HomeMy WebLinkAbout2017-10-19 Commissioners of Trust Funds MinutesOFR
Town of Reading
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Board -Committee - Commission - Council:
Commissioners of Trust Funds
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Date: 2017-10-.19 Time: 7:00 PM
Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Lower. Level Conference Room
Address: 16 Lowell Street
Purpose: General Business
Attendees: Members - Present:
Elizabeth Klepeis, John Daly, Barry Berman, (Veil Cohen and Endri Kume
Members - Not Present:
Others Present:
Richard Holmes and Kevin Breire
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Endri Kume
Topics of Discussion:
Mr. Cohen called the meeting to order at 7:00.
On a motion by Mr. Cohen, seconded by Mr. Berman the Minutes of the 8/3/17 meeting were by a vote of 5-
0=0.
Mr. Daly provided a brief portfolio update. There were two bonds that were called. One bond was replaced and Mr.
Daly was going to follow up with Greg Lee, the Wells Fargo agent, to see if he had found a replacement for the second
bond. Mr. Daly mentioned that the equity market is on its high. The portfolio is expected to receive $269K in
investment income and no changes are needed at this time.
Ms. Klepeis opened the cash flow discussion. Mr. Kume mentioned a few assumptions that the cash flow was -based
on. The cash flow forecast did not include any investment gains or losses and the donation and bequest section was
heavily based on prior year data. Mr. Kume provided two reports from the Wells Fargo online portal which provided
live data from the portfolio. One of the reports showed the expected. income and the other one current allocation. Mr.
Cohn asked if he could see the Trust Balance Report for the prior year for comparison. Mr. Kume mentioned that the
report was available and will bring a copy for the next meeting.
Ms. Klepeis provided her liaison report for the Reading Response Program. Ms. Klepeis informed the members that
she had a meeting scheduled to revisit the Mass Tran contract for a potential change in rates and possible cut backs in
usage. Mr. Berman mentioned that if people were using it may be we need to spend more money for the program. Ms.
Klepeis responded that there were a lot of challenges and the vendor was not -doing a good job. The schedule that they
provide service had limited hours. Ms. Klepeis mentioned that the vendor provided services only between 9AM and
.2PM. This made it tough for some residents that need service outside of this time frame. Ms. Klepeis indicated that if
we try to grow the program, we might get better rates and services. Mr. Cohen asked when the meeting was scheduled
and Ms. Klepeis informed the members it was scheduled for November 3rd in Danvers, MA. Mr. Cohen summarized
that Ms. Klepeis will fill in everybody .once she has collected all the info. If necessary Mr. Cohen mentioned that the
board might invite the vendor for a meeting. Mr. Berman asked why we don't have a second vendor. Ms. Klepeis said
that they had looked into it but we did not provide enough business so that made it difficult to attract vendors. Mr.
Berman asked for how long the contract was in place for and Ms. Klepeis said that the contract was open ended.
Ms. Klepeis had asked Mr. Kume to check the policy and see where the cap on the medical transportation program
came from. She was curious as to where the $40k budget for Reading Response came from. Mr. Kume reported back
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that the budget was set and voted on April 25t`, 2012 by the commissioners. Mr. Kume also mentioned that the current
expenses for Reading Response Program in the first 3 months of the year were higher than the previous years. If they
continue at this.rate we might need to revisit the budget for the reading response program. The members agreed to, ;
revisit this subject in the next meeting.
Mr. Cohen reviewed the SPDRS positions and suggested to sell some of the positions to realize some capital gains.
Mr. Breire asked, why and Mr. Cohen explained that these gains do not count as income and were nontaxable. He
explained that it was more of an accounting move. Mr. Cohen suggested we sell SPDRS lots with 445 and 355 and
opened up the discussion for the reinvestment timeframe of the proceeds. After a small discussion between Mr. Daly
and Mr. Berman it was agreed to reinvest for a 6 months period. Mr. Holmes asked Mr. Cohen for an explanation of
why we sell and buy back SPDRS. Mr. Daly explained the logic of a long term investment strategy and the benefits of
realizing capital gains as income and not cash. He also explained that cash earned no income, selling and reinvesting
over a period of time increased the income in the long run. Mr. Berman asked if we get charged commission on the
trades and Mr. Daly confirmed that we do get charged but at a preferred rate.
On a motion by Mr. Cohen seconded by Mr. Berman, it was decided to sell two lots of SPDRS at market
mand reinvest
within a period of 6 months starting in November. The lots are 1/22/10 - 445 shares and 4/26/12 - 355 shares The
motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0.
Ms. Klepeis explained that the Elderly and Human Service had picked up a lot of work and had helped a lot with the
Reading Response Program. She distributed to the Commissioners a memo from Jane Burns outlining the specifics and
the details related to what the Elderly and Humans Services department had provided. Ms. Klepeis informed the
members that we pay a stipend of $3K a year however considering the amount of work Elderly and Human Service do,
she proposed an increase the stipend for Elderly and Human Services from $3K to $6K in order to cover some of the
overhead.
On a motion by Ms. Klepeis, second by Mr. Daly, the Commissioners voted to increase'the stipend for Elderly and
Human Services from $3K to $6K. The motion was ap rop ved by a vote of 5-0-0
Mr. Daly and Ms. Klepeis mentioned that Hallmark Health had some high turnover in staff. This had impacted
communication and marketing for the program. Ms. Klepeis had to contact them and address the concerns. Ms.
Klepeis spoke with the head of nursing services and she assured her that there will be funds allocated for the marketing
of the program and now that they had new staff communication will also improve.
W. Berman mentioned that he had attended RCASA annual meeting. Mr. Berman informed that the $2K expenditure
to RCASA for the Reading Interface Referral Service though William James College to coordinate cases and connect
people in need with providers, was successful. There had been 60 placements in a 6 months period.
Mr. Berman asked if all the position for the associate members were filled for the Trust Fund Commissioners. Mr.
Berman explained that the Board of Selectmen was doing a full review of all member positions across all Town boards
and committees. W. Berman explained that the new strategy will speed up the replacement of any board or committee
members. It will allow for a wider selection of candidates hopefully increase the number of resumes for candidates
interested in any open position. Ms. Klepeis confirmed that all available member positions were filled.
On a motion by Ms. Klepeis, seconded by Mr. Daly, it was voted that Mr. Cohen,would be the Chairman of the
Commissioners. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0.
On a motion by Ms. Klepeis, seconded by Mr. Cohen, it was voted that Mr. Daly would be the Vice -Chairman of the
Commissioners. The motion was approved by a vote of 5-0-0.
The next meeting date will be Dec 7t', 2017 at 7:00 pm.
On a motion by Mr. Cohen seconded by Mr. Daly, the Commissioners voted to adjourn its meeting at 8.15 p.m. by a
vote of 5-0.
Respectfully submitted,
Secretary
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