There is hereby established an Insurance and Pension Plan Commission
for the Town of Bethel, which Commission shall have the powers and duties
hereinafter set forth in this chapter.
The Commission shall be comprised of five members, with two ex officio
members being the First Selectman of the Town and a member of the Board of
Education. The five full members shall be electors of the Town of Bethel.
When possible, two members of the Commission shall be knowledgeable in the
general field of insurance and/or pension plans. Said electors shall be appointed
by the Board of Selectmen within 45 days of the effective date of this chapter.
The members of the Commission shall serve for terms of four years. The ex
officio member from the Board of Education, however, shall serve only for
the length of that member's term on the Board of Education, with the maximum
being four years, and said member shall be appointed by the Board of Education
within 45 days of the effective date of this chapter. The initial term of
the electors shall be as follows: two shall expire on the first Monday of
December 1984 and three shall expire on the first Monday of December 1985.
Thereafter, each member appointed shall be for a term of four years. Not more
than three of the elector members of said Commission shall be of the same
political party. Ex officio members shall serve only in the advisory capacity
and shall not be entitled to vote on issues before the Commission.
The duties of the Commission shall consist of studying and monitoring
current insurance coverage and loss experience, studying future insurance
needs, making recommendations to the Board of Selectmen as to the amounts
and specifications as to future coverage and/or changes in existing coverage
and to report such to the Board of Selectmen at least four months prior to
the beginning of each fiscal year or prior to a policy expiration date. The
Commission shall also, at the request of the First Selectman, review and comment
on any bid received by the Board of Selectmen for the supply of such insurance
needs. In addition, the Commission shall study and monitor the current pension
plan of the Town of Bethel and shall study the future needs of such plan and
shall make recommendations to the Board of Selectmen as to the amounts and
specifications as to changes in the present or future plan. In addition, the
Commission may recommend when bidding shall be done by sealed bid or when
the waiving of same, in its opinion, is preferable.
The Commission shall conduct an organizational meeting within a reasonable
time after its appointment to elect from its membership a Chairman and such
other officers as it deems necessary and shall conduct such other meetings
as are necessary at the call of the Chairman. The Commission shall keep an
accurate record of the minutes of each meeting and shall have the responsibility
for keeping the minutes of said meetings and for preparing and maintaining
a compilation of all policies held by the Town of Bethel, the names of the
agent of record and the insurance coverages secured thereby and the amounts
of the premiums due thereon, which compilation and minutes shall be a part
of the record of said Commission and shall be available for public inspection
at reasonable times.
The purchasing authority of the Town, when making a purchase of any
insurance policy recommended by the Commission, shall be conducted in accordance
with the Charter and ordinances of the Town of Bethel. No bid, however, shall
be accepted by the purchasing authority if the bidding party is either a member
of the Commission or if a member of the Commission is a shareholder holding
greater than a ten-percent interest in or a partner or a salaried employee
of said bidding party.
The Board of Selectmen of the Town of Bethel, in accordance with the
Town Charter, shall fill all vacancies in the membership of said Commission,
except that the Board of Education shall fill any vacancies occurring in the
membership of the ex officio member from the Board of Education. In addition,
the Board of Selectmen may remove any member for cause.