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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-08-2023 MinutesMOUNTAIN VIEW CEMETERY BOARD MEETING MINUTES A. CALL TO ORDER Cemetery Board meeting of Tuesday, August 8, 2023 was called to order by Judi Roland at 2:17pm. Members present: Judi Roland, Arnie Galli, Robert Rakos & Tim Pierce Members absent: Jeanne Hicks Staff present: Immer Chevalier & April Shank Cerio B. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Minutes from meeting on April 11, 2023 were reviewed, no corrections or additions were made and a motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed to approve as printed. Minutes from meeting on June 6, 2023 were reviewed, no corrections or additions were made and a motion was made, seconded and unanimously passed to approved as printed. C. ForestWalk Flower Policy Discussion The cemetery office has been approached in the last six months asking to install permanent flower vases. ForestWalk is a unique option for the natural beauty it provides. According to the policy “grave decorations will be fresh cut flowers (no vases)”. This inquiry was brought up to the cemetery board members and the consensus from the board was to leave the policy as is. D. OPMA/PRA Training Stands for Open Public Meeting Act & Public Records Act. This was a 13 minute video put on by the City Clerk going over rules and regulations that pertain to record keeping, governing bodies and meetings. E. Old Business  Memorial Day Weekend – After the lightning strike issues earlier in the Spring which kept the maintenance workers VERY busy, the days leading up to Memorial Day Weekend were rather stressful to get everything all ready. We ended up having to hire a new company for trimming of the markers as the old company increased their pricing dramatically. The new company did a great job and it was a good price. There were 2 black markers that ended up with some scratches but were unsure if that came from the trimming crew or staff. We are having to replace those stones as the scratches would not buff out. We had 2 Boy Scouts of America troops place flags on all of the Veteran marked graves the Saturday prior to the holiday and we supplied them with a BBQ lunch afterwards to thank them. The big ceremony was on Monday with the mayor, honor guard did a bell ringing and a fire Chaplain to say some words. It was well attended.  Mowing season/Flower pick-ups – We started a little later than normal due to the lightning strike issues that kept us busy. Mowing is going good and the schedule is Monday & Tuesday every week. We do wilted flower pick-ups on Mondays prior to mowing. We have had a couple families decorate graves with fencing and non-permitted items which we remove and store at the shop where they are welcome to pick up.  Irrigation Fixes - We continue to have and fix irrigation issues as they arise. There was a big underground break on Memory Lane. We are waiting for an asphalt company to complete the patch work. Maintenance worker Zach has been able to fix all of the issues so far which is a big savings. None of the fixes due to the lightning strike have been covered under insurance since it didn’t happen to a structure.  New Mower and Backhoe – We received 1 new mower in March that is part of the fleet so M & O will do any maintenance on it when needed. We kept the old mower as a back-up and the others are the cemetery’s so we complete the maintenance on those when needed. We received a new John Deere Backhoe in July and Pape Machinery provided training. We switched out the new bucket with the old one as it seemed to fit better for the jobs needed. We have ordered a guard. The old Backhoe went to the Parks Department. F. New Business: New Chapel Shutters & Screens – The chapel has had some exterior vandalism in the past that got us thinking more security INSIDE the chapel is needed. The inside are glass niches which could be a huge mess/issues if vandalism happened inside. We spoke with the director and are working with a company to get a large motorized shutter for the entry . Our gates are locked at dusk. We have had gas siphoned from the trucks in the past. We have looked into security cameras and was quoted $5,000 for 1 camera for the cemetery.  ForestWalk Phase III – First meeting with the architect Fred Glick was in March with another meeting in July and one on the schedule for August. 13 trees were removed in March for the area that were potential problem trees. This new addition (ForestWalk Phase IIIA) we were hoping to start in 2024 but more likely 2025. It is about 1 acre in size and will have gravel walkways, trees & bushes, bridges to connect areas, possibly a small waterfall and will have about 1200 cremation plots. Columbariums will be added in the future. Fred Glick provided an example blueprint of the area which we viewed. The project will go to bidding first. In the future there are plans for a ForestWalk IIIB and a 10th addition for full size plots with upright monument options that will have a Mt. Rainier View. G. REPORTS  Budget Update – April through July this year have been good especially May which ended with $209,838.77 with July a close 2nd with $203,970.52. The revenues come from pre-need sales, at-need sales and markers. May & June had several vault sales and July had a lot of liners. Cemetery Sales April May June July Month-To-Date Receipts $122,263.20 $209,838.77 $159,082.25 $203,970.52 Ground Plots 2 16 11 23 Cremation Plots 4 6 3 3 Niches 3 5 5 5 ForestWalk Ossuary 2 Extended Land Use 2 4 2 Markers 13 28 18 14 Graves 6 22 14 26 Markers 13 28 18 14 Niches 3 5 7 5 Total Placements 20 21 37 29 Cremation 16 7 25 15 Ground Burial 4 14 12 14 H. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned by Judy Roland at 3:15pm. Approved Date Immer Chevalier Cemetery Manager August 14, 2023