HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-02-25-RB-minMINUTES OF THE FEBRUARY 25, 2010 RETIREMENT MEETING
Present: Robert Cunha, Joseph Foley, Alan Fields, Rob Addelson, Marguerite Oliva
Absent: Michael McNabb
Bob Cunha called the meeting to order at 8:00.
The Board accepted and signed the 022610 warrant and the February payroll. The January
minutes were reviewed and signed.
New Members: (5) Lisa George -Cox, Krista Myers, Lynda Pyburn, Student Support
Instructors; Clayton Sanders, Stephanie Smith, Instructional Assistants
Deceased Retirees: (2) John Walsh, Firefighter, Opt. B depleted, 1/31/10; William
Marques, Policeman, Accidental Disability Opt. B, 2/5/10
Atty. Mike Sacco attended the meeting for a second hearing about the excess earnings for
Anthony Previte after receiving documents that were requested at the January meeting.
James O'Neil represented Mr. Previte.
Discussing the information received from Mr. Previte, Atty. Sacco noted that the interest
on his tax form probably should not have been included by PERAC in calculating his
excess earnings. He did however feel that the $31,000 settlement for a commission that
should have been paid in 2002 but settled in 2008 is correctly being classified as excess
earnings.
Att Sacco will contact PERAC regarding the matter. The Board did their due diligence
in holding the hearings and reviewing the material. PERAC will make the final
determination.
A DALA appeal notice for Sara Arnold was received. Ms. Arnold was employed by the
Town of Lexington starting in 1979 but was never a member of the system. In 2000, after
she began working for Massport the Board accepted the request from Massport to allow
her to buyback her years of service and accepted liability for 7 years, 7 months service.
Ms. Arnold in 2009 requested that the Board recognize her membership date as 1979 and
was denied. Atty. Sacco mentioned that the Board was not obligated to even accept the
liability and that matter could be revisited.
Going forward, the Lexington Board will adopt a policy to only accept buyback requests
for those who continue to work in Lexington and have gone from a non - membership
status to a member in service status.
There was a discussion about the 18 hour membership requirement. The Board is in
agreement that the hours should be increased to 20 hours /week to make it consistent with
eligibility for health benefits. In drafting the policy the Board questioned if current
members would be grandfathered and, if new hires fall below 20 hours, should they be
allowed to remain in the system?
Mike Sacco mentioned that the adage "once a member, always a member" is not a statute
of the law. Retirement deductions could be stopped and the member would have to start
paying into OBRA. He also mentioned that policy is set by the Board and not a statute of
the law.
Rob mentioned he wants to discuss these matters with HR and will report back at the next
meeting.
The Facilities will be hiring a Stage Manager whose hours will fluctuate week to week. It
was determined this hire will not be eligible for health benefits and therefore should not
be eligible for membership and should pay into OBRA. After a year, the Board could
revisit membership after looking at the average number hours worked.
There was a general discussion about a person who has been working as a contractor
since the early 1990's. Heidi Zimmerman, School Business Mgr., feels she should now
be classified as an employee and asked if she would be allowed to buyback those years.
Mike Sacco stated that Ch. 32 specifies that only employees can buyback service and
contractors are not employees. Therefore the person in question will not be able to
buyback the years worked as a contractor.
Mike Sacco is going to put together a Policies and Procedures Manual for his clients.
The Board was unanimous in agreeing that this would be beneficial and agreed to share in
the cost.
Mike Sacco was asked to return the S 10 Laure Creedon included with her last subpoena
for records.
Indemnification under s. 100B was discussed. The committee still has not been set up.
The Town currently works with the workers comp. consultant. Bob questioned if every
request must go before the committee for approval? The Board questioned whose
liability it would be if a bill is paid without going before the committee? Rob will discuss
the matter with HR.
Peter Ganey and Stewart Carlisle from Hartford attended the meeting for a review. Saul
Pannell has been the portfolio manger since 1996. Indications are that Mr. Pannell feels
there will be improvement by the end of the year and he thinks unemployment may fall to
around 7 %. Going forward the portfolio may show a decline in health care names, an
increased exposure to Japan and a decline in China. Currently there is 27% international
exposure in this portfolio. It can go as high as 35%
Fran Peters and LouAnn Eisenhut from Meketa presented a portfolio update. January saw
a slight decline of 2.5% and February is up slightly. The international markets were down
year -to -date and the U.S. markets were flat.
There was a discussion about the Arcadian investment. Alan feels this organization is
much different now from when they were hired. He questioned if we have a higher risk
component now. Their most recent performance has lagged. Meketa mentioned that
Acadian ranked in the top 40% of managers. Meketa will review other alternatives.
The current portfolio is underweighted in domestic equity and over - weighted in global
allocation. The Board reviewed the Asset Policy prepared by Meketa. A motion was
make, seconded and approved unanimously to adopt the policy that will add hedge fund
exposure through an allocation to PRIM. At the next meeting the Board will determine
which fund(s) should be used to fund this segment.
Notification was received for Beacon Capital Call #5 for $542,000 on March 9, 2009.
A motion was made, seconded and approved unanimously to move the OPEB funds held
in two Vanguard money market funds to the Vanguard Wellington Admiral Fund.
Administrative review put on hold again.
In order to meet PERAC requirements for investment manager reviews, Loomis and
SSgA will be asked to attend the March meeting.
A motion was made, seconded and approved unanimously to adjourn the meeting at
10:40 AM.
The next meeting will be held March 18, 2010 in the Selectmen's Meeting Room in
Lexington Town Hall.
Robert W. Cunha, Chairman
Michael McNabb, Appointed Member
Robert Addelson, Ex Officio Member Joseph Foley, Elected Member
Alan Fields, Appointed Member