HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/12/2000 - Regular Minutes - Cemetery Advisory Committee
City of College Station
Cemetery Committee
Thursday, October 12, 2000
Parks Conference Room
10:00 a.m.
Staff Present:
Ross Albrecht, Forestry Superintendent; Delmer Charanza, Cemetery
Sexton; Kris Startzman, Committee Secretary.
Members Present:
Katherine Edwards, Chairman; Sarah Adams; Ed Burns; Joe
Wallace; David Chester; Mary Lind Bryan.
Members Absent:
Mary Bingamon, Alternate; Gregory Anderson, Alternate.
1.Call to order:
The meeting was called to order at 10:10 a.m.
2.Hear Visitors:
There were no visitors present at the meeting.
3.Discussion, consideration, and possible approval of September minutes:
Joe Wallace made a motion to approve the minutes from September 14, 2000.
Sarah Adams seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed
unanimously.
4.Discussion, consideration, and possible approval of absentee requests:
Sarah made a motion to accept the absences of Mary Bingamon and Greg
Anderson as excused. Ed Burns seconded the motion. All were in favor, and
the motion passed unanimously.
5.Discussion, consideration, and possible action regarding the establishment
of a "cremate only" area in Section "L" with funds from the Madeley
donation, and possible means to memorialize the donation:
During the
September meeting, Ross was asked to see if the Parks and Recreation
Department could come up with a preliminary landscape plan for Section "L"
of the cemetery. Ross stated that the Planning staff had been busy working on
Capital Improvement Projects, along with City Council driven issues, and has
not had the time to come up with a plan yet.
Ross has put in notification to the City Council on their six-month pending
calendar (October 2000 through March 2001) that the Cemetery Committee
would be bringing them recommendations regarding the sale price of a
"cremate only" space in Section "L", along with the monument restrictions for
a "cremate only" space. He went on to say that a change would have to be
made to the ordinance stating that the cemetery has a "cremate only" space
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Cemetery Committee Meeting
Thursday, October 12, 2000
available. The ordinance would have to include a statement regarding the
monument sizes and how they are installed. Language would also need to be
added regarding the closing of the Shiloh and Salem cemeteries. He went on to
say that a portion of the resolution that actually sets the prices of the space
would also need to be altered.
Katherine asked for volunteers to serve on a subcommittee to work with the
Parks and Recreation Department on landscaping the cremate area, coming up
with a recommendation on how to memorialize it for the Madeley's, and
determining how many plots would be needed for the area. Sarah Adams and
David Chester volunteered. Katherine asked if the subcommittee could have a
preliminary report for the next meeting.
David asked what the demand is for a "cremate only" space. Ross stated that
he doesn't have hard numbers, but there appears to be an increasing demand.
Mary Lind Bryan asked if the City has a budget for landscaping. Ross said that
the Committee had decided to use $6,000 from the Madeley donation for
surveying, landscaping, and memorializing Section "L." He went on to say
that he has some money in the Forestry Division that could be used for this,
but due to certain expenses, such as laying concrete; it may turn into a multi-
year project.
Katherine confirmed that the Committee had voted to spend $6,000 from the
Madeley donation for surveying, landscaping, and memorializing the area, and
to put the rest of the money into the Cemetery Endowment Fund. She went on
to say that once the survey of the area is complete, there would be
approximately $1,500 left for landscaping and memorializing the area. It may
cost more than $1,500 to do this, so the Committee has the option of asking
the City for the money, seeing if the Forestry Division has the extra money in
its budget, or revisiting the Committee's decision, and taking more money
from the Madeley donation. Mary Lind Bryan inquired about fund-raising.
Katherine stated that the Committee has an endowment fund. Most of the
money that comes into the account is from the sale of lots and memorials, and
from donations. Ross stated that the Committee could hold a fund-raising
event.
6.Discussion, consideration, and possible action regarding the sale of 5 foot
by 10 foot spaces platted in Section "M":
Katherine stated that Section "M"
is the section in which Mr. W.D. Fitch paid to have approximately 30 spaces
surveyed and platted--they own 17 spaces of that section. Since Mr. Fitch had
paid for platting Section "M", the City has never offered the other spaces in the
section for sale. Section "M" is currently empty, except for the Fitch family
burial sites.
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Cemetery Committee Meeting
Thursday, October 12, 2000
During the September meeting, Sarah Adams was asked to contact Laura
Normand, daughter of the late W.D. Fitch, to find out what her understanding
is of the 17 spaces that were marked off and paid for, versus what was platted.
The Committee would like to determine if the family intends to use the
additional spaces or if the City could sell them and possibly reimburse the
Fitches for the platting that they had paid for. She was also asked to research
minutes from 1989 to see what was said about the future use of the section.
Sarah stated that she had wanted to research this subject further before she
contacted Mrs. Normand. She went on to say that she wasn't sure that she had
all of the minutes from 1989. Both Ed Burns and Sarah will do a historical
search through old minutes to try to shed some light on any agreements that
might have been made between the Fitches and the City. Ross will contact the
City Secretary to see if she has minutes related to this issue, and Delmer will
research the exact number of spaces platted and the number bought by Mr.
Fitch. Ross will also bring a map of Section "M" to the next meeting. This
item will be placed on the November agenda.
7.Discussion, consideration, and possible action regarding revisions to
Ordinance #2178 to add wording on available cremate spaces, cremate
space sizes, and cremate section monument restrictions:
Katherine
volunteered to work on this subcommittee. Ross said that there would have to
be some changes to the wording in Section "E" (Purchase Options), and
Section "K" (Monuments, Headstones, and Markers) of the ordinance relating
to cemetery rules and recommendations (Ordinance #2178).
Recommendations for the closing of the Shiloh and Salem cemeteries would
also be added to the ordinance at the same time.
Amendments to the ordinance, as well as amendments to the resolution
regarding the price of cremate spaces, would then be submitted to the Legal
Department for review before taking them to the City Council for approval.
Sarah asked if the subcommittees could be combined to work on item #5 and
#7. The Committee appeared to be in favor of the idea. Sarah will set up a
cremate subcommittee meeting with Katherine, Sarah, David, and Ross. Pete
Vanecek, the Senior Park Planner, will also be consulted.
The discussion of fees came up. Ross informed the Committee that the City
has hired a consultant to look at the City's fee schedule. The Department is
currently gathering information for the study, and he suggested coming up
with a price for cremate spaces now, to submit to the consultant for review.
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Cemetery Committee Meeting
Thursday, October 12, 2000
8.Discussion, consideration, and possible action regarding amending
Resolution #4-25-96-C to include the price of cremate spaces:
This item
was discussed in item #7.
9.Discussion of next meeting date and agenda:
The next meeting will be held
on Thursday, November 9, 2000, at the Central Park Conference Room at
10:00 a.m. Joe Wallace would like a report from the Legal Department
regarding the discussion of potential cemetery sites by the Cemetery
Committee. The questions that the Committee would like answered are:
a.Can the Committee discuss property acquisition?
b.Can the Committee hold a closed session meeting?
10.Adjourn:
The meeting adjourned at 11:12 a.m.
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Cemetery Committee Meeting
Thursday, October 12, 2000