Volunteer Firefighter Relief Fund Committee

City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes Special Meeting March 18, 2013 The Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee held a special meeting on Monday, March 18, 2013, at 5:00 p.m. in Room 209, City Hall, Norwich, Connecticut. Roll Call Members Present: Aldi, Robert - Town Consolidated District Appointee Members Absent: Benoit, Richard - Taftville VFD, Chair Bergren, Alan - City Manager Leary, Donald - East Great Plain VFD Kochanski, Joseph - Laurel Hill VFD Mankowski, Karen - Occum VFD Suplita, Scott - Personnel & Pension Board Marks, Brigid - Human Resources Director, Appointee vice chair Quinley, Thomas - Yantic VFD, Secretary McKeon, Robert - Immediate Past Chair Pothier, Joshua - Deputy Comptroller, Others Present: Treasurer Art Meizner, Hooker & Holcombe (guest) Agenda Items 1. Call to Order: Richard Benoit called the meeting to order at 5:05 pm 2. Review of December 31, 2012 investment results by Art Meizner from Hooker & Holcombe Investment Advisors: A motion was made by Donald Leary to approve the quarterly report presented by Art Meizner, seconded by Karen Mankowski. Approved. The following is a summary of the investment report:  4th Quarter of 2012: i. S&P 500 was essentially flat during the quarter ii. Actively managed funds did better than passive in 4Q 2012 iii. Portfolio earned 10.61% for calendar year 2012  First two months of 2013: i. Portfolio was up 2.5% ii. US did better than international, especially emerging markets  Recommended Changes i. Need to move funds into strategic equities so that the managers can react to the market in a timely manner. ii. If recommended changes are made, equity and fixed income will continue to be 50% of the portfolio each. iii. All-in-all, the mix of investments would be very similar to the current mix. The general move is towards investments will reduce risk, shorten duration, and allow greater latitude at the fund manager level. 3. Consideration and possible action on changing the allocation of Relief Fund investments: A motion was made by Donald Leary to make the following changes recommended by  Art Meizner, seconded by Karen Mankowski. Approved.  Equity Recommendations i. Sell Russell Defensive Equity- roughly 8.5% of assets ii. Add Russell Strategic Equity Fund – roughly 8% of assets iii. Reduce Russell Core Equity from 15% to 8% of assets iv. Reduce Russell Small Cap Equity from 6.5% to 3% of assets v. Add Schwab S&P 500 Index Fund – 8% of assets vi. Add Schwab Small Cap Index Fund – 3% of assets  Fixed Income Recommendations i. Reduce Russell Investment Grade Bond from 22% to 5% ii. Reduce Russell Strategic Bond from 11% to 8% iii. Reduce Russell Short Duration from 10% to 4% iv. Reduce both Capital World Bond & Loomis Sayles Global Bond from 3% each to 2% each v. Add PIMCO Income fund – 8% vi. Add Neuberger Berman Strategic Income fund – 8% vii. Add Pioneer Strategic Income Fund – 8% viii. Add PIMCO Unconstrained Bond Fund – 4% 4. Review of minutes from the Regular Meeting on December 3, 2012: Tabled until May 2013 meeting. 5. Treasurer’s report for the quarter ended December 31, 2012: Motion made to accept the Treasurer’s report by Donald Leary, seconded by Karen Mankowski. Approved. 6. Refund request(s):  None received 7. Approval of bills: A motion was made by Robert Aldi to approve the following list bills for payment, seconded by Donald Leary. Approved.  Hooker & Holcombe $1,100 for GASB 25/27 disclosure for City’s 6/30/12 financial statements. 8. New Members: A motion was made by Robert McKeon to approve the following list of new members, seconded by Donald Leary. Approved.  East Great Plain: David Farenholz  Laurel Hill: Anna Tardif  Occum : Scott Stanley  Taftville: None  Yantic: None 9. New Applications for Benefits : A motion was made by Robert Aldi to approve the following Applications for Benefits, seconded by Karen Mankowski. Approved.  East Great Plain: Roger Snell – February 2013, John Jay Coleman – May 2013  Laurel Hill: None  Occum: None  Taftville: None  Yantic: None 10. Election of officers for 2013. : A motion was made by Robert McKeon to keep the same officers as 2012, seconded by Karen Mankowski. Approved. 11. Discussion on modifications required to bring the Tax Abatement Ordinance 1437 call  and drill requirements in line with the Relief Fund.  This was discussed about 18 months ago  The issue is the percentage of drills. i. Relief Fund Ordinance says % of drills ii. Tax Abatement Ordinance refers to the training requirements of each fire company’s bylaws  A motion was made by Brigid Marks to draft a recommendation to bring the training requirements of the Tax Abatement Ordinance in line with those of the Relief Fund Ordinance for the next meeting, seconded by Donald Leary. Approved. 12. Discussion of vacancies on the Committee.  Robert Aldi appointed recently  Committee still needs one more member 13. Adjournment: A motion was made by Joshua Pothier to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Richard Benoit. Approved. Meeting adjourned at 6:00 pm. Respectfully submitted, joshua pothier Treasurer