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Regular Council Meeting <br />June 13, 2022 <br />Page 7 <br />CLAUSE, A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, A PENALTY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING <br />AN EFFECTIVE DATE. <br />Mr. Vine explained that the City was experiencing internet fiber being installed within <br />the city limits and should expect more fiber to be installed in the very near future. He said when <br />deploying a fiber network, traditional trenching methods could be expensive and time- <br />consuming, and cause extensive disruption to the local area, specifically to public roadways. Mr. <br />Vine also said that the proposed ordinance sets forth the constructing a micro -trench within the <br />City limits and establishes the requirement of a permit prior to any micro -trench being <br />constructed and articulates the necessary steps required to successfully be awarded a permit. <br />A Motion to approve this item was made by Council Member Pankaj and seconded by <br />Council Member Pilgrim. Motion carried, 7 ayes — 0 nays. <br />17. Discuss and confirm appointment of Ron Hervey as Interim Library Director. <br />Mr. Vine said Tim DeGhelder, Library Director, announced his resignation effective June <br />3, 2022 and that City Manager Grayson Path had identified Ron Hervey to serve as Interim <br />Library Director. <br />A Motion to approve the confirmation of Ron Hervey as Interim Library Director was <br />made by Council Member Knox and seconded by Council Member Pankaj. Motion carried, 7 <br />ayes — 0 nays. <br />18. Discuss and provide direction on pursuing a Pension Bond and agreement with the Paris <br />Firefighters Pension Board. <br />City Manager Grayson Path explained that the City of Paris provided two separate <br />retirement programs for its employees and one of those was the Texas Municipal Retirement <br />System for non -fire department personnel and the other one was the Paris Firefighters' Relief <br />and Retirement Fund for fire department personnel. Mr. Path said the Pension was created <br />around 1941, was regulated under the Texas Local Fire Fighters Retirement Act, and was <br />managed by a local Board of Trustees. <br />Mr. Path said in August 2020 he read an article from a Dallas newspaper discussing the <br />various TLFFRA funds throughout the State, which reflected the Paris Pensions was the least <br />funded in the State of Texas, and from there he began investigating the Pension. He also said he <br />learned the Pension would become fully funded in approximately 30 years under the current <br />contribution and payout formula and learned that this had been the expectation for the previous <br />approximately 40 years. Mr. Path said this was a moving target. He said in November of 2021, <br />he met with the Board of Trustees to get an update on the Pension and noted the contributions, <br />along with the current balance of approximately $5 million in' the fund, as an investment was <br />what was keeping the fund afloat. He also said he learned that they were spending more <br />annually on benefits to current retirees than they were bringing in through collection. Mr. Path <br />reported the trajectory would not be accomplished without an increase in the contribution and/or <br />a large deposit of funding into the Pension fund and added whether a firefighter made higher <br />