At the regularly scheduled meeting of the Fire and Police Pension Fund Board of Directors held on the 3rd day of March 2016, President Craig Joel presided. The meeting was held at the Pension Office, 6009 John Douglass Drive, Chattanooga, TN 37421.
The meeting convened at 0903 hours with board members Craig Joel, Kelly Simmons, Mark Coffman, Phillip McClain, Charlie Thomason, Tommy Meeks, Less Lee and Vickie Haley. Attorney Bill Robinson was also present.
Motion by Phillip McClain and seconded by Charlie Thomason to approve the minutes of February 18, 2016 meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
Bill Robinson updated the Board on the status of the Dodd and Frazier lawsuits.
Motion by Phillip McClain and seconded by Tommy Meeks to approve the following membership items:
REMOVE FROM THE ROLLS:
Retired Fire Lieutenant Joseph W. Hitchcock effective 02/29/2016, died 02/19/2016 (2-410)
REFUND CONTRIBUTIONS:
Former Police Officer Lauren Bacha Wenger; terminated 02/04/2016, participation date of 03/14/2008, (2-413)
PAY DEATH BENEFITS:
LaKeisha Hitchcock, designated beneficiary of Joseph W. Hitchcock (2-410)
Motion carried unanimously.
The Board reviewed the bills received since the last meeting.
The Fund’s Policy Committee recommended revisions to four policies and to update all policies with current Directors’ signatures. The Board discussed the suggested revisions to the Purchase and Procurement; Requesting Professional Services; Travel Expense Reimbursement; and DROP Payment policies and agreed on minor modifications. Motion by Mark Coffman and seconded Charlie Thomason to make revisions to the four policies. Motion carried unanimously. Directors signed all policies.
The DROP Neutrality Committee, established temporarily by the Board on December 17, 2015, presented the Board with its recommendation to establish objective criteria for determining the cost-neutrality of the Deferred Retirement Option Provision under Section 2-423 of the Chattanooga City Code for the purposes a DROP cost neutrality review to be held every 5 years by an independent actuary as established by City Code Section 2-424. Motion by Charlie Thomason and seconded by Phillip McClain to approve the committee recommendations. Motion carried unanimously. An RFQ will be sent out as soon as practical.
The Board discussed whether or not to meet with the Retiree Advisory Committee once more before acting on the advice of the committee with the input from Members at the Open Forum on February 18, 2016. Retired Fire Captain Ron Boyd was in attendance. President Joel asked Mr. Boyd for his thoughts on the Open Forum. Mr. Boyd stated that he felt there were two primary themes presented by the few retirees that attended the meeting: 1) they want a retiree representative on the Board, and 2) they want retirees to maintain the ability to continue voting for active representatives as well as retired representatives on the Board. Retired Police Officers Don Bickford and Michael Hart were also in attendance. Mr. McClain asked them if they had any thoughts on having retiree Director(s) on the Board. Mr. Bickford stated that he preferred to have no retirees sitting as Directors. Mr. Bickford also stated he believes that active Directors will work to protect the future of the Fund for themselves and those coming after them. The Board decided that it would like to meet once more with the Retiree Advisory Committee to see if it has any new recommendations based on the input from the Open Forum. Frank Hamilton advised the Board that there is already a heavy agenda for the next meeting (March 17, 2016). The Board tentatively decided to invite the committee to meet again on April 7, 2016.
Motion by Mark Coffman and seconded by Phillip McClain to adjourn at 1014 hours. Motion carried unanimously.
Notes:
2016 COLA Dividend upload to Wells Fargo completed
Tentative—Segal presenting draft actuarial information on 03/17/2016
Luke Provenzano of Wells Fargo attending 03/17/2016 meeting
Actuarial Valuation Presentation – 04/21/2016
05/05/2016 Meeting scheduled for 2 PM
2016-1Q Investment Performance Report on 05/05/2016
Annual Directors meeting scheduled for 09/19-21/2016
