheap”.  Page 6: Earnings yield was higher than the Bond Market.  Page 7: Treasuries are at a low, 10-year yield are at a 30-year low. Long Secular Percentage Rate, corporations are making a lot of money and depleting their existing inventories.  City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes 123rd Meeting December 12, 2011  Page 8: Homes are incredibly cheap. Construction for apartments is up. Cheaper to buy than to rent.  Page 9: Jobs are improving. The number of people applying for benefits is down. This recession is taking much longer to recover. Seasonal hiring are the new jobs being filled.  Page 10: Corporate profits are up. Increases due to less people, less labor costs. Corporations are not rebuilding inventories.  Page 11: Consumer confidence is up, increased in the last week or so.  Page 12: There is a lot of money flowing out of mutual funds.  Page 13: Weekly update – as of December 12, 2011, S&P was positive, Large Caps are up.  Page 16: Portfolio currently 50/50 stocks and bonds. This page shows the allocations.  Page 17: Sad page – year-to-date portfolio is down 6.07% - US and International Stocks.  Page 18: As of December 9, 2011, up 5.6% from October 1, 2011.  Page 19: Year-to-Date, the portfolio is down 0.19%.  Page 20: From December 9, 2010 to December 9, 2011, the portfolio is up 1.27%.  Page 23: Russell Funds/Large Blend down 16%; Small Caps down 21%; Large International down 20%; Emerging Markets down 22%; Commodities down 11%.  Page 24: Bonds are up 1.65%; Russell Short Term down 1.06%; World Bonds (invested 6%) down 2.5%.  Page 25: Large blend up 12.02%; Small up 15.77%; International up 7.45%; Emerging up 8.67%.  Page 26: Bonds up 0.56%; Short Term up 0.67%; Global up 1.31%.  Based on the 50/50 Portfolio, the total portfolio is up 5.6%. The rebalancing of the portfolio at the September meeting really helped. We bought more stocks.  No changes are recommended at this time.  Mr. Meizner is due back at the February 13, 2012, meeting.  City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes 123rd Meeting December 12, 2011 Mr. Meizner’s portion of the meeting concluded at 1733 hours. Returned to the regular meeting. 2. Minutes: The September meeting minutes were reviewed. Motion made to accept the meeting minutes with corrections by Joshua Pothier, seconded by Joe Kochanski. Approved. 3. Treasurer’s Report – Treasurer’s report reviewed. $40,000 transferred to Hooker & Holcombe Investment; $281,000 deposited from the City’s contribution in July 2011. Disbursements from the Fund are about $20,000 per month. Motion made to accept the Treasurer’s Report as presented made by Thomas Quinley and seconded by Frank Davis. Approved. 4. New Business a. 2012 Schedule: February 13, May 14, August 13, November 13 i. Motion made by Thomas Quinley to accept the schedule for 2012, seconded by Donald Leary. Approved b. Annual Roster Discussion i. 2012 Actuarial Evaluation year – need a timely turnaround. ii. New members? iii. Need everything squared away by February 13, 2012, meeting. iv. Mr. Pothier needs concrete numbers for correct budget request. First meeting in April. v. All Committee members are happy with the roster. No changes are recommended at this time. vi. Laurel Hill will only be having 3 contributing members for 2011, had 76 calls for the year. c. Karen Mankowski emailed with a request for a refund for Susan Spaulding: $924.00 principal and $584.31 interest. Ms. Spaulding was a member from 1987-2005, 12 years. Total refund $1,508.31. Thomas Quinley made a motion to refund Ms. Spaulding her contributions with interest for a total of $1,508.31 as confirmed and verified by the Comptroller’s Office, seconded by Frank Davis. Approved. d. Mr. Benoit reported that Taftville held election of officers; all stayed except for one lieutenant. Tim Jenks, Chief; Shane Dupuis, Deputy Chief; Bill Haddam, Assistant Chief. i. Tom Quinley asked for confirmation regarding the current chief in Occum – Rob Patton is the current Chief. e. Red McKeon brought a military time question relating to himself to the Committee regarding potential buy-back. Mr. Benoit stated that Red has purchased the maximum Years of Service allowed for the time he was an active service member as of January 1, 2000. Based on that information no additional buy-back time is allowed per the City Ordinance.  City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes 123rd Meeting December 12, 2011 A motion was made by Thomas Quinley to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Frank Davis. Approved. Meeting adjourned at 1805 hrs. Respectfully submitted, Thomas G. Quinley Secretary