Volunteer Firefighter Relief Fund Committee

City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes Special Meeting October 8, 2014 The Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee held a special meeting on Monday, October 8, 2014, at 5:00 p.m. in Room 209, City Hall, Norwich, Connecticut. 1. Roll Call a. Members Present: Richard Benoit, Taftville Thomas Quinley, Yantic Karen Mankowski, Occum Joshua Pothier, Assistant Comptroller John John, P&P Board Appointee Brigid Marks, City of Norwich Human Resource Gary Evans, City Manager Designee b. Members Absent: Brian Curtin, City Treasurer Robert Aldi, Citizen Appointee Joseph Kochanski, Laurel Hill Donald Leary, East Great Plain Richard Benoit called the meeting to order at 5:05p.m. 2. Minutes: the July 8, 2014 meeting minutes were reviewed. A motion to accept by John John, seconded by Karen Mankowski. Approved. 3. Treasurer’s Report: Not presented 4. New Business a. Refund Requests: i. Joseph Crowley from East Great Plain (EGP) Fire Department requested a refund. Mr. Crawley has 1 year of service with EGP and $35.14 earned interest. Motion to approve the refund made by Thomas Quinley, seconded by John John. Approved. b. Bills: None c. New Member Applications: None d. Application for Benefits: i. East Great Plain FD – one applicant for benefits, Tim Menard, with twenty-five (25) years of service as of 2013. Motion made by Thomas Quinley and seconded by John John to approve the application pending confirmation of years of service – 26 years at the end of 2014 – payment to begin January 1, 2015. Approved.  City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes Special Meeting October 8, 2014 ii. Yantic Fire Department – one applicant for benefits, Thomas Quinley. Motion made by John John to approve the application for benefits pending confirmation of twenty-four (24) years of service as of December 31, 2014, with payment to begin March 2015. Seconded by Karen Mankowski, approved. e. Joshua Pothier reported on the Benefits funding recommendations from the Actuarial review for future City contribution to reflect current methodology and standardization. i. Codification; mismatch language 1. Any mismatch, revert to original document 2. Action item: Josh to investigate codification for the legal reverting language. a. Codification issues may be handled separately from the ongoing five (5) year Plan enhancement changes in order to ensure that the changes are ready for City Council review and approval to support the January 1, 2015 effective date. f. Ordinance Changes – Discussion ensued amongst Committee members: i. Brigid Marks, Director of Human Resources, proposed the following: 1. New members would be vested after twenty-five (25) years of service. a. This would be the same as the paid fire department which was changed from twenty (20) years of service to twenty- five (25) years of service on July 1, 2013, per the paid fire department’s new contract implementation. b. This proposal raised concerns over the older age of new volunteers and their ability to reach that requirement. 2. Child Beneficiary – drop the age from twenty-four (24) to eighteen (18) years. a. Discussion ensued regarding death benefits for volunteer firefighters, “line-of-duty” versus “non-line-of-duty” deaths. b. Brigid Marks believes there is “non-line-of-duty” life insurance death benefits for volunteer firefighters. i. Action item: Josh Pothier and Brigid Marks to determine if there is non-line-of-duty life insurance death benefits for the volunteer firefighters, similar to that of the paid firefighters. Findings to be brought back at the next meeting. 3. New members that join the plan after the next revision acceptance date, would have the maximum years of service be thirty (30), down from the current forty (40) maximum years of service. 4. Discussion over discrepancies between the volunteer companies’ expenses and benefits versus the paid FD ensued. Committee  City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes Special Meeting October 8, 2014 members will take the recommendations back to their departments for further discussion and recommendations. g. Next special meeting to be held on November 3, 2014 to review recommendations related to proposed ordinance changes. h. Next regular scheduled meeting is November 17, 2014. i. New school bus law. Red Mckeon reported on a new law that went into effect on October 1, 2014. i. Law Summary: 1. All vehicles, including emergency response vehicles, must stop for a school bus displaying flashing red signal lights. 2. The vehicle must stop at least 10 feet ahead or behind dependent on the direction of travel. 3. After stopping, the emergency vehicle may proceed past the school bus, as long as the vehicle operator does not endanger life or property by doing proceeding. 4. The emergency vehicle must use an audible signal and flashing/revolving lights. j. 2015 meetings: February 17, May 18, August 17, and November 16. A motion was made by Joshua Pothier to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Thomas Quinley. Approved. Meeting adjourned at 1815 hrs. Respectfully submitted, Thomas G. Quinley, Secretary