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Home My WebLink About04-08-2025 Minutes Cemetery Board CITY OF Regular Meeting TN BUR April 8, 2025 -2:00 PM UCemetery Office, Arrangement Room WASHINGTON MINUTES PUBLIC PARTICIPATION A. The Mountain View Cemetery Board Meeting scheduled for Tuesday, April 8, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. will be held in person and virtually. Virtual Participation Link: To listen to the meeting by phone or Zoom, please call the number below or click the link: Telephone: 253 215 8782 Toll Free: 877 853 5257 Zoom: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84594574335 CALL TO ORDER • The Cemetery Board meeting of Tuesday, April 8th, 2025, was called to order by Judi Roland at 2:00pm. ROLL CALL • Members present: Judi Roland, Bridget Jones, Tim Pierce and Jeanne Hicks • Member excused: Robert Rakos • Staff present: Immer Chevalier and April Shank Cerio AGENDA MODIFICATIONS • There were no modifications made to the agenda. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION A. The public can participate in-person or submit written comments in advance. Participants can submit written comments via mail, fax, or email. All written comments must be received prior to 5:00 p.m. on the day before the scheduled meeting and must be 350 words or less. Please mail written comments to: City of Auburn Attn: Immer Chevalier, Cemetery Manager 25 W Main St Auburn, WA 98001 Please fax written comments to: Attn: Immer Chevalier, Cemetery Manager Fax number: 253-931-5107 Email written comments to: ichevalier@auburnwa.gov If an individual requires accommodation to allow for remote oral comment because of a difficulty attending a meeting of the governing body, the City requests notice of the need for accommodation by 5:00 p.m. on the day before the scheduled meeting. Participants can request accommodation to be able to provide a remote oral comment by contacting Immer Chevalier in person, by phone 253-931-3009, or by email (ichevalier@auburnwa.gov). • There was no public/audience participation or comments. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. Review of Minutes - Minutes from Meeting on December 10th, 2024 • Minutes from meeting on December 10th, 2024 were reviewed, no corrections or additions were made and a motion was made and unanimously passed to approve as printed. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. New Cemetery Board Member- Pastor Bridget Jones • The Board welcomes new member Bridget Jones, a current pastor at Messiah Lutheran Church in Auburn. She has officiated the Cemetery's Easter Sunrise service in the past and is on schedule to officiate this years on April 20th. Welcome, Pastor Bridget! B. New Parks, Arts & Recreation Director - Julie Krueger • The city has hired Julie Kreuger as the new Parks Arts and Recreation Director following Daryl Faber's retirement. She was the City's Arts and Events manager for many years. Her background is in communications and has been very active in meeting all departments and will be holding monthly manager meetings. C. 2024 Numbers • The end of 2024 totals were very good in revenue. Our overall grave sales include both at-need and pre-need. Cremation placements continue to rise and surpass burials. MOUNTAIN VIEW CEMETERY CEMETERY SALES 2024 Cemetery Sales December Year Totals Month-To-Date Receipts $157,670.78 $2,000,309.92 Ground Plots 11 155 Cremation Plots 29 Niches 6 38 ForestWalk Ossuary 2 Extended Land Use 17 Markers 5 153 Graves 11 184 Markers 5 153 Niches 6 40 Total Placements 13 273 Cremation 3 149 Ground Burial 10 124 • Question from the board - Are VA markers included in marker sales? No. Since the VA provides the marker at no cost to the family, this is not included as a sale. • Question from the board - What is a niche? A niche is an above-ground option for ashes in a columbarium or'wall'. • Question from the board - What is an Ossuary? The Ossuary is a standing column communal scatter/placement option for ashes. It is an inexpensive way to memorialize a loved one. • Question from the board - Does the board ever see the expenditure sheet for the cemetery? Yes, this has been shared. Cemetery funds are different and change with how many burials/placements occur. Funds are received and funds are spent for burials. • Question from the board - How many people can be in one plot? For a full- sized plot, the cemetery allows 1 casket and 2 ashes or 3 ashes. D. Pioneer Fence • The iron fence that was damaged by a drunk driver in December 2023 has finally been fixed. This was a custom style of 3 iron panels that had to be constructed, so it took a long time. E. Centennial Viewpoint Park - Pull Out • The cemetery staff opens the park gate and picks up garbage. The gate is now chained to prevent it from being pushed open. The area has been a nuisance for the last few years with an extreme amount of garbage, including needles, homeless people, and vehicles in the pull-out area. The city addressed this issue by placing signage stating No Overnight Parking. The sign was knocked down a couple of times and disposed of. Now, there are 3 signs with large rock spalls in the area to prevent parking. This has seemed to work so far. F. Marker Policy updated • Markers & monuments are private property of the respective family. The city's legal department suggested adding a line to the marker policy stating, "The cemetery is not responsible for maintenance, repair, or replacement of any grave markers or monumental structures erected upon the grave." The board agreed this is a good addition to the policy. • Question from the board - What if a marker is damaged by the cemetery? If this scenario is brought up to the cemetery, the manager and staff will assess the situation and if confirmed the cemetery has damaged the property, then yes, the cemetery will fix or replace it if needed. NEW BUSINESS A. Water Leak • During the annual backflow testing, it was noticed that the cemetery had a water leak as a meter was running constantly when no water was in use. Staff has the leak narrowed down to be in between the 9A section and the office. It is potentially a main line. The cemetery will contact the city's water department to see if they can come out with their leak detection equipment or another company may need to be contacted. B. Cameras Installation • There have been many discussions about adding security cameras to the cemetery. The city's facilities department coordinates this as all cameras must run through the city's own network for any public records request that may come up. The installation is in process with one 360-degree camera being installed inside the Chapel of Memories and one outside the office building, as well as wiring for connecting to wifi. C. Temporary Maintenance Workers • The cemetery had one temporary maintenance worker from August 2024-March 2025. The state's rule is, when you work so many hours you must contribute to the retirement system or work fewer hours. The seasonal did not want to do either, so he resigned. The cemetery manager conducted several interviews in the first week of April with hopes of hiring two for this year. They can work 40 hours per week with the potential of overtime if needed within the city for events. ANNOUNCEMENTS, REPORTS, AND PRESENTATIONS A. Budget Update - Jan - March 2025 • Historically January is typically a good month for revenue. Placements were also high for January. February slowed down with fewer sales and an average number of placements. March picked back up in revenue and placements. CemeterySales January February March Month-To-Date Receipts $238,689.50 $ 123,551.88 $ 169,186.40 Ground Plots 22 8 16 Cremation Plots 2 2 4 Niches 5 1 2 Forest Walk Ossuary 1 Extended Land Use 1 Markers 9 8 14 Graves 24 10 20 Markers 9 8 14 Niches 5 1 3 Total Placements 32 19 20 Cremation 9 7 8 Ground Burial 23 12 12 SCHEDULE FOR UPCOMING MEETINGS A. Next Meeting - Tuesday, June 10th, 2025 at 2pm ADJOURNMENT • The meeting was adjourned by Judi Roland at 3:08pm. Prepared By ____--`-`_ a,,a April Shank Cerio, Cemetery Administrative Specialist Approved By 4 G2 �i= / Jud2eea Cemetery Board Chairperson