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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/21/2003 - Regular Minutes - Cemetery Advisory Committee City of College Station Cemetery Committee Thursday, August 21, 2003 Central Park Conference Room 10:00 a.m. Staff Present: Ross Albrecht, Forestry Superintendent; Delmer Charanza, Cemetery Sexton; Ann Marie Hazlett, Parks Secretary. Members Present: Katherine Edwards, Chairman; Sarah Adams; Mary Lind Bryan; Don Hensel; Virginia Reese; Ed Burns; David Chester; Joe Wallace. Visitors Present: Anne Hazen Members Absent: None 1.Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 10:00 a.m. 2.Hear Visitors: There were no visitor comments at this time. 3.Discussion, consideration and possible approval of absentee requests: Joe W. moved to approve the absentee request of Don H. David C. seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. However, Don H. did make the meeting, but it was after the motion of his absence had already been approved. 4.Discussion, consideration and possible approval of July minutes: Joe W. made a motion to approve the minutes from July 24, 2003. David C. seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed unanimously. 5.Presentation of certificate to Neal Nutall for his service on the cemetery committee: Neal N. was unable to attend this meeting, therefore no presentation was performed. 6.Update and discussion regarding the Aggie cemetery: College Station City Council passed a resolution, at the request of a group of Texas A&M former students, to allow a private cemetery to be constructed within the City of College Station. This cemetery is to be located near the corner of FM2818 and University Drive. A committee of Texas A&M former students was formed for this new cemetery, and the committee cannot agree on where to go from here. Therefore, nothing further has been done in regards to starting this new Aggie cemetery. There was a survey done in 1990, which resulted in a big interest for an Aggie cemetery in this community. However, it is the opinion of Joe W. that it is unlikely that the Association of Former Students, A&M Foundation, or the University will Cemetery Committee Meeting Page 1 of 3 Thursday, August 21, 2003 directly own and operate a cemetery. But he does feel that these organizations might cooperate with the City of College Station in getting an Aggie section in the new municipal cemetery. Joe W. asked Ross A. about how the Jewish section of the Bryan municipal cemetery is handled. Ross answered that the Jewish Synagogue purchased that property, paid for the fencing, but the city does maintain that section. Joe W. wanted to know what the cemetery committee’s thought is of allowing an Aggie section in the new municipal cemetery of 10-15 acres under terms and conditions satisfactory to the City of College Station. There were a lot of concerns expressed regarding who would be able to be buried in the Aggie section if it existed. Anne H. commented that politically, the only way this could work is if A&M purchased the land from the City, and then the City would only be responsible for the maintenance of that property, similar to the Jewish section in the Bryan cemetery. Ross was asked to investigate the possibility of someone buying a block of spaces and then reselling the spaces to other individuals or a group. This question applies to both the existing cemetery and the new cemetery. Ed B. added that to be effective, a business plan would need to be developed for the possibility of an Aggie section. Furthermore, a mission statement as to why Aggies want their own section, and also a mission statement from the City as to why they would favor an Aggie section needs to be addressed. Once a business plan is put into effect, a lot of the questions that are being raised would be addressed, and it would be easier to sell the idea to people. Ross asked if there had been any discussion about letting Aggies have a different headstone to help differentiate them from others instead of having their own section. Joe W. was not aware of any such discussion. Each person went around the table and expressed if they would want to continue to consider the prospect of an Aggie section in the new municipal cemetery: Ed – Undecided David – Yes Katherine – Yes Don – Yes Virginia – Yes Joe – Yes Sarah – Yes Mary – No 7.Presentation, discussion and possible action regarding the chairperson’s report to City Council regarding the cemetery’s budget category: Katherine made a presentation to City Council on July 24, 2003, regarding the cemetery’s placement in the 80-100% cost recovery category of the budget. She explained that the reasoning from City Council that the cemetery is in that category is to raise the endowment fund. From each space that is sold, the money goes into the endowment fund, and does not help with the maintenance of the cemetery. The maintenance is taken from the general budget of the Parks department. Katherine, Ross, Anne Hazen, Steve Beachy, and Glenn Brown met to discuss other ways to help raise the endowment fund without increasing the price of the cemetery spaces. Some of the ideas included: ? Assessing perpetual care fee on top of the price of the lot Cemetery Committee Meeting Page 2 of 3 Thursday, August 21, 2003 ? Charging extra fee to non-residents th ? Fundraising opportunity during the 65 anniversary of College Station ? Redo brochure and put it into funeral homes ? City issue debt ? Ross was asked to come up with a 5-year plan on sales (not only with the existing cemetery, but the new one as well). ? Put cemetery in the 50-80% category ? City to continue to pay for all operating costs until the endowment fund is fully funded. Ed B. asked about the cemetery’s endowment fund. The endowment fund was created by the cemetery committee. The goal of the endowment fund is to perpetually maintain the cemetery once the cemetery is full. Ed B. proposed that the endowment fund be stopped and that the funds generated from the money already there, could go to the City to help offset some of the maintenance costs of the cemetery. Katherine explained that if the endowment fund is stopped, then the sale of lots then goes to the general fund, and that is used for maintenance. Then, if the price of maintenance goes up, the price of lots must go up as well. Mary added that the point of the cemetery committee in making the endowment fund, was to make the cemetery less dependent upon the constantly changing City Council and that it would have its own source of revenue for perpetual care. 8.Discussion of next meeting date and agenda: The committee will meet on Thursday, September 18, 2003, in the Central Park Conference Room at 10:00 a.m. David C. would like to discuss the possibility of a marker for the Salem section of the cemetery. 9.Adjourn: The meeting adjourned at 11:26 AM. Cemetery Committee Meeting Page 3 of 3 Thursday, August 21, 2003