Pursuant to Article
VI, §
C-612 of the Charter of the Town of Newington, the Town Council hereby establishes an Employee Insurance and Pension Benefits Committee consisting of nine members and two alternate members.
The Employee Insurance and Pension Benefits
Committee (sometimes hereinafter called “EIPBC”) shall
consist of five members specializing in health, life or disability
claims, or employee benefit underwriters, employee benefit consultants,
agents, brokers, marketing representatives or pension plan administrators,
two Councilors who shall not be members of the same political party,
and two members of the Board of Education who shall not be members
of the same political party. There shall be two alternate members
of the Employee Insurance and Pension Benefits Committee. The Town
Manager and the Superintendent of Schools shall be ex officio members
of said Committee without vote. The Town's Director of Finance and
the School Department's Business Manager shall serve as staff support
without vote.
The Chairperson of the Employee Insurance and
Pension Benefits Committee shall be the Council member of that political
party which holds the majority of the Town Council.
The terms of the Council members and the Board
of Education members shall be concurrent with their terms as members
of the Town Council and the Board of Education, respectively. Three
professional members of the Committee shall have terms which expire
on November 30 in an odd-numbered year. Two professional members and
the two alternates shall have terms which expire on November 30 in
an even-numbered year. All appointments shall be for a period of two
years.
It shall be the function of the Employee Insurance
and Pension Benefits Committee:
A. To determine the needs and develop specifications
for the employee insurance and pension benefits program.
B. To invite at least four agents or four direct-writing
companies, or a combination of agents and direct-writing companies,
to submit qualifications for the purpose of becoming the employee
insurance and pension benefits agent of record for the Town of Newington.
(1) Such invitation shall be issued at least 120 days
prior to the expiration of existing insurance coverage.
(2) Such qualifications to be established by the Employee
Insurance and Pension Benefits Committee.
(3) The Employee Insurance and Pension Benefits Committee
shall interview such EIPBC agents or direct-writing companies and
shall, based on a majority vote of the Employee Insurance and Pension
Benefits Committee, select an agent and/or a direct-writing company
and recommend same to the Town Council for appointment.
(4) The appointment by the Town Council of the agent of
record or consultant shall be for a period of six years.
(5) The Employee Insurance and Pension Benefits Committee
shall review the performance of the agent of record or consultant
not less than annually.
C. To recommend to the Town Council the termination of the EIPBC agent of record or consultant if, in the opinion of the majority of the Committee, the agent of record or consultant fails to perform the functions as outlined in §
8-37. Upon termination of such EIPBC agent of record or consultant by the Town Council, a new agent of record or consultant shall be appointed pursuant to §
8-36B.
D. To review all submitted insurance proposals.
(1) Approval of the proposals to be recommended to the
Town Council shall be by a majority vote of the Employee Insurance
and Pension Benefits Committee.
(2) Upon approval, the proposed insurance program shall
be submitted to the Town Council for acceptance.
(3) Subject to bargaining unit negotiations, the Committee
shall arrange for the purchase of the insurance through the agent
of record or consultant following acceptance of the proposed insurance
by the Town Council.
E. To periodically review employee insurance benefit
coverages, loss data, other pertinent information, and make recommendations
to the Town Manager and the Town Council with respect to the insurance
program.
An employee insurance and pension benefits agent
of record or consultant for the Town of Newington shall be appointed
by the Town Council. Said agent shall be responsible to the Town Council
designee, i.e., the Employee Insurance and Pension Benefits Committee.
It shall be a function of the EIPBC agent of record or consultant:
A. To solicit and negotiate with at least four insurance
companies a program to provide the specific insurance coverages for
the Town of Newington, upon appointment and based upon specifications
prepared by the Employee Insurance and Pension Benefits Committee.
(1) The coverages for health, life, disability and dental
shall be considered individual units to be proposed by each insurance.
(2) All other coverages may be proposed separately.
B. To periodically review Town employee insurance and
pension benefit coverages and loss data and make recommendations to
the Town Manager and the Employee Insurance and Pension Benefits Committee
with respect to the need for ancillary insurance services, additional
insurance coverages and modifications, updating or upgrading of existing
coverages.