HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-10-03 Commissioners of Trust Funds Minutes Town of Reading
Meeting Minutes
Board - Committee - Commission - Council: f
Commissioners of Trust Funds 1Q1i ftui; 27 /11110 52
Date: 2019-10-03 Time: 7:00 PM
Building: Reading Town Hall Location: Lower Level Conference Room
Address: 16 Lowell Street Session: Open Session
Purpose: General Business Version: Final
Attendees: Members - Present:
Neil Cohen, John Daly, Elizabeth Klepeis, and Endri Kume
Members - Not Present:
John R Halsey
Others Present:
Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Endri Kume
Topics of Discussion:
Mr. Cohen called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM.
Open Session for topics not reasonably anticipated 48 hours in advance of the
meeting
None
Meeting Notes
Two sets of minutes were approved as follows:
On a motion by Ms. Klepeis. seconded by Mr. Daly the Minutes of the 6/27/19 meeting were
approved by a vote of 4-0-0.
On a motion by Ms. KleDeis, seconded by Mr. Daly the Minutes of the 9/19/19 meeting were
approved, as amended, by a vote of 3-0-1. Mr. Cohen abstained as he was not present at
the meeting.
Review Cash Flow portfolio,discuss investment changes and Trust Balances
Reports
Mr. Daly informed the Commissioners that there were mixed feelings among investors about
recession. The yield on the 30-year Treasury bond, which shows sensitivity to changes in
inflation expectations, dropped to below 20% for the first time on record. Consumer spending
was still active so at this point it is difficult to predict anything. He mentioned that volatility
in the market is a certainty for the upcoming quarter. Mr. Daly also informed the
Commissioners that the Fed most likely will do two rate cuts in 2020. Ms. Klepeis asked if it
was a good time to talk and discuss selling some of the SPDRs and i5hares Russell shares,
to make sure we have enough liquidity. Mr. Cohen mention besides that it might be a good
idea to sell the Intel stock that we have been holding since we no longer want to own
individual stocks. After the discussion the following motions were made:
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On a motion by Ms. Klepeis, second by Mr. Daly, 1300 (1000 shares purchased on 6/17/99
and 300 purchased on 4/24/01) shares of Intel stock was authorized to be sold by a vote of
4-0.
On a motion by Ms Kleoeis, second by Mr. Daly 600 shares of iShares Russell 2000 IWM
purchased on 3/13/12 was authorized to be sold by a vote of 4-0
On a motion by Ms. Klepeis, second by Mr. Daly 150 shares of SPDR S7P 500 ETF SPY
purchased on 5/3/13 was authorized to be sold by a vote of 4-0
Mr. Cohen requested a discussion on the repurchase strategy. Mr. Daly suggested splitting
the repurchase the same as we did before 65% in Russell and 350/0 in S&P SPDRs over 3
months. After the discussion the following motion was made:
On a motion by Ms. Klepeis, second by Mr. Daly the proceeds from the sale of the IWM.
SPDRs and Intel will be reinvested at a 35% SPDRs 65% Russell split over a period of 3
months by a vote of 4-0
Mr. Daly mentioned that Thermo Fisher Scientific bond was recalled, and he was in contact
with Greg Lee to find a suitable replacement for it. the 10-year govt bond was up at 3.2%,
and the 10 years one was at 1.5%. Mr. Kume mentioned that the CDARS with Northern
Bank and Trust were at 2.1-2.4% range. He would reach out to them and ask if we could do
a 1-year CDARS, but he wasn't sure if the Bank would agree to that.
Reading Response Program
Ms. Klepeis gave a brief overview of the sub-committee meeting regarding the Medicare
rate increases and the issues that Elderly Services was having regarding the program
guidelines. She made the following motions:
On a motion by Ms. Klepeis seconded by Mr. Daly, it was voted and approved to increase
the daily rate for Adult Day Health Care to 480 by a vote of 4-0.
Ms. Klepeis gave an overview of the no show issue as described in the meeting notes of
9/19/19 and made the following motion:
On a motion by Ms. Klepeis seconded by Mr. Daly, it was voted and approved that if a client
misses more than 5 rides in a 6-month period, the client will pet excluded from the program
for the rest of the year, by a vote of 4-0.
Ms. Klepeis informed the Commissioners about a few issues that the Elderly and Human
Services were having with some clients due to lack of guidelines. She explained that the
issue at hand is that elderly clients don't have much family support, and they are just
confused with the services that they are getting. Some of them get the Ride; some get
MassTran, and they just get confused. They call the Elderly Services and ask where their
ride is when their ride is with a different provider, and they get angry and frustrated as they
ask for service, which the staff cannot accommodate on the same day. This causes
confusion, and there have been cases when two services show up. MassTran shows up, and
they have already left with the other provider, so we end up getting charged.
Another client called MassTran directly and wanted a specific driver to take her to the
hospital, and she had stated that the plastic ladder used by the company had given her
knee pain. After presenting these facts Ms. Klepeis made the following motion:
On a motion by Ms Klepeis second by Mr. Daly, the following reinforcement guidelines were
voted and approved, 1. If the client doesn't follow program guidelines, they will no longer
be eligible for the service 2 If the client refuses to cooperate with Elderly Service and
starts causing confusion they will no longer qualify for service. 3. If the clients bypass the
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Elderly Services Department and reauest service directly from the vendor they will no longer
be eligible for the program. and they will be liable for the cost associated with the service by
4-0 vote.
Next Meeting
The next meeting was scheduled for November 21", 2019 at 7 PM.
On a motion by Ms Klepeis seconded by Mr. Daly, the Commissioners voted to adiourn its
meeting at 6.16 p.m. by a vote of 4-0
Respectfully submitted, Secretary
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