Volunteer Firefighter Relief Fund Committee

City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes 134th Meeting May 18, 2015 The Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee held its 134th meeting on Monday, May18, 2015, at 5:00 p.m. in Room 209, City Hall, Norwich, Connecticut. 1. Roll Call a. Members Present: i. Richard Benoit, Taftville ii. Thomas Quinley, Yantic iii. Karen Mankowski, Occum iv. Joshua Pothier, Comptroller v. Donald Leary, East Great Plain vi. Brigid Marks, City of Norwich Human Resources vii. Joseph Kochanski, Laurel Hill viii. Gary Evans, City Manager Designee ix. Jonathan Gruber, Hooker & Holcombe, guest b. Members Absent: i. Red McKeon, Occum/Past Chairman ii. Robert Aldi, Citizen Appointee iii. John John, P&P Board Appointee Richard Benoit called the meeting to order at 5:05p.m. 2. Review of Investments: Jonathan Gruber reviewed the 1st quarter performance of the fund with the Committee. a. Page 1: i. NASDAQ up 3.5% ii. Utilities and energy were down iii. Health care did very well iv. Inflation remains low v. US stocks showed single digit returns for 2015 1st quarter b. Page 2: i. Good opportunities in foreign markets ii. Euro expected to remain weak; China growth rate down to approximately 7%, which is down from 7.4% in 2014 c. Page 3: i. Fixed income shows that high yield(Junk Bonds) were the best performers d. Page 4: i. Specialty – commodities have taken a beating in the last several years e. Page 5: i. Asset allocation has been properly done; it will generally perform middle of the pack with an approximate return of 5.5% f. Page 7: i. Approximately $2.1 million ii. YTD 1.6%, 1-Year 4.4%, last 3 years 7.2%, last 5 years 7.1%  City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes 134th Meeting May 18, 2015 g. Page 8 i. Allocation looks great h. Page 9&10 i. Individual returns for each category reviewed in detail ii. Portfolio up 1.72% iii. Expense ratio 0.74%, less than 0.75%. Expense ratio is excellent i. Recommendations: no changes are recommended at this time. 3. Minutes: the November 17, 2014 special meeting minutes were reviewed. a. Correction to meeting minutes i. Section 5.d.4.e – new business discussion related to Relief Fund vs Pension, ethical question over mutual aid billing. Wording changed to “the five (5) Volunteer Fire Departments raised a question of ethics”. 1. Discussion for support of change in minutes ensued, points noted: a. 2015-16 budget does not include allocation costs for the City Fire Department responding into the Volunteer Fire Districts b. Nation Mutual Aid and County Mutual Aid agreements do not endorse billing for mutual aid services. b. A motion to accept minutes with changes/comments made by Brigid Marks, seconded by Donald Leary. Approved. 4. Treasurer’s Report: Josh Pothier reviewed the expenses and a small refund. Motion made to approve the Treasurer’s Report by Thomas Quinley, seconded by Joseph Kochanski. Approved. 5. New Business a. Election of Officers: Motion made to re-elect the current officers of the Committee for the 2015 year made by Gary Evans, seconded by Karen Mankowski. Approved. b. Transfer of Funds for 2015 operating expenses i. Approximately $57,729 for investment ii. Questioned Josh Pothier regarding cost of audits. 1. Estimated cost approximately $12,000 2. Frequency of audits governed by the Code of Ordinances – accepted accounting standards and compliance with the Code stipulates that audits must be done every two (2) years 3. Josh to work with H&H to get the best cost rate for the audit as possible. iii. Motion made by Thomas Quinley to accept the estimated expenses with the action item of negotiating the best audit cost, seconded by Gary Evans. Approved. c. New members: i. Taftville presented Justin Harley for membership approval. Justin Harley became a member in December 2014 as confirmed by Richard Benoit.  City of Norwich Volunteer Firefighters’ Relief Fund Committee Minutes 134th Meeting May 18, 2015 Motion made by Thomas Quinley, seconded by Joseph Kochanski. Approved. d. Application for Benefits: None e. Discussion on reducing liability for those who are unlikely to collect. i. Motion to pulse the membership to determine who would be interested in withdrawing their contributions to reduce membership numbers made by Thomas Quinley, seconded by Donald Leary. Approved. f. Codification update: Please review draft codification and provide comments to Josh via email. 6. A motion was made by Thomas Quinley to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Gary Evans. Approved. Meeting adjourned at 1817 hrs. 7. Respectfully submitted, 8. Thomas G. Quinley, Secretary