City of Jacksonville Cemetery Board met April 26.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
The regular monthly meeting of the Jacksonville City Cemeteries Board was called to order at 8:45 a.m. at Norma’s North Star Café, 211 E. Court Street, Jacksonville, Illinois. The meeting was publicly announced by posting and by written notice to the local newspaper and radio stations.
ROLL CALL: Members present were: Chairman Doug Moore, Tom Newby, Carolyn Bonjean, Gerald Scott; Treasurer Mary Fergurson; Superintendent Jim Pierson; Deputy City Clerk Angela Salyer. Absent from the meeting was Member Linda Brown. A quorum was declared.
AGENDA: Motion was made by Bonjean, seconded by Scott, to approve the April 26, 2019 Agenda as presented in advance. By voice vote, motion carried.
MINUTES: Mr. Newby recommended changing “Sew” to “See” on the first paragraph under Old Business. Motion was made by Newby, seconded by Bonjean, to approve the March 15, 2019 Minutes as amended. By voice vote, motion carried.
FINANCE:
a.) Treasurer’s Investment Report – March 2019:
Ms. Fergurson advised there is not much to discuss on the Consolidated Investments Report. A $100,000 Certificate of Deposit was reinvested in March. The next maturity is scheduled for September 2019 in the amount of $25,000. There was an increase in the valuation of the equity holdings of approximately $6,000, bringing the total market value to $292,807.97. The Land and Buildings fund is holding steady at $96,333.56. The market has rebounded about 25% on the equities side since December 24, 2018. The funds in which the Cemetery Dept. has invested in do produce dividend income, so that helps. The only distribution from mutual funds that are reinvested are the long term capital gains distributions, which are considered principal, and typically happen annually in December.
b.) Cash Receipts Report – March 2019:
Chair Moore gave a brief overview of the Cash Receipts Report, noting that there is a current revenue balance of 80.80%, and a current expenditure balance of 82.87% remaining at the end of March. The accounts are in good standing at this time.
c.) Cash Receipts Report and Claims Approval – March 2019:
Motion was made by Newby, seconded by Scott, to approve the Cash Receipts Report and to pay claims when funds are available. By voice vote, motion carried.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT: Supt. Pierson reported on the following:
Mowing season is in full swing. A new mower has been purchased and is now in use
The VFW donated about 140 flags to the Cemetery Department
Several people have expressed their dissatisfaction with the Memorial Lawn Cemetery and have decided to buy their burial plots from the City. PUBLIC COMMENT: No discussion.
OLD BUSINESS:
Chair Moore continues to work with Greg Olson regarding a written history of the cemeteries.
Chair Moore continues to wait for the paperwork related to the Heritage Health burial lots transfer of title to the City from the Jacksonville Area Senior Chaplaincy. He has been in touch with City Attorney Dan Beard regarding the matter as his firm has assumed much of the work on this endeavor with the retirement of Attorney Eddie Carpenter. Part of the hindrance may be due to the fact that a transfer of title needs to be made between the National Benevolent Association and the Jacksonville Area Senior Chaplaincy before these lots can be officially transferred to the City. All of these burial plots are being transferred to the City, which should put the City in a better position to coordinate with Passavant Hospital on fetal burials.
Chair Moore has made some progress on the Rule Book and is planning to turn a draft over to Linda Brown for review once he is finished.
NEW BUSINESS: It has recently come to light that local funeral homes would like to stop holding funerals and burials on holidays. Christmas Day is currently the only day that the City does not allow burials. Supt. Pierson is seeking the Board’s recommendation regarding whether or not to add Sundays and all holidays to the list of excluded burial days. As an alternative, an increase in the fee structure for weekends and holidays may help deter burials on those days. It was noted that there is already a proposed amendment to the fee schedule for July increasing the weekend rates. Mr. Scott feels there are always exceptions to the rule, he would prefer to keep options open regarding burials on Sundays. Supt. Pierson also noted that the new trend is to hold funerals and burials later in the evening. General discussion ensued and it was the consensus of the Board to keep the rules as they are for now, and to revisit the matter of weekend/holiday burials and funeral/burial times later in the year.
ADJOURNMENT: Hearing no further business, a motion was made by Newby, seconded by Scott, to adjourn the meeting at 9:09 a.m. By voice vote, motion carried. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Jacksonville City Cemeteries Board will be held Friday, May 17, 2019, 8:30 a.m. in the Commission Room at the City of Jacksonville Municipal Building.
https://www.jacksonvilleil.gov/city_government/boards_commissions_and_committees/docs/Boards%20Commissions%20Committees/Cemetery_Board_Minutes/2019/04.26.19.pdf
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