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FMTF03-20-07 BOARD OF TRUSTEES Florida Municipal Trust Fund Retirement Plan and Trust for the Firefighters and Police Officers Longwood City Commission Chambers 175 West Warren Avenue _ Longwood, I+lorida REGULAR MEETING MINUTIES March 20, 2007 7:00 p.m. Present: Jack Smythers, Chair Robert Redditt, Secretary Jeremiah Brown, Member Chris Kempf, Member Carol Rogers, Director of Financial Services Linda F. Goff, Recording Secretary 1. Call to Order Chair Smythers called th.e meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. 2. Election of Officers A. ~ Chair B. Vice Chair ~ C. Secretary Chair Smythers moved to postpo~ie Election of Officers to the next meeting. Seconded by Secretary Redditt and carried by a unanimous voice vote. 3. Approval of Minutes December 19, 2006 Regular Meeting January 16, 2007 Special Meeting February 13, :2007 Special Meeting Secretary Redditt moved to approve the minutes as presented. Seconded by Member Brown and carried by a unanimous voice vote. 4. Interview of Pension Board. Attorney via Conference Call A. H. Lee Dehner, Christiansen & Delmer, P.A. Chair Smythers said in the information provided by Mr. Dehner it appears they have 92 different entities for which their :firm provides service. He asked how they find time to handle all of these. Mr. Dehner advised their firm had taken ~~n a couple of new clients recently and represent roughly 95 cities for approximately 165 pension plans. He said they made the decision to take new clients on a limited basis, and they were willing to add Longwood because they have other cities in the area. He affirmed they provide the same service for all plans. Pension 3-20-2007/1 ~ Chair Smythers said they nornlally meet :Four times a year. Mr. Definer .said the boards were required to meet quarterly by Florida Statutes. He said attending the quarterly meetings 'was the best way to provide legal representation. Chair Smythers inquired what kind of experience Mr. Definer had with Chapters 175 and 185, and Local Law Plans. Mr. Definer advised he has been representing municipal plans in Florida since 1979. He said the first client he represented has retained their firm. He stated he has participated in conferences for over 25 years, they were a member of the Florida Public Pension Trustees' Association, Division of Retirement,. and he has offered legislation over the years that have been proposed.. He advised their firm was the only firm in the State that exclusively represents municipal pension plans. He has provided legal services to plans far over 28 years, and Scott Christiansen has provided representation for 16 years. Chair Smythers said he noticed their fees were increasing to $290 per hour as of April 15`. He inquired if that same fee applied for travel. Mr. Definer. advised they charged half of the hourly fee for travel. He said the last time they increased their fees was April 1, 2004. He stated. their costs have increased, but the main reason was that this is the going rate for attorneys with similar expertise and experience. He confirmed they charge all clients the same rate regardless of the size of the fund.. He stated the legal services provided were the same. Smaller pension plans will typi~;ally use less hours and often do not have many legal issues. He declared they stayed current on every issue. Therefore, it is rare to see a charge for research time. Chair Smythers inquired if they would be flexible to participate in the meetings by conference call and attend the meetings if needed. Mr. Definer said they would be willing. to do either, but he preferred to attend the meetings. He declared the in person communication was more effective. He said. if there was a conflict in scheduling, they would be happy to attend by conferenc;e call. Chair Smythers asked if the Board decided to contract with their firm was there a contractual term or could either party terminate at will. Mr. Definer said, as fiduciary, the trustees should not be limited to any consultant with which they were not comfortable. He; advised the Board could terminate the contract at any time. Chair Smythers said he noticed their firm has four employees, and there was no hourly fee for paralegal services. He inquired if there was a fee for phone calls or Pension 3-20-2007/2 if it was charged at the hourly rate. Mr. Dehner responded in the affirmative. He advised if the attorneys are personally involved, they charge for the time they were personally involved at the same hourly rate. He said they charge by the tenth of the hour. Chair Smythers asked Mr. Dehner how he would benefit the City in working with our Board. Mr. Dehner said it would benefit the City by having a well administered Pension Plan. He reiterated all they do is represent municipal pension boards. He said by only representing pension boards they were able to generally have an amicable relationship with the City, the Pension Plan's sponsor, and with the Union. They act strictly on behalf of the Pension Board and the members. They are able to facilitate communication between these groups. He stated they believe it is in the long term best interest of both the City acid the members of the Pension Plan to work together with the members, the Bargaining Unit, and the City. He reiterated their concern is promoting the interest of the Pension Plan members. 5. Discussion of Pension Board Attorney Interviews Chair Smythers suggested they reviewnotes from the previous attorney interviews. Member Kempf inquired if they would b~~ making a decision on the Pension Board Attorney at this meeting. It was the consensus of the Board to move forward. Chair Smythers said he liked that Bonni Yensen had paralegals who could do part of the work at $85 an hour. Mr. Definer did not charge for paralegal work. He stated he has heard Mr. Definer speak several times and he was very knowledgeable. Ms. Rogers said she worked with Mr. De:hner in Mt. Dora and Sunrise and had a favorable experience in both cases. Member Kempf said Ms. Jensen did not charge for phone calls. Member Brown said Mr. Definer prefers t:o attend the meetings and would obviously like to be hands on. Secretary Redditt said Mr. Loper was $65 less on the hour. Chair Smythers said Mr. Loper was good;, but. didn't seem to be as focused. Secretary Redditt moved to accept; Lee Definer as the attorney. Seconded. by Member Kempf and carried by a unanimous voice vote. Pension 3-20-2i~07/3 It was the consensus of the Board that the Chair notifies the attorneys by letter. 6. Appointment of 5th Trustee Chair Smythers opened the floor for nominations of the 5th Trustee. Member Kempf nominated Dan Spak. He said Mr. Spak has lived in Longwood for over 25 years. He stated Mr. Spak has a lot of experience with the Florida League of Cities and is retired from the Orlando Fire Department receiving a pension .from them. He would like to come to the meetings and get involved in the City. At this time he is working for Seminole County Code Enforcement. Chair Smythers nominated Carol Rogers. He said she has been the financial person and was very knowledgeable and has expressed an interest. Member Brown inquired if the 5th Trustee had to be a resident. Chair Smythers said they were not required to be a resident. Secretary Redditt moved to close the nominations. Seconded by Member Kempf and carried by a unanimous roll call vote. Chair Smythers asked the Recording Secretary to call the roll for the nominatio~is. Nomination for Dan Spak was de:rued by a two/two roll call vote with Members Brown and Kempf voting aye and Chair Smythers and Secretary Redditt voting nay. Nomination for Carol Rogers was denied by a two/two roll call vote with Chair Smythers and Secretary Redditt voting aye and Members Brown and Kempf voting nay. Chair Smythers said Ms. Rogers has beer. their right ann as far as giving direction on the Pension Plan. He stated he feels sh.e is more knowledgeable on this specific Plan and is supportive by attending the meetings. Secretary Redditt said he had mixed emor:ions. He would like to see another citizen on the Board, but Ms. Rogers'' expertise was something they could use. Member Kempf said they already have M:s. Rogers' expertise with her attending the meetings. Member Brown said in her position with ~:he City it could :potentially be a conflict of interest since she is an employee and financial advisor for the City. He stated Mr. Spak was retired from another Chaptt>r 175 Plan and should be familiar with our Plan. Chair Smythers said, as far as being an employee of the City, Member Brown was Pension 3-20-2007/4 an employee. .Member Brown affirmed the State Statute mandates one :Police Officer and one Firefighter serve on the Board. Chair Smythers asked Ms. Rogers if she was required to attend the meetings. Ms. Rogers advised she was requested to attend. She gave her background and said she participated in improving the pension at two other cities. She stated she understands how to improve benefits and minimize the cost to the participants. She affirmed she was knowledgeable of'the budget and could work well with the attorney in designing some options. Secretary Redditt inquired if there was a~.iy reason they could not have six trustees. Chair Smythers suggested they postpone this to the next meeting with the attorney present. Member Kempf said he thought five members were adequate. Member Brown moved to postpone appointment of the 5th Trustee to the next meeting. Seconded by Secretary Redditt and carried by unanimous voice vote. 7. Ite~iew of Agenda Packet Material A. Plan Account Statements The Plan Account Statements were revie~~ved for November and December 2006. Chair Smythers inquired about the fee for Unum Life Insurance. Ms. Rogers advised this was an insurance: policy for the participants of the Plan. 8. Other Business Ms. Rogers advised the Personnel Department sent out. a notice regarding the Individual Plan Statements to Chief Moo~.iey, Chief Jackson, Russ Cohen, Troy Hickson„ David Dowda, Michael Hockenberry, Mike Clelland, and Leonard Turner. She said they would like to meet one on one with the participants to go over their statement. Only three individuals have come in. Member Brown inquired if the City could. send a notice to all the Plan members. He stated he had not been told by his supervisor. He is a supervisor now and had not been noticed. Ms. Rogers said they have done some cal~,ulations and want to make sure everyone.has a good understanding. Pension 3-20-21)07/5 Member Kempf said he had not been notified. He inquired if Ms. Rogers was saying to feel free to come to her office. Ms. Rogers responded in the affirmative and said either she or Dawn Jackson would be available to discuss the statements. 9. Member Comments. None. 10. Public Participation. None. 11. Adjournment. Chair Smythers adjourned the meeting at 7:45 p.m. J~ Smythcrs, Chair ATTEST: Linda F. Goff, Recordi Secretary Pension 3-20-2007/6