City of Jacksonville Cemeteries Board met Oct. 22.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
The regular monthly meeting of the Jacksonville City Cemeteries Board was called to order at 8:30 a.m. in the Commission Room of the Jacksonville Municipal Building. The meeting was publicly announced by posting and by written notice to the local newspaper and radio stations.
ROLL CALL: Members present were: Chairman Linda Brown, Tom Newby, Carolyn Bonjean, Gerald Scott, Vicky Scott; City Clerk Skip Bradshaw; Superintendent Doug Moore. Absent from the meeting was Treasurer Mary Fergurson. A quorum was declared.
AGENDA: Motion was made by Bonjean, seconded by Newby, to approve the October 22, 2021 Agenda as presented in advance. By voice vote, motion carried.
MINUTES: Motion was made by G. Scott, seconded by Bonjean, to approve the September 17, 2021 Minutes as presented in advance. By voice vote, motion carried.
FINANCE:
a.) Treasurer’s Investment Report – September 2021:
No discussion due to Treas. Fergurson’s absence.
b.) Cash Receipts Report – September 2021:
Chair Brown gave a brief overview of the September Cash Receipts Report noting that the operating fund cash balance is $124,793.70 as opposed to $103,489.07 at the end of September, 2020. There is a balance of $60,040.47 in the Money Market account earning interest and waiting to be invested, and a total revenue balance of $1,444,847.28. The Year to Date revenue balance is $332,911.70 (15.58% available) and the Year to Date expenditure balance is $285,469.65 (29.36% available) at the end of September.
c.) Cash Receipts Report and Claims Approval – September 2021:
Motion was made by Newby, seconded by G. Scott, to approve the Cash Receipts Reports and to pay claims when funds are available. By voice vote, motion carried.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT: Supt. Moore reported on the following:
✠ New cameras have been installed and are active at East Cemetery. Supt. Moore is working with the City’s IT Dept. and Synergy’s IT Dept. to gain access to the cameras and video content.
✠ The Cemetery Department has been working to resolve various issues related to information that did not transfer over to the new computer hard drive within the Legacy Mark folder.
✠ The forms for the East Cemetery columbarium pad have been prepared and shaped. Plans are to pour the concrete pad next week. Once the concrete is finished and set, the columbarium will be set in place.
✠ T & K Tree Service has removed a damaged cedar tree that was located in the back southeast corner of East Cemetery, as well as stump removal of diseased ash we recently removed.
✠ One of the full time Cemetery Dept. employees has accepted a position elsewhere, another employee had family medical issues, one of the summer employees was terminated due to not showing up for work or showing up late, and there was a COVID quarantine issue that the Department has been dealing with. Supt. Moore has been working hard to ensure and maintain adequate coverage between the two cemeteries.
✠ Four applicants have been interviewed for the full time position at East Cemetery. Supt. Moore hopes to make a determination on that matter next week.
✠ i3 Broadband has completed installation of the internet cables at Diamond Grove Cemetery. Final completion of running cables and setting up the modem will be done soon.
✠ All the trees and bushes from the first phase of plantings have been done at Diamond Grove Cemetery. The second group of 10-12 trees will be purchased and planted in the coming weeks. The majority are maple trees and flowering trees.
✠ The Department has had two mowers recently repaired.
✠ Supt. Moore has had requests from families wanting a more detailed map of the cemetery grounds. He is working on this issue.
PUBLIC COMMENT: No discussion.
OLD BUSINESS:
The agreement for indigent burials continues to be a work in progress. Supt. Moore has prepared a draft agreement to present to the Board at the next meeting prior to presenting it to the funeral homes.
Supt. Moore has an update on the Share Burial agreement that will soon be presented to Chair Brown for signature. He has received an inquiry from a family that would like to do something for a situation that would be applicable for this program, so in the course of that conversation he mentioned this program to them and referred them to Rev. Kelly for more information.
Discussion ensued regarding the new rule book supplement that was previously presented by Chair Brown. Language and grammatical changes, subtractions, and additions were suggested throughout in an attempt to simplify the document. Mr. Scott asked if the $500 fee for columbarium burials was excessive. Supt. Moore feels that at the time the fee was determined it was in an attempt to be consistent with a traditional burial. General discussion ensued regarding ash burials and it was noted that the City’s processes are the same regardless of the burial type.
Discussion then resumed regarding the Rules & Regulations, a legal document that provides families with conduct for the cemeteries. At this time, the department does not have printed copies of the document to disseminate, but they are able to print a copy if requested. Previous Cemetery Supt. Jim Pierson was in favor of offering a simple one-page document at the time of need, an idea that Supt. Moore supports. As such, he has prepared a document that simplifies and answers the majority of questions directed to his department, with redirection to the City’s website for the comprehensive Rules & Regulations if necessary. He does however feel that the Rules & Regulations need to be updated. Chair Brown disagrees and feels the one-page document is too simple and feels families need to see the various information contained within her document. Supt. Moore explained that he does walk families through the process but does not feel it is necessary to physically hand them a Rules & Regulations document at that time. General discussion ensued. CC Bradshaw noted that the RMA (Loss Notice Report/Damage Claim Form) included in Chair Brown’s document should be removed as that is a form the City typically completes. Members of the Board were asked to review those documents for discussion at the November meeting.
NEW BUSINESS:
Supt. Moore has a client who would like to make some extensions to his family plot for legacy purposes for his extended family and is in the process of establishing how much space he needs. The difficulty is that his family is buried in Section A and everything around them has been sold. If an extension is not possible, he would like to pursue plots that were purchased over a hundred years ago that have never been used. Through research Supt. Moore has found several plots that would be a viable option. However, the State has a provision of 50 years and the City has a provision of 100 years before an unused space can be resold. If that is not an option, an alternative option would be to increase the number of cremains that can be buried in one plot, which would also meet the clients needs. Supt. Moore offered the client the suggestion of moving his entire family to a new section that would accommodate his needs as well. He also noted that previous requests to deviate from the maximum of two cremains burials per space have been denied. Supt. Moore will look for the parameters of the 100 year rule, and suggested holding firm on the maximum of two cremains burials per space.
ADJOURNMENT: Hearing no further business, a motion was made by Bonjean, seconded by V. Scott, to adjourn the meeting at 9:43 a.m. By voice vote, motion carried. The next regularly scheduled meeting of the Jacksonville City Cemeteries Board will be held Friday, November 19, 2021, 8:30 a.m. in the Commission Room at the City of Jacksonville Municipal Building.
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