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03/11/1999PENSION ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING CITY OF CLEARWATER March 11, 1999 Present: Rita Garvey Chair/Mayor J. B. Johnson Vice Chair/Commissioner Robert Clark Committee Member/Commissioner Dick Fitzgerald Committee Member Pat Greer Committee Member Pat Shepler Committee Member John Scacca Committee Member Also Present: Leslie Dougall-Sides Assistant City Attorney Rick Ebelke Human Resources Assistant Director Debbie Ford Administrative Analyst Patricia O. Sullivan Board Reporter The Chair called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. at City Hall. To provide continuity for research, items are in agenda order although not necessarily discussed in that order. ITEM #2 - Approval of Minutes Member Clark moved to approve the minutes of the regular meeting of February 11, 1999, as recorded and submitted in written summation to each board member. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #3 - Employees to be Heard - None. ITEM #4 - Action Items a) Review and Action on Employee Requests for Years of Service Pensions: 1. Bonnie M. O’Neal - Computer Operator, General Support Services Member Fitzgerald moved to approve a Years of Service Pension for Bonnie M. O’Neal. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. It was requested that distributed paperwork be kept to a minimum. b) Approval of New Hires as Pension Plan Members As of March 4, 1999, the City has 1,639.1 FTEs and 1,735.5 budgeted positions. Member Johnson moved to accept the following employees into membership in the Pension Plan: Date of Pension Employment Elig. Date Kathi L. Orange, Police Comm. Oper. Trne. Police Department 02/01/99 02/01/99 Sarah Gilkerson, CAD Technician Public Works 02/01/99 02/01/99 Jerry Absher, Custodial Worker General Support Svcs. 02/01/99 02/01/99 J.C. Jones, Maintenance Worker I General Support Svcs. 02/01/99 02/01/99 Jay Gibson, Traffic Sign & Marking Tech. Public Works 02/01/99 02/01/99 Jaime Cebollero, Systems Anal/Programr General Support Svcs. 02/01/99 02/01/99 Nasha Shaw, Police Comm. Operator Trne Police Department 02/01/99 02/01/99 Richard Ritter, Irrigation Service Worker I Parks & Recreation Dept. 02/16/99 02/16/99 Robert Steyer, Maintenance Worker II Parks & Recreation Dept. 02/16/99 02/16/99 Anthony Newman, Network Suprt Tech I General Support Svcs. 01/25/99 01/25/99 Kathleen Welch, Network Support Tech I General Support Svcs. 02/16/99 02/16/99 Elvira Jackson, Staff Assistant I Solid Waste Department 02/16/99 02/16/99 The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #5 - Pending/New Business a) James Berry - Request for Non-job-connected Disability Pension In response to a question, Assistant City Attorney Leslie Dougall-Sides said Pension Plan rules suggest PAC (Pension Advisory Committee) members should receive related information at least 10 days prior to a disability hearing. Distribution of paperwork related to this case did not meet those time constraints. Administrative Analyst Debbie Ford said the City is not contesting this pension request. Member Greer moved that James Berry be granted a Non-Job-Connected Disability Pension effective on a date to be determined based on Mr. Berry’s disability which is described as amputation of the right leg and heart disease; these problems making him permanently unable to perform his job and documented by numerous medical statements of Carlos J. Bayron, M.D., Arthur Walling, M.D., Dexter Stallworth, M.D., Irwin Browarsky, M.D., Rasa Rajanayagam, Dimitri Novitzky, M.D., Greg R. Albright, D.O., Jerry Poklepovic, M..D., Stephen G. Brantley, M.D., Anthony J. LaMarca, M.D., F. Reed Murtagh, M.D., Juan Rodriguez-Acosta, M.D., and Jeffrey M. Lehr, M.D., IME (Independent Medical Exam) physician, with accompanying dates of all doctor visits. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. b) Kenneth Davenport - Request for Non-job-connected Disability Pension Ms. Dougall-Sides reported the City had not received the IME report on Kenneth Davenport. Ms. Ford said the City is not contesting the request. She anticipated information included in the IME will corroborate other doctors’ statements. Trustee Johnson moved to schedule a hearing on April 8, 1999, to consider Kenneth Davenport’s request for a Non-job-connected Disability Pension. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. c) David Krieger - Pension Credit Buy Back A request was made that illegible pages be redistributed along with the actuary’s original estimate. Member Clark moved to continue Item #5c to April 8, 1999. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. d) Leonard Marotta - Pension Credit Buy Back Leonard Marotta said when he last requested to buy back his pension credit, the city had provided him with an actuarial figure of approximately $67,000, a prohibitive amount. He said in August 1979, after almost 3 years of service, he had resigned from his position as Police Officer and had withdrawn his pension contribution of approximately $3,891. He said when he reapplied for his position on March 30, 1980, Chief Sid Klein had rehired him and offered him immediate reinstatement. After the 30 days necessary for relocation, Mr. Marotta returned to his former position, reclaiming his seniority and all accrued benefits except for Pension. At the time of his rehire, City management had advised him he could not return the pension funds he had withdrawn and buy back his credit. In response to a question, Ms. Ford indicated Mr. Marotta’s rehire had been treated as a withdrawal of his resignation. Ms. Dougall-Sides said the City had granted a 19-day waiver to rehire Mr. Marotta under the 6-month policy. Concern was expressed that all employees who have requested buying back pension credit have not been treated equally. It was noted while some buy back amounts had been based on actuarial numbers, another employee’s buy back amount was based on simple interest. It was recommended the PAC (Pension Advisory Committee) determine a policy that indicates permitted time limits on pension plan buy-backs. Ms. Dougall-Sides reviewed related requirements of the current plan. It was noted each request is affected by different circumstances. It was felt it would not be fair to charge Mr. Marotta 17-years of interest on his withdrawn funds as he had been refused the opportunity to buy-back his pension upon his return to work. Member Scacca moved to approve a pension credit buy back for Leonard Marotta based on the return of his withdrawn funds plus 5% interest per annum to the Pension Fund. The motion was duly seconded. Member Clark amended the motion to allow payback of the funds within 2 years of Mr. Marotta’s receipt and acceptance of the actual amount owed. The seconder agreed. Upon the vote being taken, the amended motion carried unanimously. ITEM #6 - Director's Reports - None. The next PAC meeting is scheduled for April 8, 1999. ITEM #7 - Board Members to be Heard Member Johnson thanked former Mayor Garvey for leading the PAC for many years and stated how well she had served the City. ITEM #8 - Adjournment The meeting adjourned at 9:47 a.m.