HomeMy WebLinkAbout02/13/2003 - Regular Minutes - Cemetery Advisory Committee
City of College Station
Cemetery Committee
Thursday, February 13, 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; David Chester; Sarah Adams; Mary
Lind Bryan, Ed Burns, Joe Wallace.
Members Absent:
Neal Nutall
1.Call to order:
The meeting was called to order at 10:05 a.m.
2.Hear Visitors:
John Happ, City Council Member, was present at the meeting.
3.Discussion, consideration and possible approval of absentee requests:
There were
no absentee requests submitted.
4.Discussion, consideration and possible approval of January minutes:
Ed B. made
a motion to not approve the minutes from the January 16, 2003 meeting. There was
no second, and the motion died. Sarah A. moved that the minutes be amended to
include the discussion regarding educating the committee on various religious burial
practices. Ed B. seconded the motion. All were in favor, and the motion passed
unanimously.
5.Update, discussion and possible action regarding the site selection process of the
new cemetery:
Ross stated that the city had spoken with a family in the Wellborn
area and made an offer on 45 acres of land. The family has rejected that offer, and
the City made a counter-offer. The City has not heard back from the family.
Ross, Mark McAuliff and Steve Beachy had looked at a second site also in the
Wellborn area on Wellborn Road, south of Wellborn. Ross will be meeting with the
City Manager this afternoon to discuss this property, and see if it is worthy of
consideration or not. The property is on the east side of Wellborn Road, and there are
2 tracts. One is 50 acres and the other is 57 acres.
6.Discussion, consideration and possible action regarding improvements to the
back entrance of the cemetery:
Katherine handed out a copy of a memo that she
sent to Dennis Maloney regarding improvements to the back entrance of the cemetery
and he had presented it to the City Council. There was no further discussion on this
agenda item.
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7.Discussion, consideration and possible action regarding rules and regulations of
the new cemetery:
Ed B. asked Delmer C. if there were anything in the current rules
and regulations of the existing cemetery that inhibit his ability to get the job done.
Delmer replied that the existing regulations are pretty straight forward, and he would
not like for the rules to get so restrictive that it would be difficult to enforce
everything.
The following is a list of items that the committee wants to consider during the
process of developing the rules and regulations of the new cemetery:
?
State Laws
- Katherine stated that Dr. Richard Stadelman had informed her that
there are certain state laws that we cannot circumvent, which does not always
accommodate various religious burial practices. Ross added that the City can
make a state law more restrictive, but it cannot weaken them. Katherine asked if
it would be possible to get copies of the state laws governing cemeteries. Ross
replied that he would try to get printouts and bring them to the next meeting.
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Ease of maintenance
- The committee talked about having all flat headstones
flush to the ground in order to decrease maintenance. However, Delmer feels that
it would not really be a time saver because you still have to edge around each
individual headstone.
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Headstone size
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Monument characteristics
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Plantings/memorial items
- Delmer asked the committee to look at rules
regarding "trinkets" in the cemetery. For instance, not allowing wind chimes in
the trees, which could possibly be a nuisance to others if a burial service is being
held.
?
Above ground mausoleums
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Religious considerations
- The committee will have different people come and
educate the committee regarding various religions. These will be taken into
consideration when making the rules and regulations for the new cemetery.
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Space restrictions
- Mary B. also brought up the fact that some cemeteries allow
people to stack caskets in one space. College Station does not allow multiple
caskets in one space, nor does it allow a cremate and a casket in one space. It
does however, allow 2 cremates in one adult space.
?
Security/vandalism
- Since the new cemetery will probably be located in a
remote area, security and vandalism issues do need to be addressed. Sarah
brought up that the new rules should state that the City is not responsible for
temporary items placed in the cemetery. Ross added that it should also address
any vandalism done to headstones.
Mary B. asked if there was a curfew at the current cemetery. Sarah A. replied that
the cemetery closes at sundown, however, there is no gate at the front to keep
people from entering the cemetery. Ross added that the purpose of having those
hours, was to allow the police to have the authority to ticket/arrest people in the
cemetery after sunset if need be. The Committee also discussed the possibility of
putting a gate up in the new cemetery, however, that would increase the amount
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of manpower needed to open and shut the gate after hours and on weekends. It
was stated that if a person had vandalism in mind, a gate would probably not be
likely to deter that kind of activity.
8.Discussion of next meeting date and agenda:
The committee will meet on
Thursday, March 20, 2003, in the Central Park Conference Room at 10:00 a.m.
Dr. Richard Stadelman will be asked to do a presentation regarding various religious
burial practices.
9.Adjourn:
The meeting was adjourned at 11:10 a.m.
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