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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1988-12-02 - City Commission Special Meeting MinutesTA � M7� U C� a P 7525 NORTHWEST 88TH AVENUE 0 TAMARAC, FLORIDA 33321.2401 TELEPHONE (305) 722.5900 SPECIAL MEETING CITY COUNCIL OF TAMARAC, FLORIDA There will be a Special Meeting of the City Council on Friday, December 2, 1988 at 11:00 A.M., in Conference Room *1 (Room 103), City Clerk's Office, City Hall, 7525 N.W. 88th Avenue, Tamarac, Florida. The purpose of this meeting is discussion and possible action on: MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Ord. * 1415 on first reading amending Article 1 of Chapter 19 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Tamarac pertaining to the City's Pension Plan ( tabled on 11 /23/88), FINAL ACTION: APPROVED on first reading. Second reading and public hearing will be held during a Special City Council meeting on Wednesday, December 21, 2. *5249 awarding Bid *88-38 for group life and AD&D insurance to North American Life Assurance Company. FINAL ACTION: RESOLUTION NO. R-88-323 PASSED. 3. M OT I ON TO ,AP..P ROVE attendance at a L I fe Safety Seminar given by the National Fire Protection Association for Fred Hoffman, Dan Wood and George Wasiles of the Building Department to be held in Orlando, Florida on December 11 through 15, 1988. 4. a. *5251 awarding a project to Broward Typeset & Graphics for printing of the 25th Anniversary Calendar at an approximate cost of $5,000.00, waiving bidding requirements due to time restraints. b. the transfer of $5,000.00 from Recreation Regular Salary Account *001-550-572-120 to Printing and Binding Account *001-550-572-470 to temporarily accommodate this project and these funds will be reimbursed as the collection of monies is completed. FINAL. ACTION: RESOLUTION NO. R-88-324 PASSED. ..APPROVED. AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER POLICY OF NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS 5• approving a Christmas tree sale by the Fraternal Order of Police ( FOP) on City owned property located east of the Public Works Building on Commercial Boulevard. FINAL AOT14N: RESOLUTION NO. R-88--325 PASSED. APPROVED. ._ 6. HQjION TOAPPRQV attendance at a Wastewater edhnical Training Workshop at the TREEO Center, University of Florida for John Rabl and James Robinson from December 5 through December 8, 1988. The Council may consider and act upon such other business as may come before it. All meetings are open to the public. Patricia Marcurio Acting City Clerk PM/gt 1 1 1 CITY OF TAMARAC CITY COUNCIL SPECIAL MEETING FRIDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1988 TAPE 1 CALL TO ORDER: Mayor Abramowitz called this meeting to Order on Friday, December 2, 1988 at 11:00 A.M. in Conference Room #1 (City Clerk's Office). Mayor Norman Abramowitz Vice Mayor Jack Stelzer Councilman Dr. H. Larry Bender Councilman Bruce Hoffman Councilman Henry Rohr ALSO PRESENT: John P. Kelly, City Manager Richard Doody, City Attorney Patricia Marcurio, Office Manager City Clerk's Office Pauline Walaszek, Special Services Secretary AGENDIZED BY CONSENT 6. MOTION TO APPROVE attendance at a Wastewater Technical Training Workshop at the TREEO Center, University of Florida for John Rabl and James Robinson from December 5 through December 8, 1988. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: AGENDIZED by Consent. (SEE PAGE for Final Action) * V/M Stelzer MOVED to AGENDIZE Item #6 by Consent, SECONDED by * C/M Hoffman. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE 3. MOTION TO APPROVE attendance at a Life Safety Seminar given by the National Fire Protection Association for Fred Hoffman, Dan Wood and George Wasilas of the Building Department to be held in Orlando, Florida on December 11 through 15, 1988. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: APPROVED. * C/M Bender MOVED to APPROVE this Item, SECONDED by C/M Hoffman. V/M Stelzer said this Seminar would cost $3,400.00. City Manager Kelly said this would be the upset cost when the costs were totaled. C/M Hoffman asked if it was necessary that three people attend the Seminar. City Manager Kelly said each person needed the certification. C/M Rohr asked if the total cost was paid by the City and City Manager Kelly replied, yes. Page 1 12/02/88 Mayor Abramowitz asked if City Manager Kelly felt this Seminar was necessary and City Manager Kelly said to keep these employees certified to make the inspections the Seminar was necessary. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE 4. a. MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Reso. #5251 awarding a project to Broward Typeset & Graphics for printing of the 25th Anniversary Calendar at an approximate cost of $5,000.00, waiving bidding requirements due to time restraints. b. MOTION TO AUTHORIZE the transfer of $5,000.00 from Recreation Regular Salary Account #001-550--572-120 to Printing and Binding Account #001-550-572-470 to temporarily accommodate this project and these funds will be reimbursed as the collection of monies is completed. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: RESOLUTION NO. R-88-324 - PASSED APPROVED a. and b. a. City Attorney Doody read Temp. Reso. #5251 by title. * C/M Bender MOVED to APPROVE Tem2_ Reso. #5251, * SECONDED by C/M Rohr. Mike Couzzo, Director of Public Works, said the Parks and Recreation Department was recommending the City create a 12 month calendar incorporating all of the events that the Parks and Recreation Department offers. He said there would be a directory page of the agencies and support groups utilizing the services of the City. Mr. Couzzo said the calendar would be made available to various Condominium Associations to incorporate their events on the calendar. He said each month on the bottom of each page, there would be advertisements sponsoring the calendar at $100.00 per advertisement for a total of $2,400.00 for the year. Mr. Couzzo said there would be 2,500 copies sold of the calendar; therefore, the cost of the calendar versus the expense would be a wash. C/M Hoffman had concerns with the Condominium Associations placing there meetings and events on the calendar because of the many Condominium Associations in the City. He asked if there would be enough available space on the calendar for the information. Mr. Couzzo said the Condominium Associations were contacted and the logistics of placing this information on the calendar was not a problem. He said there were several Condominium Associations expressing interest in this project; however, the dates of their events was not a conflict with space availability. He said all of the Condominium Associations would not be participating in this project. Mr. Couzzo said the back page would be for a main sponsor at a cost of approximately $1,000.00. He said this cost would offset the production cost as well. C/M Rohr had concerns with the demand of the calendar being more than 2,500. Page 2 J 1 1-1 1 12/02/88 Mr. Couzzo said he agreed; however, a second printing could take place if needed. He said he would rather print 2,500 rather than more to avoid over printing costs. C/M Rohr said the more copies printed the greater the advertising revenue would be. He asked who would be receiving the calendars. Mr. Couzzo said these calendars would be for sale at $1.00 per calendar. Mayor Abramowitz said the Parks and Recreation Department has been asked not to lose money on this project. C/M Rohr had concerns with the residents buying the calendars when there were several agencies giving free calendars. Mr. Couzzo said several agencies discontinued giving free calendars. He said this matter was researched and the cost for most calendars ranged from $6.00 to $8.00 because of the printing. Mr. Couzzo said the City's calendar would provide the service and reference materials that several residents would like to have and $1.00 for this information was very reasonable. C/M Rohr had concerns with the Condominiums' meeting dates being placed in the calendar. He said one Condominium Association was not interested in another Condominium Association's meeting date. Mr. Couzzo said the information would be for each individual Condominium that wanted to participate in the meetings. C/M Rohr asked why this would be done because it added to the cost. Mr. Couzzo said this matter did not add to the cost and Mayor Abramowitz said this project was a Public Relations project. Mr. Couzzo said this project was a pilot project for the City and the Department. He said after this project was implemented, there may be modifications made for next year. Mayor Abramowitz said this type of project was done by the City of Plantation and Mr. Couzzo indicated that the project was successful. Mr. Couzzo said the City of Plantation was selling their calendars for $3.00 and it was being distributed successfully. C/M Bender said this project was a test program and all of the answers would not be known until the project was implemented. He said the costs were a gamble; however, more than half the costs would be returned. He said the project should proceed and suggested it be approved. Mr. Couzzo apologized for this matter being brought to the City Council at such a short notice. He said he Page 3 u 12/02/88 would like the calendar printed before the new year; therefore, there was a rush in proceeding with the project. VOTE: Mayor Abramowitz - Aye V/M Stelzer - Aye C/M Bender - Aye C/M Hoffman - Nay C/M Rohr - Aye b. C/M Bender MOVED to APPROVE Item 4 b., SECONDED by V/M Stelzer. Mr. Couzzo said this money would be needed in an account to secure the costs for printing. He said the money would be reimbursed to the account as the sponsors and the sale of the calendar proceeded. He said there were sufficient funds in the salary account to make the transfer and the matter was reviewed by the Finance Director. City Manager Kelly said there was approximately $2,025.00 available in the account and Mr. Couzzo proposed to freeze the salary position for the Recreation Supervisor which was presently open since Mimi Mannion resigned. He said the position would be frozen for three months to insure that the monies would be available. C/M Bender asked if the monies going in and out of the account could be determined and Mr. Couzzo replied, yes. C/M Bender asked that the City Council receive reports as to the action in that account. C/M Rohr asked if there would be a new procedure regarding the Parks and Recreation activity schedule. He said the Parks and Recreation Department and the Tam -A -Gram would be working together to publish the activity schedule as opposed to the Parks and Recreation Department sending out separate schedules. Mr. Couzzo said he met with the Public Information Board and discussed this matter. He said he suggested that the procedures be drafted and presented to the City Council because of the transfer of funds. C/M Rohr said at this time the Parks and Recreation Department was spending approximately $15,000.00 a year for mailings whereas it would only cost $500.00 per month having the information in the Tam -A --Gram. He said there would be a tremendous savings. He suggested that the savings be used for the calendar if there was a shortfall. Mr. Couzzo said the calendar may assist in reducing the numbers of mailings needed because all of the Parks and Recreation activities would be in the calendar. City Manager Kelly said the formal bidding was waived for this project; however, other bids were secured but Broward Typeset & Graphics was the lowest bidder. 14 VOTE: Mayor Abramowitz - Aye V/M Stelzer - Aye C/M Bender - Aye C/M Hoffman - Nay C/M Rohr - Aye Page 4 12/02/88 5. MOTION TO ADOPT Temp. Reso. #5252 approving a Christmas tree sale by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) on City owned property located east of the Public Works Building on Commercial Boulevard. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: APPROVED. RESOLUTION NO. R-88-325 -- PASSED City Attorney Doody read Temp. Reso. #5252 by title. * C/M Bender MOVED to APPROVE TeT2. Reso. #5252, * SECONDED by C/M Hoffman. Mike Von Hofen, Assistant City Planner, said the Hold Harmless Agreement has been signed and the insurance was received. He said the facilities were inspected by the Building Department and the Community Development would be signing off on their inspection. V/M Stelzer asked if the City owned the Durban Paper Stock Company driveway and City Manager Kelly replied, Yes. City Manager Kelly said the fees for the tree sale were waived; however, the permits were not. He said a tree for the interior of the Municipal Complex would be donated. VOTE: AGENDIZED BY CONSENT ALL VOTED AYE 6. MOTION TO APPROVE attendance at a Wastewater Technical Tra n ng Workshop at the TREED Center, University of Florida for John Rabl and James Robinson from December 5 through December 8, 1988. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: AGENDIZED by Consent on Page 1. APPROVED for an amount not to exceed $500.00. Bob Foy, Director of Utilities/Engineering, said the total cost was $492.00 which included tuition. He said the travel expenses would be $320.00. V/M Stelzer said the total should not exceed $800.00 and Mayor Abramowitz agreed. C/M Bender said the figures indicated by Mr. Foy did not add up to $800.00. V/M Stelzer said $270.00 for tuition fees was not included and Mayor Abramowitz asked who paid the tuition fees. Mr. Foy said the cost for the tuition fees was in the Budget, was authorized and did not need approval. He said the request for approval was for the overnight expense. Mayor Abramowitz said the backup indicated $172.00 for lodging and $320.00 for travel expenses. V/M Stelzer said the cost should not exceed $500.00. Page 5 12/02/88 * V/M Stelzer MOVED to APPROVE this Item not to exceed $500.00, * SECONDED by C/M Hoffman. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE Mayor Abramowitz announced that the City Manager, City Attorney and Assistant City Planner recently appeared before the Broward County Planning Council and he congratulated them on doing such a good job. City Manager Kelly said one item on that Agenda was regarding the rezoning of the Public Works Property. He said the rezoning was unanimously approved by the Broward County Planning Council and two acres would be exempt from the Plan and zoned commercial. He said the balance of the property was under the Wellfield Protection Ordinance and the City would prepare a Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions. City Manager Kelly said the second item on that Agenda of concern was that the City of North Lauderdale proposed a rezoning to Utilities for the property north of Banyan Lakes on Bailey Road. He said the City was successful in having the rezoning modified so that the bottom portion would be maintained as residential with no access to the industrial properties for the protection of the residents. C/M Hoffman said the City Council was pleased with this success and he asked if the purchaser of the Public Works property was pleased. City Attorney Doody said the purchaser was indicating that the rezoning was acceptable. V/M Stelzer asked if two acres was enough for commercial zoning and City Manager Kelly said the acreage for commercial zoning was more than sufficient for a gas station. 2. MOTION TO ADOPT Temp Reso. #5249 awarding Bid #88-38 for group life and AD&D�insurance to North American Life Assurance Company. SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: APPROVED. * * RESOLUTION NO. R-88-323 - PASSED City Attorney Doody read Temp. Reso. #5249 by title. C/M Bender MOVED to APPROVE Temp. Reso. #5249, SECONDED by C/M Hoffman. V/M Stelzer asked how the premiums were paid. Larry Perretti, Personnel Director, said the City paid for Life and AD&D Insurance wholly. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE 1. MOTION TO ADOPT TTemP. Ord. #1415 on first reading am ne ding Art cle 1 0 Chapter 19 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Tamarac pertaining to the City's Pension Plan (tabled on 11/23/88). Page 6 f� 1 1 1' 12/02/88 SYNOPSIS OF ACTION: APPROVED on first reading. Second reading will be held at a Special City Council meeting on December 21, 1988, at 10:00 A.M. City Attorney Doody read Temp. Ord. #1415 by title. * C/M Bender MOVED to APPROVE Temp. Ord. #1415 on * first reading, SECONDED by C M Rohr. Mayor Abramowitz introduced Larry Perretti, Personnel Director, Patricia Marcurio, Office Manager of the City Clerk's Office, Ruth Russo, Pension Board Trustee and Robert Sugarman, Attorney for the Pension Board. Mayor Abramowitz said he has not been aware of the Pension Board's procedures or purpose until he received Martin E. Siegal Company. He said he was very disturbed with the Pension Board's procedures after reading the Report. City Manager Kelly said the Item under discussion was Amendments submitted by Marvin Clayton, Insurance Commissioner of Tallahassee. He said the Amendments had to be approved in order for the City to receive the Police and Firefighter 175/185 Benefit Tax Monies. Mayor Abramowitz asked who Marvin Clayton was and Ruth Russo, Pension Board Trustee, said Marvin Clayton was from the Tallahassee Insurance Commission and this office issued State monies for Police and Firefighters. Mayor Abramowitz asked if Marvin Clayton was unhappy with the performance of the Pension Plan. V/M Stelzer said the Pension Board created an Ordinance and the Amendments were sent to Marvin Clayton who selected minor changes and required the changes to be made before the City received the Police and Firefighter 175/185 monies. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the Amended Ordinance complied with Marvin Clayton's request and V/M Stelzer replied, yes. Mayor Abramowitz asked if there was a good reason for Marvin Clayton holding the Police and Firefighter monies from the City. Robert Sugarman, Attorney for the Pension Board, said when the Pension Board rewrote the Pension Plan, there were three goals in mind. He said one goal was to make a general flexible Pension Plan that would empower the Board of Trustees to do what was necessary to effectively administer the Plan without having to ask for City Council approval every few months to get the power to administer the Plan. Attorney Sugarman said the second goal was to design the Plan to conform with industry practice. He said the Pension Industry has become very regulated by regulations issued by the Federal Government. He said the benefit of the regulations were that there was a lot of case law to back up anything done if done conforming with the regulations. Page 7 12/02/88 Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Board adopted several things mandated by the Government for the private sector even though it was not a requirement. He said the reason this was done was because the provisions were fair, reasonable and, if the Pension Board was questioned as to it's procedures, the case laws could be referred to. Attorney Sugarman said the third goal was to tighten up granting of disability benefits. He said the Amendments had to be sent to the State Insurance Commissioner's Office because they collected a tax on Liability, Theft and Fire Insurance which is sent to Tallahassee and sent back to the City's Pension Board to be used for benefits for Police and Firefighters. Attorney Sugarman said the cost for the City receiving the monies which, this year was approximately $250,000.00, was to abide by the Statutes and the way it was interpreted by the Insurance Commissioner's Office. He said when the Insurance Commissioner, Marvin Clayton, reviewed the Amendments, a number of technical corrections were suggested. He said approximately 90% of the corrections did not affect the Pension Plan's operations and he felt that the corrections were not necessary; however, because the State was holding the monies until the Amendments were made, it was easier to make the corrections as opposed to fighting them. Attorney Sugarman said there were a few changes that would impact the Plan and they were listed in the letter from the Actuary to the Personnel Director. Attorney Sugarman said the first major change insisted upon by Marvin Clayton was a change in the Standard Benefit. He said when an employee retired, the Plan allowed an option of benefits which were worth the same thing. He said one of the benefits was a single life annuity which consisted of figuring how long the employee would live, how much money it was worth and everything else was made equal to this. He said although the standard form of the benefit was in a Joint and Survivor Annuity meaning a Pension would be paid to the employee and the employee's spouse would receive 50% of the Pension after the employee's death. He said the employee at the time of retirement could choose another form of benefit offered that was actuarialy equivalent. Attorney Sugarman said the single life annuity was not the standard benefit mandated by the State. He said the State wanted a 10-year certain in life annuity meaning that if an employee died before 10 years, someone else received the benefits for the next 10 years. He said because there were retirements in the City of Tamarac retirement occurred with at least 10 years of life expectancy. He said this change would be a small cost to the City and Pension Plan. Attorney Sugarman said the second major change was a requirement that the basis upon which the Pension was calculated and the contributions were made was changed r from base pay to total pay because Firefighters and Police Officers had a lot of supplements and incentives and everyone worked overtime. Attorney Sugarman said the third major change was a change in disability benefits. He said when the Pension Board tightened up on disability benefits it was required that all applicants apply for Social Security, Long Term Page 8 �l� 12/02/88 Disability and Workers' Compensation if the disability was service -connected. He said if the applicants did not apply to these agencies, they could not receive their Pension. He said the employees were required to send their Federal Tax returns each year to inform the Board if they were still disabled or working somewhere else. Attorney Sugarman said Marvin Clayton indicated that this could not be done for Police and Firefighters because once they were disabled, their tax returns could not be checked and they could not be required to apply for other benefits. He said the Amendment indicated that in order for a Police Officer or Firefighter to get the disability benefit provided by the Pension Plan, the Plan's requirements had to be complied with. Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Plan required that the provision in the Plan had to be met by applying for all the other benefits in order to receive a 75% service -connected disability Pension and, if the provisions were not complied with, the service -connected disability benefit would be cut from 75% to 42% which was the State minimum. He said the applicants would comply because they would not want this to happen. He said this change should not be a large added cost. TAPE 2 C/M Hoffman asked if the Pension Plan required the Police Officers and Firefighters to apply for Social Security, Long Term Disability and Workers' Compensation benefits and, if they refused, their Pension Benefit would be reduced to 42% and Attorney Sugarman replied, yes. C/M Hoffman asked why this provision was being deleted completely and Attorney Sugarman said the requirement that the benefits be applied for was eliminated from the Plan; however, another benefit was established for the applicants who did not apply for the other benefits. Mayor Abramowitz asked if it was required that the applicants apply and Attorney Sugarman said in order to receive the 42% State minimum, the applicants did not have to comply; however, to get the 75% benefit compliance was required by the Pension Plan. Mayor Abramowitz said Attorney Sugarman indicated that Marvin Clayton stated that the Pension Plan could not require the applicants to apply for benefits with the other Agencies and Attorney Sugarman said Marvin Clayton objected to the Pension Plan not giving the applicants who did not comply a benefit. Attorney Sugarman said Marvin Clayton indicated that the Police and Firefighters had to receive at least 42% in benefits as required by the State. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the Pension Plan was acting legally by requiring the applicants to apply for benefits from the different Agencies in order to receive 75% in benefits and Attorney Sugarman replied, yes. C/M Hoffman asked if the previous requirement was enforced and Attorney Sugarman replied, no. C/M Hoffman asked why and Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Board did not administer the Pension Plan. Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Board only governed the Pension Plan. C/M Hoffman asked who administered the Pension Plan and Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Plan was administered at different times by different Agencies such as Page 9 12/02/88 Personnel, Risk Management and the Finance Departments. Attorney Sugarman said the responsibilities were shared by these departments; therefore, there was no clear delineation as to who was responsible for what. Attorney Sugarman said when an application for a disability benefit was received the Pension Board would determine if the applicant was disabled and if the disability was service -connected or not. He said once these determinations were made the amount of the benefit and the payments and offsets were calculated mechanically by the Finance Department. C/M Hoffman said before the calculations were done, someone had to see that the applicant applied to the different Agencies. Mayor Abramowitz said he was informed that the Pension Board was an autonomous body and the City was involved only when the Pension Board ran out of money. He asked Attorney Sugarman if this was correct and Attorney Sugarman replied, no. Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Board was an autonomous body; however, the Pension Board had no employees. He said the Pension Board had no one to do it's work. He said when a Pension was approved the Trustees did not administer the payments as some Pension Plans do. Mayor Abramowitz said he was being informed that the City should not be involved with the Pension Board's powers and duties; however, he was also being informed that the administration of the Pension Board/Plan was in the Finance Director's hands as well as other Departments. He asked how the Finance Department could do the calculations on a Pension applicant if the Pension Board did not direct this to be done. Attorney Sugarman said in order to save the City money rather than hiring someone to administer the Pension Plan's finances, the Finance Department performed the necessary functions. C/M Rohr said the Pension Board was a body overseeing the Pension Fund; however, Attorney Sugarman was stating that when an employee applied for Pension benefits the Pension Board was not responsible for the validity of the claim. Attorney Sugarman said this was not correct because this action was one of the powers of the Pension Board Trustees. C/M Rohr said Attorney Sugarman indicated that the Pension Board did not request the individual to apply for other benefits from other Agencies. Attorney Sugarman said this was not done by the Pension Board because there were no employees. He said there was no one for the applicants to come to. C/M Rohr asked if it was the Pension Board's responsibility to inform the Financial Officer about the applicant needing to apply to the other Agencies before applying for a Pension with the Board to determine if the application was legitimate and how it should be paid. Page 10 12/02/88 Attorney Sugarman said the Finance Director is a member of the Pension Board. C/M Rohr asked why the determination was not made by the entire Pension Board that the Finance Officer, who was also a member, be told to handle certain procedures before presenting the Pension payment to the applicant. Attorney Sugarman said when the new formula was established for determining Disability Pension benefits, the Finance Director was part of the the Board's decision because he was a member of the Board and he voted on the Amendment. He said the Finance Director issued a Report to the Pension Board every month and the Finance Director or his assistant sat on the Board and voted on the Disability Pension applications. He said the Finance Director had a copy of the Ordinance and a financial statement was submitted to the Board every month. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the Pension Board felt that the Finance Director should be a Trustee on the Board and administer the Pension Plan's finances. He said the Report from Marvin E. Siegal Company was very bad and it indicated that no one was taking care of matters. He said he was asked to sign a transfer of funds for Disability Pensions in the amount of $14,411.53 for November, 1988. He said he was not qualified to verify the validity of the Pension applications and felt that it was not the City's business as to the Pension Board's actions; however, the City became involved if the Pension Plan ran out of money; therefore, the City should have a responsibility as to the financial actions. Mayor Abramowitz said he could only refer to the Pension Board and Plan by what Martin E. Siegal Company reported. He said if Martin E. Siegal Company was incorrect in the Report, it should be reputed. He said he was very upset with the Report because it indicated that the Finance Director was responsible in implementing the rules and regulations of the Pension Board. He said if this is true it was not logical because the Pension Board should be administering the procedures of Pension applications. He asked if the Pension Board's responsibility ended once the Pension Benefit was granted. Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Board reviewed the Pension recipients every year and Mayor Abramowitz asked how this was done. Attorney Sugarman asked if the City Council wanted to know how the procedure would be and Mayor Abramowitz said he would like to know how the reviews were done in the past. At 12:00 P.M., City Manager Kelly WITHDREW from the meeting. Attorney Sugarman said each file was reviewed each year to see if the Pension recipient was still disabled. Mayor Abramowitz asked how the Pension Board could make this determination and V/M Stelzer said it was determined by a doctor. Attorney Sugarman said if the disability recipient had a bad back, the Pension Board would send the recipient to a doctor selected by the Pension Board. Page 11 12/02/88 Attorney Sugarman said before the Pension Board determined if a person was disabled, a medical report from the employees doctor was received and, if the Board had any questions as to the total extent of the disability, the employee is sent for a second opinion by the Pension Board's hired doctors. Mayor Abramowitz asked how many applicants were sent to the Pension Board's doctors and Ms. Russo said the majority of the applicants were sent for a -second opinion. Mr. Perretti said every applicant was sent for a second opinion. Mayor Abramowitz asked what the Pension Board did if their doctors indicated that the applicant was not disabled and Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Board would deny the Pension application. Ms. Russo said this has not occurred and Attorney Sugarman agreed. Mayor Abramowitz asked Attorney Sugarman if there was anything in Martin E. Siegal Company's Report that he did not agree with. Mr. Perretti said he did not agree with Marvin E. Siegal Company's Report on several items. Mayor Abramowitz asked if there was anything in the Report that could not be complied with by the Pension Board because of the law and Attorney Sugarman replied, yes. Referring to Page 1 of Martin E. Siegal Company's Report, Attorney Sugarman read, "In light of this, the Board may wish to consider recommending to the City that the City's Long Term Disability contract be modified or terminated." He said the Report suggested that the Pension Board inform the City as to whether the City should have Long Term Disability Insurance; however, the Pension Board did not have this authority to do this and it was not the Pension Board's responsibility. Referring to Page 2, Paragraph 1, Attorney Sugarman read, "The effective date of disability benefits." He said the Report indicated that if a recipient received a payoff of their accrued vacation and sick time it should be used to determine the disability benefit amount. He said this was incorrect. He said the Report indicated that while the recipient was receiving the payout a disability benefit should not be given and this was incorrect because it was contradicting to the collective agreement and the payout was compensation for services rendered in the past. Referring to Page 2, Paragraph 2, Attorney Sugarman said the Report indicated that the Pension Board should assist the employee in filing applications for Social Security and Workers' Compensation. He said this matter was resolved; however, the administration aspect of this provision has not been determined. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the provision was not implemented because the Pension Board did not have the manpower to administer the provision and Attorney Sugarman said the offset provision was passed very recently; however, it was not implemented. Page 12 �1 1 I 12/02/88 Attorney Sugarman said the person who used to handle the administrating was the previous Risk Manager, Judy Deutsch. He said the applicant used to go to the Risk Manager and get the applications for Pension and Long Term Disability and inform the applicant about Workers' Compensation and Social Security. He said the Risk Manager would present the files to the Board; therefore, the Pension Board knew that these provisions were being administered. Attorney Sugarman said when the applications came before the Pension Board a determination as to the validity and granting of the Pension benefit was made and the matter would be forwarded to the Actuaries and then to the Finance Department for payment. C/M Hoffman asked how many disability recipients applied with the other Agencies for benefits and Attorney Sugarman said there have been none since the Ordinance was amended in requiring this procedure. Mr. Perretti said there was a misconception about Social Security versus the Pension Plan. He said the 175/185 State Laws pertaining to Firefighters and Police Officers could care less about Social Security. C/M Hoffman said Attorney Sugarman indicated that the benefit could be reduced to 42% for Firefighters and Police Officers if they did not comply with this provision and Attorney Sugarman said this would be true once the City Council approved the Amendments. Mayor Abramowitz asked if a person could refuse to apply with the other Agencies without suffering any consequences prior to this Amendment and Attorney Sugarman replied, yes, because the Pension Board could not legally apply the provision. Mayor Abramowitz asked why and Attorney Sugarman said Marvin Clayton informed the Pension Board that they could not legally require the Firefighters and Police Officers to apply for Social Security. Mayor Abramowitz asked if Marvin Clayton approved the present Amendment and Attorney Sugarman replied, yes, providing the Firefighters and Police Officers continue receiving the State minimum benefit of 42%. Attorney Sugarman said the provision in the past eliminated the Pension payment until the requirements were met and Marvin Clayton said the Firefighters and Police Officers had to receive at least 42% because it was State mandated. Mr. Perretti said the 175/185 State Statute refers to an individual's disability as long as they could not perform their profession: therefore, if a Police Officer lost his hearing in both ears such as, Larry Leiman, the State felt that Mr. Leiman was 100% disabled under the City's Pension Plan; however, if Mr. Leiman applied for Social Security, he would never collect Social Security because Social Security would indicate that Mr. Leiman could work. He said Social Security was a Federal Administration not a State Administration. C/M Hoffman asked if the Amendment would apply to Mr. Leiman and Attorney Sugarman said when the Pension Page 13 12/02/88 Ordinance was readopted by the City Council, there was no requirement in the Ordinance for applying with these Agencies. Attorney Sugarman said the Ordinance was sent to Marvin Clayton and the Pension Board received Martin Clayton's Amendments. Mayor Abramowitz asked who wrote the Ordinance that did not include the requirements for applying with the other Agencies and Attorney Sugarman said he wrote the Ordinance. Attorney Sugarman said the provision was not in the original Ordinance and he did not know who wrote it. He said he took the Ordinance and rewrote it. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the provision was included when Attorney Sugarman rewrote the Ordinance and Attorney Sugarman replied, no. Mayor Abramowitz asked why and Attorney Sugarman said it was something that the Pension Board overlooked because they did not feel that it was a concern and they did not expect the volume of disability applications. Attorney Sugarman said the Ordinance was mailed to Marvin Clayton, he returned his Amendments to the Pension Board and, at the same time, the Pension Board was receiving a greater volume of disability applicants than expected. He said the Pension Board had to determine what could be done to reduce the disability claims and how they would be able to administer the appropriate actions. He said the Pension Board hired professional firms for advice in this problem. He said the previous Risk Manager, Judy Deutsch, was handling the administration. Mayor Abramowitz asked if Judy Deutsch was a part of the Pension Board or a paid consultant and Ms. Russo said Judy Deutsch was not a paid consultant. Ms. Russo said Judy Deutsch was a Trustee of the Pension Board who was elected by the employees. Mayor Abramowitz asked if Attorney Sugarman consulted with the Risk Manager regarding the provisions while the Ordinance was being rewritten and Attorney Sugarman said the Risk Manager was a Pension Board member; however, he did not think that he consulted with the Risk Manager personally regarding the provisions. Attorney Sugarman said the provisions were not normally included in Pension Ordinances. He said when the Pension applications began to come in, Judy Deutsch was asking the applicants if they were applying with the other Agencies and the applicants did not want to apply because they would not get any greater benefits from the Agencies than they were getting from the City's Pension Plan. Mayor Abramowitz asked how long ago this matter was occurring and Attorney Sugarman said approximately the last 6 months. Mayor Abramowitz said it had to be longer than six months because the first computer printouts he reviewed seemed to indicate the matter occurring for several years. V/M Stelzer said the Pension Disability recipients were recent and Ms. Russo agreed. Page 14 1 1 1 12/02/88 Attorney Sugarman said when these problems began to occur, the Pension Board began to Amend the Ordinance to tighten up the disability provisions in the Plan. He said during this time, negotiations with Marvin Clayton were taking place; therefore, the Amendments were combined for the City Council to approve. C/M Hoffman asked if the. City Council should have been informed of these matters and Attorney Sugarman said the City Council had an interest; however, the,Pension Board was solving the problem and did not need to consult the City Council on the matter. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the Pension Board would have felt the same way if they ran out of money and Attorney Sugarman said he could not foresee this happening. Ms. Russo said the City Council had a Liaison sitting as a member on the Pension Board and there were Minutes of every meeting. C/M Hoffman said he never received a copy of the Minutes of the Pension Board meetings. V/M Stelzer said the Pension Board provided for Long Term Disability to protect the employees; however, there were many disability claims especially in the Police Department. He said the Pension Board became concerned with these disability claims and began to find a solution to avoid the numerous claims by reviewing the offset matter. Mayor Abramowitz asked how much money was spent from the Pension Plan in the past year for Disability benefits and V/M Stelzer said this could not be determined at this time. V/M Stelzer said he had been fighting the fact that the Pension Board should not be in the Insurance business and should not have to pay Disability benefits. He said this was why the Pension Board hired a company to handle the disability claims and administer of the matter. C/M Rohr asked if the Pension Board could force disability applicants past and future to conform to the new provisions in the Ordinance and Attorney Sugarman replied, yes. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the Amendment was given to Marvin Clayton for review and approval and Attorney Sugarman replied, yes. Attorney Sugarman said when the Pension Board tightened the disability provisions, negotiations were taking place with Marvin Clayton; therefore, the matter was not brought to the City Council until a,solution was found. He said he was not going to have the City Council approve an Amendment that Marvin Clayton would be changing in the future. Mayor Abramowitz said the Pension Board should have kept the City Council informed of the matter. C/M Hoffman asked if a Police Officer could do light duty work as a Police Officer and Attorney Sugarman said this matter has come before the Pension Board. Page 15 12/02/88 Attorney Sugarman said the State Law indicated that the injury must permanently and wholly prevent the employee from rendering useful and efficient service to the City as a Police Officer. He said Larry Leiman was a Police Officer who lost his hearing and was assigned to duty as an Administrator Officer; however, when the new Ordinance was passed, Mr. Leiman applied for disability because he could not be a full-time road Police Officer. He said the Police Chief was contacted regarding light duty work for Mr. Leiman and the Police Chief indicated that there was no light duty work available. He said the Pension Board had to grant a disability Pension to Mr. Leiman because he was permanently disabled from his continuous and regular duty. C/M Hoffman asked if the disability applicants could be brought back to fill the positions of dispatcher and Mr. Perretti said this could not be done because there were two different Unions involved. C/M Hoffman asked if an able -body Police Officer could be assigned to work as a dispatcher and Attorney Sugarman replied, yes. Mr. Perretti said this could be done if the Police Officer was certified. Mr. Perretti said dispatchers had to be certified and pass a dispatching and teletyping test; however, there would be problems With the bargaining unit because the Police Officer was a dues paying member. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the existing disability recipients could be legally forced to apply to the other Agencies and Attorney Sugarman replied, yes. Attorney Sugarman said this provision would not cost the recipients anything except time. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the Pension Board could deny disability benefits if the other Agencies denied benefits because they did not find that the applicant was Permanently disabled. V/M Stelzer said there was a permanent disability and a disability in being a Police Officer. He said if the recipient could not perform the duties of a Police Officer, the recipient was entitled to the benefits provided in the City's Pension Plan. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the benefit could be reduced to 42% if the other Agencies refused benefits and V/M Stelzer said the only way the benefit could be reduced from 75% to 42% is if the applicant refused to apply for the benefits of the other Agencies. Mayor Abramowitz asked who made this law and Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Board made this rule. Mayor Abramowitz asked where it stated that if an applicant applied with the other Agencies and was denied that the City's Pension Plan could not reduce the benefit from 75% to 42%. Attorney Sugarman said the State Law defined disability; however, there were several definitions of disability. He said the easiest definition was the State Law's which was "unable to render useful and efficient service as a Police Officer in his regular duties". He said Social Security's definition is "unable to engage in any gainful employment". Page 16 /s 1 14 12/02/88 TAPE 3 City Attorney Doody said other than road patrol there must be other duties that could be performed by a Police Officer. Attorney Sugarman said Larry Leiman was in that type of position; however, the Police Chief came to the Board and said he would be reassigning Mr. Leiman to road patrol rather than as Administrative officer. Mayor Abramowitz said the Police Chief was not the City Manager or the City Council. He asked if the Pension Board brought the matter to a higher authority other than the Police Chief. Ms. Russo said the City Council and City Manager had representatives sitting on the Pension Board as Board members. Attorney Sugarman said with all due respect, it was not the Pension Board's responsibility to inform the City how to do it's job or to assign applicants to positions in the City. Attorney Sugarman said when the Department Heads indicate that there was not a job available for the applicants, the Pension Board had no other alternative but to grant the Disability Pension. Mayor Abramowitz said the Pension Board was aware of this problem and, after the fact, the Pension Board was asking the City for assistance. He said either the Pension Board was autonomous or not. Ms. Russo said the Pension Board was not asking the City Council for assistance. She said the Pension Board hired professional consultants to do a Report on the matter and review the disability claims. C/M Hoffman said the Pension Board should have come to the City for assistance and Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Board solved the problem. Mayor Abramowitz said Larry Leiman was receiving $2,000.00 monthly because a Department Head decided that Mr. Leiman could not be used. He said if he was a Pension Board member, he would have asked the Department Head's boss, who is the City Manager, to review the decision. He said when there were problems with money the Pension Board should bring the problem to the attention of someone that may be able to assist them. City Attorney Doody said the Pension Board determined if an applicant was entitled to benefits. He asked if the Pension Board determined the amount of the benefit and Ms. Russo said the Actuaries made this determination. City Attorney Doody asked if the Pension Board decided that the applicant was entitled to the Actuaries Report and Attorney Sugarman said once the Pension Board made the determination that the applicant was disabled and it was service -connected, the remaining procedures were handled ministerially. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the amount determined by the Actuaries was paid with the Pension Board investigating further and Attorney Sugarman said the Finance Department paid the amount. Page 17 12/02/88 Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Board was surprised when they found out that the Risk Manager was informing the applicants to apply for benefits with the different Agencies but not telling the Finance Department to offset or check the costs. Mayor Abramowitz had concerns about granting disability benefits to applicants that were denied benefits from other Agencies. Attorney Sugarman said the applicant would receive the full benefit from the City's Pension Plan providing the applicant complied with the Plan's provision regarding applying with the other Agencies regardless of whether they denied benefits. Mayor Abramowitz asked who would adjudicate that the applicant applied with the other Agencies and Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Board hired a professional to do this. Attorney Sugarman said the standard disability benefit for Police Officers and Firefighters was based on the employees' ability to render useful or efficient service to the City as a Police Officer or Firefighter. Mayor Abramowitz asked whose terminology this was and Attorney Sugarman said the terminology was provided by State Law. Attorney Sugarman said this Law was the easiest for the employees. He said the Social Security Law was for anyone disabled and unable to engage in gainful employment. He said the Workers' Compensation Law was for an employee unable to earn what was previously earned. Mr. Perretti said there was nothing stopping the City or the Pension Plan from having 175/185 monies in the Pension Plan; however, if the 175/185 monies were eliminated, the State's Fund would be eliminated. He said if everyone wanted to eliminate the money, the City Council could recommend the Pension Board do this and the disability provision could be drafted as the City pleased. He said he represented the City Manager and V/M Stelzer represented the Mayor on the Pension Board. Mr. Perretti said he, V/M Stelzer, Judy Deutsch and the Finance Director were always against keeping disability in the Pension Plan because they felt that disability should not be involved with the Pension Plan and interfere with the Pension Plan by offsetting Pensions. He said the 175/185 monies were always wanted by the Union representatives who were sitting on the Board because of the confinements. C/M Hoffman said it would not take many more people going on disability to equal the monies being received from the State and Mayor Abramowitz agreed. C/M Hoffman said Police Officers could do several things such as clerical and administrative work. He said a Police Officer who hurt his back could do something in the office as opposed to going on Disability Pension. Mr. Perretti said this was true; however, the City did not have these types of classifications in the Budget. Page 18 1 12/02/88 Attorney Sugarman said a Disability Pension could not be denied based on the way the State Statue was presently written. He said George Strittmatter injured his back on the job and the Fire Chief appeared before the Pension Board stating that he did not have a position for Mr. Strittmatter; therefore, the Pension Board had to determine if Mr. Strittmatter met the qualifications for the Ordinance and the answer was yes. He said if the Pension Board decided that the Pension Benefit should not be granted and Mr. Strittmatter took the matter to the Courts with the Fire Chief indicating that there was not a position available for Mr. Strittmatter labelling Mr. Strittmatter as unable to render his continuous and regular duty as a Firefighter, the Pension Board would lose the case. City Attorney Doody said he did not doubt Attorney Sugarman's arguments; however, the Fire Chief has come to him regarding the problem with disability. He questioned why the person making the determination that there were no positions available was stressing a problem with disability. He asked if the Department Heads were aware of the ramifications in making this type of decision. Mayor Abramowitz said the Department Heads were making decisions that should be made by their superior and Ms. Russo said the Department Heads did not want a certified Police Officer or Firefighter placed in a light duty position and not be able to utilize them. Mayor Abramowitz said he was concerned with the Department Heads who represent the majority of the disability claims coming to the City Manager, City Attorney and City Council complaining that the problem with disability had to be corrected. Ms. Russo said when the existing disability recipients were reviewed by the consultants and the consultants Report that certain recipients could return to work, there would be problems in providing positions for those recipients. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the problem with getting these people back to work would be with the Department Heads and Ms. Russo replied, yes. Mayor Abramowitz disagreed. Mr. Perretti said he understood that Mayor Abramowitz disagreed; however, he suggested that a Workshop meeting take place as soon as possible with the City Council and staff to find a solution to this problem. He said rather than the Pension Board being messengers, the City Council should hear from the Department Heads first hand. Mayor Abramowitz said he wanted the Finance Department removed from the Pension Board because the only direction the Finance Department should be getting is to draft a check. He said the Finance Department should not be involved in the decisions of the Pension Board. C/M Hoffman said he heard that Disability claims should not be included in the Pension Fund and he asked who should be responsible for handling disability claims and Mr. Perretti said the City had a Long Term Disability Plan. Page 19 12/02/88 C/M Hoffman asked if the City Council agreed that the Pension claims should not be involved in the Pension Fund and how the disability claims should be handled. Attorney Sugarman said the City had to bargain with the Unions to get the benefit out of the Pension Plan and, assuming the Unions agreed, the Pension Plan had to be amended removing any reference to disability. He said after this was done, the cost of disability benefits had to be determined by the Actuaries compared to the 175/185 monies. C/M Hoffman asked if the State would not give the monies to the City if the provision was eliminated from the Pension Plan and Attorney Sugarman replied, yes. Attorney Sugarman said when the provisions were eliminated from the Pension Plan, the Firefighters and Police Officers would set up a separate Fund to receive the State money and purchase benefits from it. He said the main concern was if the Actuarial cost exceed or was less than the State money. C/M Hoffman asked if Attorney Sugarman felt the City Council should have been apprised of this matter being an option and Attorney Sugarman said considering that removing Disability Pensions from Public Employee Pensions was such an unusual step because no one else did it, it was in the realm of possibility for the Pension Board to notify the City Council. C/M Hoffman said he was concerned that two members of the Pension Board stated that the Pension Fund should not be responsible for Disability Pensions and this was the first time he heard about it. Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Plan always had an Ordinance that provided a Disability Benefit and the State required an Ordinance. City Attorney Doody asked if the Police Officers and Firefighters set up their own procedure for the money which would include the same procedures as presently being done by the present Pension Plan. Mr. Perretti said the Police Department wanted to have their own Pension Board and Plan. Attorney Sugarman said eliminating Disability Pensions from the Pension Fund was a radical and not a reasonable thing to do. C/M Hoffman said he was disturbed that the City Council was not informed of this matter until this meeting. C/M Rohr said the main concern was to avoid the problems that occurred in the past from happening in the future. He said if the City was to get into a better position it had to be determined immediately. Mayor Abramowitz asked what the Amendments did for the Pension Plan that it did not do in the past and C/M Rohr said he would like a provision in the Pension Plan stating that reassignment must take place before a disability Pension was granted. Page 20 1 1 1 12/02/88 Attorney Sugarman said if the regular and usual duties of a Police Officer and Firefighter included the other job descriptions this could be implemented in the Pension Plan. He said when the Department Heads inform the Pension Board that there were no jobs available, the Pension Board had to grant the Pension and felt that the Pension Board was a dumping ground for the Fire and Police Departments. Mayor Abramowitz said this was more reason for the Pension Board to seek a higher authority and Attorney Sugarman said the position of the disabled recipient would be granted a disability and the Departments would turn around and hire someone at a lesser pay. City Attorney Doody said he finds it odd that the same people were confronting him and indicating that there were problems. C/M Rohr said something had to be provided in the Pension Ordinance indicating that no one would be granted a permanent disability Pension without the City Manager reporting to the City Council about the matter. He said this would avoid the Department Heads making the decision. V/M Stelzer said he was disturbed that the Fire Chief and Police Chief were appearing before the Pension Board stating that they could not use the disabled employee and then complaining to the City Attorney that something had to be done about the disability matters. City Attorney Doody said this matter should be addressed with the Department Heads present. He said he has been informed that there were problems with the disability Pension. Mayor Abramowitz said the Fire Chief and Police Chief commented about the disability matter during the Budget Workshops. V/M Stelzer said he was not pleased with the conflict with the Department Heads concerning this matter. C/M Hoffman read a letter submitted to the City Manager regarding the recent disability claims (SEE ATTACHMENT). Mayor Abramowitz said he has heard several concerns from employees regarding the Pension Fund running out of money. He said the Police and Fire Chiefs expressed their concerns several times regarding this matter. He said if the City was involved in providing money for the shortfall in the Pension Plan, the City Council and City Manager should be involved with the Pension Plan's process. He said the Department Head should not be making determinations as to whether the employee should go out on a Disability Pension. Mayor Abramowitz asked what Amendments were made that would address these problems. V/M Stelzer said it was very difficult for the Police and Fire Chiefs to keep a disabled employee in the departments when they needed qualified and able employees available. Page 21 12/02/88 Mayor Abramowitz said he had concerns with the Department Heads making this type of determination. C/M Hoffman read from the letter by the Police Chief regarding Officer Timothy Glasglow and Attorney Sugarman asked why the Police Chief was coming before the Pension Board indicating that there were no positions available for these disability recipients and V/M Stelzer agreed. Mr. Perretti said the Pension Board tapes reflected the Police and Fire Chiefs indicating to the Pension Board that there were not position available. He said the problem was that the positions were budgeted and the Police and Fire Departments needed the positions filled by able bodied Police Officers and Firefighters. C/M Bender said the Police Chief was requesting dispatchers and he suggested that something be worked out where the disabled Police Officers be certified for the dispatching positions. Mr. Perretti said the 175/185 State Law provides that if a Police Officer or Firefighter was disabled from doing his regular duty, the Pension Plan had to pay for the employees disability Pension. At 1:10 P.M., Patricia Marcurio WITHDREW from the meeting. City Attorney Doody said there were different positions that could be made available for the disabled Police Officers or Firefighters. He said he could respect the Department Heads wanting to preserve their budgetary positions. C/M Hoffman said this was the first time the City Council was aware that the disability Pension could be eliminated from the Pension Plan. He said he was not sure that the disability Pension should be eliminated from the Pension Plan; however, it should have been investigated. He said he was concerned that this problem has been occurring and the Pension Board has not informed anyone of the problems. V/M Stelzer said the Pension Board has been advocating that they should not perform the functions of an insurance company and this was one of the reasons why Long Term Disability insurance was implemented. He said this problem began about six months ago and the Pension Board has been working diligently to solve the problem by hiring professional consultants to investigate the matter. Attorney Sugarman said if the Fire and Police Chiefs kept coming before the Pension Board indicating that there was no work available for the disabled employees there was not much the Pension Board could do. He said he would like to answer Mayor Abramowitz's question as to what the Pension Board did to correct these problems because there seemed to be a suggestion that nothing was done by the Pension Board when there were several things done. Mayor Abramowitz said he was not meaning that the Pension Board was not resolving the problems. He said he wanted to know what the resolutions were. Page 22 12/02/88 Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Board has taken three major courses of action. He said the Ordinance was amended to make the Disability Pensions as restrictive as possible in accordance with the State Law. He reviewed the Amendments with the City Council. C/M Bender suggested that the procedures required by the Pension Board be spelled out in the Ordinance. Mayor Abramowitz asked if the Ordinance after the approval if the Ordinance was adopted 175/185 monies would be sent Doody suggested that further January 1, 1989. City could revise the and City Attorney Doody said before January 1, 1989, the to the City. City Attorney Amendments be made after Attorney Sugarman said most of the recommendations in the Report from Martin E. Siegal Company were complied with except for hiring an outside administrator. Attorney Sugarman said when the Pension Board received the Report, they were surprised to see that the offsets were not being computed by the Finance Department and Risk Manager. He said this matter would be corrected for the future. Mayor Abramowitz had concerns with the consultants recommending certain things that were illegal and Attorney Sugarman said the consultants indicated that the Report should be reviewed by the Pension Board's legal counsel because they were not lawyers. Attorney Sugarman said there were problems because the Long Term Disability Insurance Company indicated that the Long Term Disability was offset by whatever the disability Pension was; however, the Pension Plan indicated that the Pension Benefit was offset by any Long Term Disability benefit paid. He said the City's Policy and the Pension Board were claiming to be second; however, the matter was settled by offering the Pension pl.�,►► a good deal for being the' offset. He said the reason the matter was not pursued was because the contract was about to expire. Mr. i>erretti said the Long Term Disability Contract with Norvh American Life would be expiring March 1, 1989. Attorney Sugarman said the Pension Board received a Report on October 71 1988 and it was reviewed during the Pension Board's October, 1988 meeting. He said the Pension Board complied with the recommendations submitted by Martin E. Siegal Company by the Pension Board's November, 1988 meeting. He said the Pension Board hired an outside Administrator to review the Disability Pensions, past and current. He said this company would deal with the disability claims and, when everything was accomplished such as applications, doctor reports, etc., the applications would be brought before the Pension Board with their recommendations. He said the company would review each disability claim every year. C/M Hoffman asked if there could be an Agreement with the Cleveland Clinic in examining and reviewing the disability claims. Page 23 12/02/88 Attorney Sugarman said Judy Deutsch was in the midst of investigating the Cleveland Clinic and the Sunrise Rehabilitation Center's programs. C/M Bender said the City Council should act on the first reading and, before the second reading, the Ordinance should be reviewed and possibly amended. City Attorney Doody said the matter should be approved on second reading so the City could receive the 175/185 monies and, after January 1, 1989, the Ordinance could be reviewed and amended as needed. Attorney Sugarman said when the Ordinance was passed on the first reading Marvin Clayton would order the checks and, as soon as the Ordinance is passed on the second reading, the checks would be issued to the City. City Attorney Doody said he would like to have the second reading as soon as possible. He said he would discuss the matter with the City Clerk's Office to see the next available date for advertising in compliance with the City Charter. VOTE: ALL VOTED AYE V/M Stelzer suggested that a Workshop be held regarding the matter with the disability concerns of the Police and Fire Chiefs. C/M Rohr said this matter should be reviewed to see how the problem with the positions and disability claims could be avoided in the future. With no further business, Mayor Abramowitz ADJOURNED this meeting at 1:35 P.M. RMAN ABRAM WIT YOR ) CAROL A. AN , CITY CLERK "This public document was promulgated at a cost of $227.00 or $6.31 copy to inform the general public, public officers and employees of recent opinions and considerations of the City Council of the City Tamarac." Page 24 per of u �'f OF TAMARAC APPROVED AT MEETING OF /Z - -P 8 88 City Clerk 1 1 MEMO To: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: REFERENCE: CITY OF TAMARAC CITY MANAGER INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM Councilman Bruce Hoffman John P. Kelly, City Mana October 20, 1988 READING FILE/UNABLE SQUAD/YOUR MEMO DATED„10/19/88 The concerns expressed by the Police Chief are echoed by the Fire Chief and Public Works Director. The Pension Board is also greatly worried by the tremendous financial impact it faces with this continuing saga. A report to the Pension Board (copy attached) is expected to be discussed at the next meeting on 10/27/88 at 8:30 A.M. Independent but subsequent to that meeting, a workshop will be scheduled at which staff recommendations will be deliberated. Mayor Abramowitz had already been alerted to the need for such a workshop. JPK:mr cc: Mayor and Council ALL DEPARTMENT HEADS PENSION BOARD Co CM .. C'> eltq 4t INTER -OFFICE MEMORANDUM P.D. #88-9-21 MEMO TO: John Kelly, C lty Manager. FROM: Joseph McIntosh, Chief of Police DATE: September 21, 1988 SUBJECT: THE "UNABLE" SQUAD REFERENCE: Disability Pension SEP 22 waq CITY MANAGER CITY OF TAMARAC By now you must believe that I am a broken record as I have been repeating over and over about the disability pension needing to be changed. During the past year, five (5) officers have gone out on 75% disability which means that they now have more take-home pay than when they were working and it will continue for the rest of their life. Thies is very attractive and tempting to other officers who would like to be receiving that kind of money for doing nothing. At the present time, there are five (5) more officers lined up and ready to go for the disability pension. Those five are: 1. Officer George Bruder - who has some kind of a shoulder problem which is from an old injury which occurred several years ago. He has now been on Workers Comp. since August 30th. 2. Officer Joseph Neary ' is another one who claims problems from an old injury and he has been out since September 1st. 3. Sergeant Robert Helton - recently had shoulder surgery from an old injury and has been out since August 18th. 4. Officer David Harting - has not worked since February 2, 1988 and it is not clear what is wrong with him. The last thing I heard from our Risk Manager was that he was to report back to light duty which had been approved by his Doctor. That was on August 19th and he hasn't reported to the Police Department. I have brought this matter to the attention of Larry Perretti. 5. Officer Timothy Glasgow - has been working light duty for the past year. We recently learned that he will never be able to perform as a Police Officer. He also had shoulder surgery and cannot raise his right arm. At least he is here every day and doing something. POLICY OF NONDISCRIMINATION ON THE BASIS OF HANDICAPPED STATUS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER 1 1 i/ John Kelly, The "Unable" Squad page two Something has to be done and changes made in the pension plan to put a stop to this farcical situation. Councilman Hoffman hit it right on the head when he said, there will be nobody left to do the job. P JM/cb 1 7�-� of Police