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2005-09-12 - Firefighter Pension Board - Agenda Packet Board or Commission: ❑ Fire Pension Board Document Type: 0 Agenda ❑ Minutes Meeting Date: 09/12/2005 Type of Meeting: ❑ Regular Meeting BUFFALO GROVE FIRE DEPARTMENT FIREFIGHTER'S PENSION FUND REGULAR MEETING NOTICE Date: September 12, 2005 Fire Administrative Headquarters 1051 Highland Grove Drive Buffalo Grove, II 60089 6:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Appoval of minutes of April 18, 2005 4. Financial reports a.) Mesirow Report b.) Recommendations on investments c.) Expenses paid on Calibraro and Newkirk Hearing. 5. New Business a) acceptance of James Vena into fund. 4. Adjournment the Vz/*ffo of 15uA&o 61 vrq, izz aomplazzico r-z(,6 (he Amo"c Vz(Iz 04g hvlz(zow Ac(, mgvo (s, ('W porgoAg rwz'(l dzg�hzb(zow who royttzro co-,(z,i Iccommod.*(zo27,s, (o allow(lam (o oagorvo 2Dd1or pa,-(z'C,'Z zz� $Iz�g mee(z,kzff or 6�vio gvow$zozz g Cott((he icv'qAY.ZhzIz�y of 4l e mee(zkzff or fhczlz�z' g cozz(.*c((he 404 Coordz�(or i( 4,�V-Z518(o allow(he VzM�/c q (o ma&o ro Uozo710 Icvor n od.*(zozl g for (l o o porgow s,. � � BUFFALO GROVE FIRE DEPARTMENT FIREFIGHTER'S PENSION FUND REGULAR MEETING NOTICE Date: September 12, 2005 Fire Administrative Headquarters 1051 Highland Grove Drive Buffalo Grove, I160089 6:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Appoval of minutes of April 18, 2005 4. Financial reports a.) Mesirow Report b.) Recommendations on investments c.) Expenses paid on Calibraro and Newkirk Hearing. 5. New Business a) acceptance of James Vena into fund. b.) accept Interim order for FF/PM J. Newkirk 4. Adj ournment The Village of Buffalo Grove, in compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act, requests that persons with disabilities who require certain accommodations to allow them to observe and/or participate in this meeting or have questions about the accessibility of the meeting or facilities contact the ADA Coordinator at 459-2518 to allow the Village to make reasonable accommodations for those persons . ,„ `� THE LAW FIRM OF �"'� OTTOSEN TREVARTHEN BRITZ • KELLY Sz. COOPER, LTD. 300 South County Farm Road•Third Floor•Wheaton, Illinois 60187 Telephone 630.682.0085•Facsimile 630.682.0788•E-mail ccliffordC�otbkc.com Carolyn Welch Clifford Direct Line 630.510.2290 Of Counsel Attorney at Law Anthony M. Peccarelli William R. Penn July 18, 2005 Tony Shurba, President Buffalo Grove Firefighters' Pension Fund 1051 Highland Grove Drive Buffalo Grove, IL 60089-7026 RE: Newkirk Case—Transcript and Interim Order Dear Tony: Enclosed please find a copy of the transcript from June 23, 2005, of the Newkirk hearing. Please distribute a copy of the transcript to the Board members so that they may read it in preparation for the next hearing date. Also enclosed is a draft Interim Order for your review. Please also distribute this to each Board member and let me know if anyone has any revisions. Please plan on having this reviewed and adopted at the Board's next meeting. I believe you were going to find dates that the Board is available for the next hearing date in Newkirk so that Mike Duggan could arrange for the physicians' testimony. Let me know where we are at with finding dates. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or Karl Ottosen. Sincerely, OTTOSEN TREVARTHEN BRITZ KELLY&COOPER, LTD. �� , �� Caroly elch Clifford /,l' G Enclosures cc: Bill Raysa, Attorney for the Village of Buffalo Grove (w/ enclosures) Data/Pen/BuffaloGrove/CalibrarolAppeal/Correspondence/Shurbaltr2.071505 Elburn Joliet Woodstock 630.365.6441 � 815.723.0601 0 815.338.8011 � u �� RAFT BEFORE THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE BUFFALO GROVE FIREFIGHTERS'PENSION FUND IN THE MATTER OF ) Hearing June 23, 2005 FF/PM JEFFREY E.NEWKIRK ) DISABILITY PENSION ) INTERIM ORDER On March 24, 2004, Firefighter/Paramedic Jeffrey E. Newkirk of the Vi(lage of Buffalo Grove Fire Department, Cook and Lake Counties, Illinois(hereinafter, the"Petitioner") submitted a written request to the Buffalo Grove Fireflghters' Pension Fund for line-of-duty disability pension pursuant to Section 4-110 of the Illinois Pension Code(40 ILCS 5/4-110). This request is attached as Board Exhibit No.8. The Board of Trustees of the Buffalo Grove Firefighters' Pension Fund (hereinafter, the "Board") held a hearing on the Petitioner's request on June 23, 2005. Copies of all documentation submitted as evidence at this hearing are attached as Board Exhibit Nos. 1 throuqh 17 and Applicant's Exhibit Nos. 1 throuqh 3. The Petitioner was given proper notice of the hearing, attended the hearing, and was represented at hearing by his attorney, Rick Reimer(see Board Exhibit No. 2 and Reports of Proceedinqs from June 23, 2005 (hereinafter, "Report")). Present at the hearing were Board members Elliott Hartstein, Janet Sirabian, William Raysa, Chief Timothy Sashko, Thomas Gough, Mark Anderson, Tony Shurba, and Joseph Tenerelli. Absent was Board member Mark Mussario. Also present at hearing were attorneys for the Board, Carolyn Welch Clifford and Karl R. Ottosen. The Village of Buffalo Grove sought and was granted permission to intervene in this matter, over the Petitioner's objection, on February 7, 2005. (See Petition to Intervene(1/31/05);Villaqe of Buffalo Grove's Memorandum of Law in Support of its Petition to Intervene 11131/05); ApplicanYs Memorandum in Opposition to Petition to Intervene; Minutes of Board of Trustees Meeting of . , . . � � , February 7,2005). The Village was represented at hearing by attorney, Michael J. Duggan. The Board granted the Village's request for subpoenas for the testimony of the three Board- appointed physicians. (See Report(6/23/05), pp. 127-130) The Petitioner made an oral motion to amend his disability application to include a request for a non-duty disability pension under Section 4-111 of the Illinois Pension Code. (40 ILCS 5/4-111)(See Report(6/23/05), p. 15) The Board heard testimony from two(2)witnesses during the hearing. Before giving testimony, the witnesses were sworn or otherwise affirmed the truth, testified under oath, and were subject to cross- examination. At the end of the Petitioner's presentation, the Village stated that it would not contest the issue of whether the Petitioner was disabled. (See Report (6/23/OS), p. 115) Because of the anticipated delay in obtaining the testimony of the three Board-appointed physicians at hearing, the Petitioner requested that the Board enter an interim order, granting a non-duty disability pension immediately until such time as the hearing on the line-of-duty disability pension request can be completed. As a result of this hearing, the Board makes the following interim determination: 1. The Petitioner became a member of the Village of Buffalo Grove Fire Department on July 1, 1991, and a member of the Buffalo Grove Firefighters' Pension Fund on August 5, 1991. (See Board Exhibit Nos. 3 and 4; Report(6/23/OS), p.40) 2. The Board has jurisdiction of the Petitioner's application pursuant to Section 4-125 of the Illinois Pension Code(40 ILCS 5/4-125). 3. The Board shall not pay a disability pension to the Petitioner until disability has been established by the Board by examination of the Petitioner by three (3) physicians selected by the Board and such other evidence as the Board deems necessary pursuant to Section 4-112 of the Illinois Pension Code (40 ILCS 5/4-112). 4. The Petitioner has the burden of proving that he is disabled in order to qualify for any disability pension under Sections 4-110, 4-110.1 or 4-111 of the Illinois Pension Code (40 ILCS 5/4-110, 4-110.1, and 4-111). 5. The Petitioner has proven by a preponderance of the evidence that he is disabled and unable to perform his duties as firefighter/paramedic for the Village of Buffalo Grove Fire Department. 2 . , . . . � � . 6. The Petitioner is entitled to a non-duty disability pension under Section 4-111 of the Illinois Pension Code(40 ILCS 5/4-111). (See Report(6/23/05), pp. 123-127) By reason of the above determinations, and after careful consideration of the medical evidence and other written and oral evidence, as well as the credibility of all witnesses who testified before the Board, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED IN THE INTERIM by the Board of Trustees of the Buffalo Grove Firefighters' Pension Fund that the Petitioner, Firefighter/Paramedic Jeffrey E. Newkirk, is hereby GRANTED a non-duty disabifity pension pursuant to Section 4-111 of the Illinois Pension Code (40 ILCS 5/4-111). A determination on whether FF/PM Newkirk is entitled to a line-of-duty disability pension is hereby deferred until completion of the hearing. THIS INTERIM DETERMINATION DOES NOT CONSTITUTE A FINAL AND APPEALABLE ORDER. ADOPTED this 23rd day of June, 2005, by the following roll call vote: AYES: Anderson Gouqh, Shurba, Sashko, Tenerelli, Sirabian, Raysa, and Hartstein NAYS: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: Mussario President, Board of Trustees Buffalo Grove Firefighters' Pension Fund ATTEST: Secretary, Board of Trustees Buffalo Grove Firefighters' Pension Fund Data/Pen/Buffalo Grove/NEWKIRK/interimorder.062305 3