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SPRING 2009 GENERAL MEETING - Spring General meeting was held on Thursday, May 21, 2009, at 3 PM at the Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Center. The election of 2009-2010 IREA officers was held. The officers and board members were voted in by a unanimous vote.

Mark Scrogham, administrative secretary for INL’s Retirement and Investment Plans, provided an update on both the INL 401K Plan and Retirement Plan. On the 401K Plan, Mark reported that there are 6856 participants. The plan faired no better than the overall market over the past year. The investment committee decided to drop the VanKampen aggressive growth fund as it fared poorly in the down market and replaced that fund with BB&T Mid Cap Value I. Dodge & Cox International stock was added to provide an additional international fund selection. To better serve INL’s 401K Plan, Vanguard moved plan support functions from their Philadelphia to their Scottsdale, AZ office. The move puts the service center in the Mountain Time zone rather than the Eastern Time zone.

The Retirement Plan experienced many changes since September 30, 2007. The number of enrollees dropped from 9917 to 9802 from September 30, 2007 to September 30, 2008 as the Retirement Plan is now closed to the addition of new plan members. The plan paid $43M in pensions in 2007 and $46M in 2008 with the estimate of $48M paid in 2009. Mark reminded attendees that the INL Retirement Plan is a defined benefit plan with a fixed pension payout that must be met independent of the ups and downs of the market. Three fund managers were eliminated as a review of their portfolios showed no significant difference in the funds they managed. These three managers were replaced by enhanced equity index managers who have good track records of beating the S&P index. The plan funds corpus decreased 21.25% from 07 to 08 but out performed the Dow by 3.9%. IREA Benefits chairman, Rich Ising, provides more details on the status of the INL Retirement Plan in the Benefits section of this newsletter.

Lastly Mark reported that Rudd & Co. completed their audit of the Retirement Plan and made not derogatory findings. That is auditor speak for the audit went well.

Our main speakers focused on senior community services available through the Eastern Idaho Community Action Partnership (EICAP). EICAP’s Marie Peterson, regional ombudsman for the elderly, and Helen Stanton, VISTA Volunteer Ombudsman Coordinator, covered a wide range of senior services and the processes to access these services. Marie talked about the host of in-home services available to assist through reassurance calls, emergency telephone connection, homemaker, chores, home delivered meals, respite care, and case management services. Case managers can assist you by assessing your needs then locating and coordinating help so you can safely stay in your home. Call 208-522-5391 if you live in Idaho Falls and 208-233-4032 if you live in the Pocatello area to explore services available for your unique situation.

Marie explained the staffing and care differences between assisted living and nursing home settings. She also provided attendees with a checklist to assist you in the selection of a facility that best accommodates your or a loved one’s needs. Additionally Marie provided the website, www.medicare.gov , for you to consult to see a comparison of nursing homes throughout the US. There is no comparable national database available for assisting living facilities. For basic details on Idaho nursing home and assisted living facilities you can also consult www.facilitystandards.idaho.gov - facilities are grouped alphabetically by Health and Welfare regions. Marie suggested that nothing beats a visit to facilities to determine if they might meet your needs.

Volunteer ombudsmen are needed to visit local assisted living and nursing home facilities. Ombudsmen spend time with residents to make care assessments and just visit with residents. Those interested in exploring being a volunteer ombudsman should contact Helen Stanton or Marie Peterson at 208-522-5391.

Following the excellent presentations by Mark, Marie, and Helen, all attendees visited with old and new friends while enjoying pizza and a beverage.

IREA Fall 2008 general meeting

On September 24, 2008 IREA held its fall 2008 general meeting at the Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Community Center with about 50 members in attendance.  Two presentations were enriching to us. 

The following presentation is by Dr   Kevin Kostelnik, Deputy Director of the Center for Advanced Energy Studies.  A PDF file of the slides used in the presentation is linked to this line.  

Bob Lotti presented the Idaho Cleanup Project Progress.  Click on this link for a power point presentation of the slides used in the presentation.

IREA spring 2008 general meeting

On May 13, 2008 IREA held its spring 2008 general meeting at the Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Community Center with 56 members in attendance. Walt Weaver moved and it was seconded that the proposed slate of officers, as published in the meeting announcement, be the officers for 2008-2008. The motion passed unanimously and the IREA 2008-2009 officers are:

There was a vote to change the name of the association from INEL to INL to align IREA’s name with the current laboratory name. The name change was approved by unanimous vote in the affirmative.

Two community services were presented – Hospice of Eastern Idaho and Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Community Center:

·        Hospice of Eastern Idaho overview as provided by Carol Mason, Lisa Virgin, and Dianne Key. This hospice service is the only nonprofit in the area and provides hospice services for all in need independent of ability to pay. For those 65 and older hospice is part of your Medicare benefit. To qualify for hospice services one must have six or less months to live as verified by your doctor. Many conditions result in the need for hospice care – dementia, cancer, renal failure, inability to thrive – are a few examples. Hospice care puts the patient in charge of their end of life decisions. The patient and their caregivers has access to a nurse, social worker, certified nursing assistant, psychological support, chaplain, paperwork assistance, bereavement counseling, and volunteers to give caregivers personal time. To receive additional information about Hospice of Eastern Idaho, you can reach them at 529-0342.

·        Laura Flint of the Idaho Falls Senior Citizens Community Center talked about the host of programs available to seniors. Their services include nutrition programs – Meals on Wheels and a daily lunch program for all seniors for a suggested $3.50 donation. The menu for May 2008 was full of great meals. There are weekly activities such as pool, cards, low impact stretching, arts and crafts as well as special events that include dances. Funds for the Center come from a variety of federal, state, and local sources and these funds vary monthly. To receive more information on Center services call 522-4357.

Mark Scrogham, Executive Secretary to INL’s retirement plan committees, provided an overview of Battelle’s approach to plan management. Pre-Battelle there was one retirement committee with 12 to 18 members that handled all aspects of the investment process. Under Battelle there are three, unique committees with fewer members per committee that focus on the following:

·        Plan Investments – handle investment decisions

·        Plan Operations – focus on compliance issues

·        Plan Administration – handle day to day operations.

Currently plan investments are handled by 16 fund managers. The two newest funds focus on private equity firms that are not publicly traded and commercial real estate with no residential real estate component. The Plan Investment committee is currently working with an analysis service to have an independent review of the number and types of fund managers to see if consolidation would result in fee reduction benefits while maintaining a diversified portfolio of holdings. Mark also explained that recent market volatility has presented challenges for the plan, but the plan is in good financial shape.

Two audience members asked questions:

·        The first inquiry, posed by Jim Seydel, dealt with the availability, via the internet, for retirees to look at the 16 funds in the retirement plan. Mark said that the detailed information available to the Plan Committees could not be put on the internet because it includes Plan participants' private information. However, he said the type of information he presented at the meeting on the various Plan investment managers might be made available.  He will look into that.

·        The second inquiry, posed by Ralph Shank, dealt with a retirees’ cost-of-living increase. Ralph thought that some criteria had been established in the 1970s for when a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) in Retirement Plan benefits would be considered. However, such a COLA has been given only once, in 1993. Additionally, Ralph asked why such a COLA could not be given again, since retirement plans at other DOE sites had this feature. Mark stated that currently there is no discussion of a COLA. For such an increase to occur the three contractors in INL retirement plan, BEA, CWI, and AMWTP, would each have to make a request to DOE and then DOE would have final approval authority. Mark said the reason that DOE would have to approve a COLA is because it would likely require an increased contribution by DOE to the Plan to maintain the Plan's ability to underwrite future benefits.

The General meeting was followed by a Wind Energy Technical field trip later in the week.   Pictures taken during the field trip are shown below.  Pictures taken by Reuel Smith.

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