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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCemetary Commission Minutes 01.14.2010CEMETERY COMMISSION MINUTES January 14, 2010 5:30 P.M. at CITY HALL MEMBERS PRESENT Norm Stamper, Chairman Dick Fritzler Mayor Olson Chuck Rodgers LuAnne Engh OTHERS PRESENT: Bill Sheridan Kurt Markegard + Public Input - No public in attendance. Cathy Gabrian Matt Wheeler Cemetery Fees - The fees for baby graves and the opening/closing were overlooked the last time fees were raised. The Schedule of Fees will be coming to the council and a recommendation needs to be made to the council to raise there as follows. Baby Grave - City Resident .......... $125.00 to $200.00 Baby Grave - Non-Resident........... $150.00 to $250.00 Baby Grave Open/Close ............... $100.00 to $200.00 Baby Grave Open/Close-Saturday... $150.00 to $250.00 Motion by Chuck, seconded by Dick to recommend to the council the rate changes for the baby graves and opening/closing. Motion carried. Rosselot Plaque - Sara Elton, Director of the National Veterans' Cemetery in Sturgis, South Dakota was in Laurel on Veteran's Day and a discussion took place between Sarah, Chuck, Dick and Bill Kennedy regarding the location of the Rosselot plaque. Sara said this is something you want in the Yellowstone County Veterans' Cemetery because it tells the history of the land. She said if the cemetery is eventually designated a federal cemetery, the plaque would remain. Based on her recommendation, a location was decided upon; placing it near the warming building. Chuck suggested getting the hole dug now so the plaque can be installed when the weather improves. There was discussion and Chuck will contact Dan May to reroute the sprinkler lines. The city will pay to have this done so it is ready for Butch Bailey to install the plaque when weather permits. Chuck said Linda Greenwalt has not seen the plaque. It was suggested to take a digital photo of the plaque and send it to her. She is also welcome to stop at city hall to look at it. + CTA Architects' plan for Veterans' section of Laurel Cemetery - The city received a detailed plan from CTA Architects for the gathering area. Norm said it's a very nice plan but something we cannot afford unless changes are made to it. Chuck called Pat Murtagh about getting a rough cost estimate. The plan includes 1600 1-foot pavers and benches that a contractor would need to build. It was asked if anyone has a vision of something simpler that volunteer labor could do or help with. There was discussion whether it would require professional installation and the need for proper engineering. Cemetery Commission Meeting January 14, 2010 Page 2 Cathy reviewed the funding for the cemetery and what is available for the Veterans' area and the sprinkler system. The American Legion previously asked us to keep them in mind and they may contribute toward benches. Kurt felt he could do the layout for the concrete work. There was discussion about decorative concrete in place of some pavers, the slickness of this type of concrete work in wet situations, and other concrete options. Kurt will contact P&H Concrete to see if he has any suggestions or recommendations and bring specific ideas back to the committee with associated costs. LuAnne asked if the area needs to be this large. Norm said it was staked out at a previous meeting and it is felt that eventually, people may gather in this area for committals, especially cremations. We want to keep it large enough to accommodate these gatherings in the future. • Land Issue - Yellowstone County is asking for a quit claim deed to Tract A-1 (62 acres) to install a garage. According to the warranty deed, the county bought Tract A-2 (9.49 acres) of Amended Tract A of Certificate of Survey 43287. Mayor Olson said the purchase of land from the Rosselot family was an "in and out" thing. The county bought this land but then gave it back with the understanding that the Rosselot family wanted burial plots in this area. He said it was a gentleman's agreement and they gave us this land but they did pay for it. Discussion followed and Cathy said we need to start looking out for the city. The documents show the county only bought 9.49 acres so why are we giving them Tract A-1. This small area will never be sufficient for a shop area and dirt piles for the entire county cemetery and she felt they will eventually try to get the rest of our corner. This is the only entrance to our cemetery and our Master Plan objective was to eventually move our shop to the back of our cemetery and beautify this corner to the benefit of our cemetery. The county has a beautiful entrance to their cemetery so they are not concerned that this would really be an eyesore to ours. They promised many things with their cemetery and have not followed through. We need to separate ourselves from them; let them run their cemetery and we can concentrate on what's best for our cemetery and its future. Dick said on the original plat, the land goes to the center of the old Airport Road; we had to dedicate part of the road to the county. Norm said the problem with turning Tract A-1 over to the county is that it includes a right of way in front of our shop. Chuck met with Dan McGee today regarding the survey and the documents show the county bought Tract A-2 with 9.49 acres. The city owns Tract A-1. There was more discussion on the tracts, the garage the county wants to build and eventually turn into an information area and the location of our septic system. LuAnne suggested talking with the county and letting them know our concerns. Kurt suggested a land swap with them, giving them one acre in the northwest corner of our cemetery. This amount of ground would allow them room for expansion of shop facilities, room for their dirt and gravel piles and enough room for a drain field and would be 100' away from a cistern. This would require a survey with casts being shared equally by county and city. Cemetery Commission Meeting January 14, 2010 Page 3 Motion by Dick, seconded by LuAnne to an even trade of Amended Tract A-1 for one acre in the northwest corner of our cemetery and share the cost of surveying. Kurt said that when Bill Enright designed the county cemetery, he should have had a retention pond on their property. Instead, he put a drain under the access road and their storm water drains onto our property and we're treating their water. This will be very costly to us in the future. Motion by Ken, seconded by Dick to amend the motion to add discussion on treatment of storm water for the Yellowstone County Veterans' Cemetery. Motion carried on the amended motion. A vote was taken on the original motion. Motion carried. Sprinkler System -- Chuck stated a small group visited the Rockvale Cemetery last fall and they have a design that will work for our cemetery. Bill Enright designed a system for Laurel that is similar to the county cemetery and the county is finding it is not a good system for ditch water. We could not afford Bill's design but it is possible to do Rockvale's design and install it in stages. There was discussion about replacement of our pump, rebuilding the structure the pump sits on and replacement of the cast iron pipes in the cemetery. This system would be an underground manual system where the heads are installed each time watering is done. It was stated that we have $20,000 budgeted in the CIF Fund for 2010 and $20,000 for 2011. This would give us $40,000 that could be put towards the sprinkler system this summer. It was stated we need cost estimates to get things going. Kurt said the 2M Company would design it if the parts are purchased from them. It was also suggested to talk to Midland Implement and Sam Robertus. Kurt will move forward with contacting these companies. • Other - Chuck said the headstones have been straightened, the cup holes have been drilled, and trees have been removed in the Veterans' sections. Brookstone Monuments still wants to do a little mortar work where the stones were straightened and then we will be invoiced for his work. Chuck showed sketches he drew for iron gates for the entrances and a fence between the gates. He said if we make a good impression at the front, this will be the impression people will have of the entire cemetery. We need to check into the cost of purchasing prefab gates or using volunteer labor to make them. Kurt said they will try to remove the kiosk in February and take it to the shop where it will be painted. A color needs to be chosen for it; then it will be placed at the cemetery. The meeting adjourned at 7:22 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Cathy Gabrian