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Minutes 01-28-03 CEt4ETERY BOARD t4EETZNG HELD TN CONFERENCE ROOH C, WEST W~[NG, CZTY HALL BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA ON TUESDAY, .1ANUARY 28, 2003 AT 7:00 P.t4. Present David Nyquist, Chairman John Tineri, Vice Chairman Marilyn Huckle mereesa Padgett (arr. 7:04 p.m.) Janet Prainito Harold Blanchette, Alternate Absent Teresa Frazier I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Nyquist presided and called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. I1. ATTENDANCE The roll was called and any absences were noted. A quorum was present. 1'II. AGENDA APPROVAL Not addressed. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - SEPTEI~IBER 24, 2002 Ms. Prainito noted that rvlr. Blanchette's name should be changed from .]ohn to Harold on the first page of the minutes. Motion Vice Chair Tineri moved to accept the minutes as amended and put them on record. Chair Nyquist seconded the motion. Mr. Blanchette stated that he had come to the meeting to make sure there was a quorum. He then stated, "Pla/n/y, I came on the Board to try and help the C/b/ ga/n access to the recreation field west of the Cemetery but/t was due to the C/b/ Manager and C/ty Counc//, apparent/y, that they saw fit to relegate th/s Board down to noth/ng but an adv/sory board, and take the $3.?fif that was/n .]eft Livergood, Public Works Director .]ohn Wildner, Deputy Parks Director Chris Roberts, Asst. Public Works Director Glenda Hall, Parks Manager Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida January 28, 2003 the Board, bring it back into the City someplace, whether in the Genera/Fund or some other location, ! don't know where that money is. But, Z don't see myself very useful trying to do something that is impossible, We were discussing where the Cemetery was going to be relocated and in the meantime they are planting trees over there. ! brought that up in a meeting and Z said it doesn't look like the City is going to go and waste money planting trees in an area that they are going to use as a Cemetery. And then they had all these other options where some of them were completely ridiculous - buying property down at 13~ and ~4~h A venues. ! see no reason that Z should be on the Board as an adviser when the City Council and the City Manager are not going to take my advice anyway. $o, as of now, Z would like to submit my resignation and leave the meeting. "Mr. Blanchette left the meeting at this point. Chair Nyquist and the Board rendered thanks to Mr. Blanchette and offered to keep in touch. RECEI'PT OF REVENUE/EXPENSE SHEETS- AUGUST, SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, & DECEMBER 2002 Ms. Padgett wanted to table this item since she had been out of town and had not been able to examine the reports. Chair Nyquist said he did not have any questions about the reports. Hot/on Vice Chair Tineri moved to place the subject reports seconded the motion that passed unanimously. on file. Ms. Prainito VI. RECEI'PT OF SALES REPORTS - SEPTEMBER, OCTOBER, & DECEMBER 2002 Chair Nyquist stated that he did not have any questions about these reports. Motion Ms. Padgett moved to place the Sales Reports from June and July 2002 on file. Ms. Prainito seconded the motion that carried unanimously. VII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Public Works Department Report Mr. Livergood stated that the report was an overview of the activities at the Cemetery as documented by the Crew Leader, Mark Aniki. Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida .lanuary 28, 2003 Motion Vice Chair Tineri moved to place the Public Works Department Report on file. Ms. Padgett seconded the motion that carried unanimously. B. Reports on Cemetery Areas Assigned to Members 1. Blocks W & Y on the South Side Chair Nyquist requested the new Board member, Msi Marilyn Huckle, to monitor this section on an ongoing basis. Ms. Huckle stated that she visited it frequently anyway and that it looked fine. 2. Blocks N & O, area to the west, Old Section to flagpole Chair Nyquist reported that he had not been able to get out to see this section. 3. Seacrest Boulevard to building on the South Side Ms. Padgett reported that this section looked good. 4. Mausoleum and Sara Simms Vice Chair Tineri reported that these areas looked very good. He also stated that the new sign and fence at Sara Simms were very attractive. Vice Chair Tineri asked for the status on the issue of emergency vehicles having a hard time getting around the circle in the Cemetery. Mr. Livergood responded that staff was talking about reducing the diameter of the circle to allow more room for emergency vehicles to get through. Also, the curb is very high and if the Fire Department tried to "jump" the curb, their vehicles would be damaged. Staff was thinking of making a ramp so that mowers could get into it as well. Ms. Padgett stated that the circle had been rebuilt without the advice and consent of the Cemetery Board and that it had been made too large. Chair Nyquist asked why they should put a curb around it at all. Mr. Livergood thought that was an interesting idea and suggested that staff would hold off on making any changes to the circle and prepare a report with options and costs for the Board's review. This report could be presented for discussion at a future meeting. The Board may wish to eliminate the circle, use it for a memorial, an entry marker, a tree, or any other combination of uses. Chair Nyquist thought it would be best to pave it over. Ms. Huckle stated that it was essential that something be there because the circle slowed down traffic to a pace conducive to safety and respect for those buried and entombed there. After 3 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida ~lanuary 28, 2003 further discussion, Mr. Livergood indicated that he would include the median and the circle in his report and that the report would probably be presented at the March meeting. He asked the Board members to be thinking about what they wanted so that it could be discussed at the February meeting. C. Staff Report on Cemetery Options (Tabled) Chair Nyquist questioned whether staff had made all of the corrections to this report that had been requested by the Board. When staff responded affirmatively, Chair Nyquist directed everyone to the second paragraph from the bottom on page 2. He pointed out that High Ridge Condominiums needed to be changed to High Point. Chair Nyquist asked that staff correct it and return it to the Board. When Mr. Livergood questioned whether one typo could delay the discussion of this item, Chair Nyquist responded affirmatively. Ms. Huckle felt this report provided a very interesting area of discussion for the Board. She believed that a conversation should take place on this very important issue, in spite of a minor correction that was needed, because the Cemetery is filling to capacity. She explained that she has been a resident of Boynton Beach for 44 years and had always thought that the baseball park would be the extension of the Cemetery. This report surprised her. She noted that in the report, staff was recommending that the Boynton Beach Memorial Park not be expanded to the baseball park. When Chair Nyquist expressed his opinion that the Board should not discuss this issue until everything in the report was correct, Ms. Huckle and Ms. Prainito disagreed. Ms. Prainito pointed out that the discussion had been delayed for many months and it should not be delayed again because of one typo. She further pointed out that the Board had not yet even discussed the report and she felt Mr. Blanchette resigned because of his misinterpretation of the report. Ms. Prainito explained that the Board needed to discuss this issue and provide a recommendation to the Commission. Chair Nyquist said these are decisions the Board cannot make. The Board has asked the City Commission about expansion of the Cemetery to the west, and the City Commission keeps bouncing this back to the Board. He felt that the Commission needed to advise the board if they want to extend the Cemetery or find a location for another cemetery. Ms. Prainito reiterated that the City Commission sent this issue to the Cemetery Board for discussion and a recommendation regarding what the City should do. 4 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida .lanuary 28, 2003 Vice Chair Tineri requested guidance in getting the Board's recommendation to the City Commission. Mr. Livergood explained that the Board's recommendation would become a City Commission agenda item where it would be discussed in a public forum. This is the method that is used by all other advisory boards in the city. Mr. Livergood explained to the members that staff's recommendations are based on financial and other impacts on the City. Staff provides the advisory boards with the information they believe the boards need to help them arrive at a decision. Some of the information staff provides is disregarded by the boards and sometimes it is counted on very strongly. The City Commission would like a formal recommendation from the Cemetery Board as to how the Board wants to proceed with the cemetery business in the future. The City Commission would then have to take final action on that recommendation in a public meeting. Chair Nyquist said the Board asked the City to put a question on the ballot to determine how the voters felt about the future of the cemetery. The City Manager indicated that the City would look into this suggestion, but the Board never heard anything further about it. When Mr. Livergood questioned whether a recommendation to this effect had ever been formalized, IVls. Prainito responded negatively. Vice Chair Tineri felt that the City Commission knew that the Cemetery Board and half the population of Boynton Beach wanted to expand the Cemetery for future burials. Mr. Livergood explained that the members could not assume that the City Commissioners would take action after reading the minutes. The City Commission realizes that the Cemetery Board members know the Cemetery better than anybody. Mr. Livergood explained that every other advisory board makes formal recommendations and that is exactly what the City Commission wants in this case. Vice Chair Tineri questioned whether the Board's actions were appropriate last year during a workshop meeting with the City Commission when the Board stated that they wanted to expand the Cemetery to the west. Mr. Livergood explained that from that meeting, staff was directed to do a study and have the Cemetery Board make a formal recommendation to the City Commission. Again, Vice Chair Tineri requested guidance in presenting the City Commission with the Board's recommendation. Mr. Livergood said the Board should consider: 5 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida _lanuary 28, 2003 :L. Do you want to remain in the cemetery business? Some governments have gotten out of this business, allowing the private sector to handle this job. The Board must decide if it is in the best interest of the City to remain in the cemetery business. Tf the Board's recommendation is not to remain in the business, the Commission could agree or could remand it back to the Board with direction to find a way to remain in the business. If the answer is that the City should remain in the cemetery business, then the City Commission would like the Board to offer a way to do it. 2. Do you want to look at the ball fields? The western ball field is a very good location for expansion, but is it in the overall City's best interest to move those fields? The Cemetery Board will look at this from one perspective and while the City Commission will accept that recommendation, they will balance it with the recreational needs of the City. They will make the final decision. Chair Nyquist thanked Mr. Livergood for his thoroughness in explaining this process to the Board members. Chair Nyquist asked that the item be removed from the Table. Notion Vice Chair Tineri moved to remove the staff report on Cemetery Options from the table. Ms. Padgett seconded the motion that passed unanimously. Notion Ms. Huckle moved that the Cemetery Board recommend to the City Commission that the Board would like to stay in the cemetery business and that they would like to have the Cemetery expanded westerly in the place of the baseball fields. Vice Tineri seconded the motion. Mr. Livergood thought that the City Commission might be looking for guidance as to funding, l~f the Commission agrees to move into the ball fields, it would be faced with spending about $3M to replicate the ball fields elsewhere in the City, or Little League operations would cease to exist. If the City decides to move the Cemetery to the west, it may want additional guidance from the Board as to whether additional property should be purchased with bonds backed with revenue from Cemetery proceeds: Should the City look at burial fees to pay bonds back? Ms. Huckle stated that the funding was the City's business, not the Cemetery Board's business. Mr. Livergood stated that this was appropriate but that the members might want to say that they believed that the issue of 6 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida January28, 2003 financing was the City Commission's choice. Ms. Padgett stated that the City wanted the Cemetery Board to purchase that land, but the funds are specifically to take care of the cemeteries. Mr. Livergood agreed and he stated that the City Commission would have to make a decision. The reality is that the City will have to spend money to rebuild the ball fields elsewhere or build a cemetery elsewhere. The City does not have the money in any case. The City will have to sell bonds in either scenario. Whether the bonds are paid back through general tax dollars or through plot fees would be a decision. Mr. Livergood thought they might ask staff through the Finance Department to find a way to make it work. l~f the City Commission accepts the recommendation of the Cemetery Board and acts on it in a positive manner, the City Commission will be asking staff to tell them how to proceed in replicating the ball fields somewhere else and what the impact of doing so would be on the taxpayers. There is a very strong faction in this City that will want to continue Little League operations. Mr. Wildner referred to the perceptions of Ms. Padgett and Ms. Huckle about expansion of the Cemetery to the west. Over the past twenty years, staff had gotten conflicting direction from the City Commission and the City Managers to expand the ball fields instead. These incremental directions and decisions led to the current infrastructure of the ball fields and the high cost of moving them. Ms. Prainito remarked about comments made at this meeting regarding the City spending the Cemetery's money. This is not what she got out of the options report. Ms. Padgett stated that it was in an earlier report. Mr. Livergood stated that there were options on money. He did not recall his exact words, but that he never said, "spend Cemetery money on ball fields, but instead, spend Cemetery money to expand cemeteries." Chair Nyquist stated that they could not do this because they had to reserve spending for perpetual care. Mr. Wildner mentioned that the existing Fund could not be used for expansion of the Cemetery. The revenue from the plots that are sold in the Cemetery is used for maintenance of those lots; however, the money that would be acquired from the sale of future lots could be set aside to help pay for the expansion. Mr. Livergood stated that he had said this earlier, "Anytime you sell a plot in an expanded, new cemetery, money has to be included in the lot price to pay for the purchase of the property for that new cemetery to be built." Chair Nyquist stated that he was glad that Mr. Livergood made this clear because it had not been clear in the past. Mr. Wildner explained that the logic of the perpetual care fund was to maintain the existing graves because purchases paid for that service. If the Cemetery 7 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida January 28, 2003 were to be expanded, the next step could be that for the residents that are moving in now, the Board could increase the price of the plots to a value similar to what is paid out west. This money could then be put towards relocating the Little League fields somewhere else. Mr. Livergood stated that when one moves into property where there has never been a cemetery, it is like putting a whole new cemetery in as a different "company." The Cemetery could move into the ball fields and the Cemetery could pay the City for the property. The cost of the property would be paid back to the Cemetery through the sale of the plots. The City would have the sale of the property to replicate the ball fields. It would not be the General Fund that is used to provide $3.M to rebuild something that it already has. The Cemetery Board could recommend to the City Commission that the price of the plots should be set so that it can repay bonds to pay for relocating the Cemetery somewhere else as a cost of expanding the Cemetery. Ms. Huckle felt this was a staff responsibility and Mr. Livergood agreed. He said the City would not have the money to rebuild the ball fields. The City would have to sell $3.5M in bonds to build the new ball fields somewhere. What revenue stream do you use to pay the bonds back? The general property tax payer, through his property taxes, should not pay for this because the relocation of the ball field is a result of expanding the Cemetery. There would be a revenue stream in expansion of the Cemetery You calculate the number of dollars that must be set aside to pay back the bonds, assuming that you will have 700 to 1,000 burials a year. Mr. Wildner commented that a portion of that money would also go towards the maintenance of the new Cemetery, equivalent to the maintenance that is being done in the existing Cemetery. Ms. Padgett asked if Ms. Huckle would consider amending her motion to just recommend that the Cemetery expand to the west and not express a recommendation at this time about staying in the Cemetery business. Ms. Huckle agreed to amend her motion. I~lotion Ms. Huckle moved that the Cemetery Board forward a positive recommendation to the City Commission to expand the Cemetery to the west into the ball field area. Vice Chair Tineri seconded the motion that carried unanimously in a roll call vote requested by the Chairman. VIII. New Business Chair Nyquist wished to have the Board consider meeting quarterly instead of monthly. All of the same information that is prepared monthly now would be sent to them at their homes but they would meet only every quarter. 8 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida _lanuary 28, 2003 Ms. Padgett indicated that she wished to have a verbatim copy of Mr. Bressner's remarks to the Cemetery Board pertaining to the day-to-day operations of the Cemetery and the advisory board's role because it did not appear in the Resolution. Ms. Prainito commented that the Clerk's office did not do verbatim transcripts but that she would provide a copy of the meeting minutes from the meeting in question and also a copy of the Resolution. Mr. Livergood stated that the City needed the Board's "big picture" guidance and that they had just made such a decision in their recommendation to the City Commission. Staff can handle the day-to-day operation of the Cemeteries. Ms. Prainito checked the current Code of Ordinances pertaining to the operation of the Cemetery but could not find a reference to the requirement for meeting frequency. She stated that the Board could make a motion and if it were legal, she would get back to the Board and they could meet three months later. Chair Nyquist wanted to meet in February and stated that this matter would be brought up at that time. Ms. Prainito inquired about the Board approving refunds and disinterments and it was agreed that this could be done over the telephone and possibly confirmed at the quarterly meetings. Ms. Huckle inquired about the requirement for only putting fresh flowers in the mausoleum, saying that they very quickly spoiled and that the water from old flowers was very unsightly. The Cemetery outside allows artificial flowers and they looked great. Mr. Livergood stated that he would like the Cemetery Board to look at its procedures and rules. There were certain rules that were abided by most of the time but ignored at others, especially at holiday times. The procedures could be revised to be very clear about such matters. Following discussion about the mausoleum, Mr. Livergood stated that it would be necessary to go back to the original mausoleum contract to find out when maintenance kicks in on the part of the City. The City cleans it, fixes the roof, replaces letters on the crypts, and so forth. This review and firming up of the procedures and rules was an example of the kind of policy decisions that the City wanted the Cemetery Board to focus upon. He said that the Board needed to come up with rules that would consider the needs of the families balanced with safety issues. Ms. Padgett asked if the Local Grant Investment Pool mentioned in the reports could include the rate of interest since it did not at present. She stated that it used to be included but was not any more. Ms. Prainito offered to follow up to see that this information is included in the next report. Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida .lanuary 28, 2003 Ms. Padgett inquired what Stiles Irrigation had to do with Sara Simms Park. Mr. Livergood elaborated that the City had just awarded a citywide landscaping bid for every location in the City that it maintains. The City allows the contract vendor to do the irrigation at the locations where its bid is Iow and the City takes care of maintenance where the contractor's bids were too high. The City handles the mowing and weeding at Sara Simms but the contract vendor handles the irrigation to include monthly inspection of the sprinkler heads and replacement of defective ones when they fail. At the Boynton Beach Memorial Park, the City handles both landscaping and irrigation. IX. Other The requests for transfer, refund, and disinterment listed in the Agenda were included for the Board's information only as they were all approved by the Board via telephone. X. Adjournment Since there was no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (one tape) (012903) 10