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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01/23/2007 - Regular Minutes - Cemetery Advisory Committee COLLEGE STATION CEMETERY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Tuesday, January 23, 2007, 7:00 p.m. Council Chambers 1101 Texas Avenue Members Present: Sarah Adams, Chairperson; Randy Matson; David Chester; Joe Wallace; Don Braune; Kevin Myers; James Batenhorst Members Absent: R.C. Slocum, Virginia Reese, Weldon Kruger Staff Present: Ross Albrecht, Forestry Superintendent; Steve Beachy, Director; Phillip Guillen, Assistant Director Fiscal Services; Kathy Merrill, Assistant City Manager Visitors Present: Debbie Capps, 9204 Sun Lake, College Station, TX Paul Leming, 1615 Harpers Ferry Rd., College Station, TX Joyce & Dick Birdwell, 3 Forest Dr., College Station, TX Alice Blue-McLendon, 4427 Tuscany Trace, College Station, TX Katherine Edwards, 313 Pershing, College Station, TX Pat B., 801 Fore Ct., College Station, TX Joe West, 1808 Bee Creek Dr., College Station, TX Latrelle Kirk, 2903 Camille, College Station, TX Jodi Warner, 3521 Graz, College Station, TX 1.Call to order: The meeting was called to order at 7:05 p.m. by Sarah Adams. 2.Presentation, possible action and discussion regarding requests for absences of members: Three absentee requests had been submitted from R.C. Slocum, Virginia Reese, and Weldon Kruger. David Chester made a motion to approve the requests and Don Braune seconded the motion. All approved and the motion passed unanimously. 3.Presentation, possible action, and discussion on the approval of Cemetery Advisory Committee Regular meeting minutes from December 12, 2006 and the January 16, 2007 Workshop Minutes: Joe Wallace made a motion to approve the minutes and Randy Matson seconded the motion. All were in favor and the motion approving the minutes passed unanimously. 4. Public hearing, presentation, possible action and discussion on the proposed Master Plan for the new municipal cemetery: Michael Martin, Project Manager with Edwards and Kelcey and Randy Sorenson with Carter Burgess presented their proposed Cemetery Master Plan, along with a fly-through presentation. Sarah Adams opened the Public Hearing portion of the agenda with the following speakers: Dick Birdwell, 3 Forest Drive, College Station, TX: Mr. Birdwell commented on the following items: -Concerned about the cost of construction and the need for reasonably priced spaces to make the project work. -The plan does not yield itself to phased construction. -The columbarium is too far away from the road. Addition of road system to access this feature means more money. -The columbarium and Spirit Gate too far apart, potentially have both together. -Average of 375 spaces per acre too low, will not generate enough funds. -Need for additional road around and/or second entrance for Spirit Gate in Phase I. -Gaining donations for shortfalls in the budget will be very difficult. -Specifications for monuments should be included in the master plan document. -There should be no 'memorial areas' as would remove land for space sales. -Do not specify conifer trees. -The concept presented to the city council by the AFOH group included a significant 'Aggie' memorial; this is not seen in the proposed master plan. -Eliminate committal shelter and information center to keep costs down. -In addition to expensive of installation and operation, there is no need for lights. -Need a variable line so can designate additional spaces as AFOH spaces if future sales indicate more demand for this type of space. Paul Leming, 1615 Harpers Ferry Road, College Station, TX: Comments included: -Which areas are going to be developed first? (The first phase of construction for the cemetery was described.) -Need to identify what is a Field of Honor. -Consider designating a veterans only section. Alice Blue McLenden, 4427 Tuscany Trace, College Station, TX: Comments included: -Concerned that there is no room for future expansion. The Central Texas State Vetrans's cemetery is three times the size. -Feels that this is the wrong location, and that the site should be further out of town. Also expressed concern that as people are flying out of College Station there will be a lot of Aggie jokes since they will be flying over the cemetery, and that is not a welcoming thing for people to see when they enter into College Station. -There should be no information center, because there is no need for one. -She asked how much the cost of the wall between the Aggie Field of Honor and the City part would be. She felt it is not necessary to have a wall there. The columns look just like bleachers. -If you go to Heaven when you die, won’t it look better than Kyle Field? -Biggest concern is the use of the wording “Field of Honor”. This type of name is usually reserved to honor veterans. People who attended a university should not receive that same honor - the name needs to be changed. -Why is the pricing structure for the AFOH spaces twice as much as municipal spaces? -From the design plan why is only 25% of the core design is city property? TAMU is not putting any money in the Aggie Field of Honor. -Feels that it is counter intuitive the monuments in the AFOH section face Kyle Field, not the center of the cemetery. Gordon Gregg, 6255 Los Robles Drive, College Station, TX: -There are no trees on the site currently. The master plan shows large trees. This will not happen without time, money, and species selection. -Feels that 150 feet roadside to furthest space is too far. Need more road system. ” -He agreed that the name “Field of Honorwas not a good name. Connie Wallace, 1700 Briar Rose Court, College Station, TX: - Questioned if there is room for expansion, and the potential need to purchase additional land now. Sarah Adams closed the Public Hearing, and asked for committee discussion. -Joe Wallace pointed that many of the points raised in the Public Hearing were addressed in the design process. -David Chester added that many items had been discussed in the preliminary plans, and the ability to re-designate AFOH and city spaces exists. -Sarah Adams indicated that it is time to move from concept planning to final design of Phase I. -James Batenhorst raised a question on the inclusion of a city columbarium (was not indicated in the master plan). -Randy Matson referred to past efforts to move this project forward, and that it is time to agree to move forward. -Joe Wallace made the following motion: "The Cemetery Committee of the City of College Station recommends that the Master Plan presented by the design firm of Edwards & Kelcey on January 23, 2007 be accepted and adopted for the new municipal cemetery to be located at 3800 Raymond Stozer Parkway". -The motion was seconded by Don Braune. -The motion passed with a 6-0-0 vote. 5. Presentation, possible action and discussion on a variance request for the interment of cremains in Section B, Lot 58, Space 1 that has existing casket interment (infant) - Space Ownership: Anderson, Anne Pruitt: The Anderson family was requesting a variance request to allow interment of cremains in a space that already had an existing casket interment (infant). James Batenhorst made a motion to approve the variance request and David Chester seconded. All approved were in approval and the motion passed unanimously. 6. Hear visitors: None 7. Presentation, possible action and discussion on future agenda items: A committee member may inquire about a subject for which notice has not been given. A Statement of specific factual information or the recitation of existing policy may be given. Any deliberation shall be limited to a proposal to place the subject on an agenda for a subsequent meeting: Cemetery Committee Calendar ? Joint meeting with the City Council, February 1, 2007, 11:30 AM, Council Chambers 8.Adjourn: Joe Wallace made the motion to adjourn the meeting and Don Braune seconded. All were in favor and the motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 8:36 p.m.