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Minutes 02-26-04MINUTES OF THE CEMETERY BOARD MEETING HELD AT THE ART CENTER, 125 SE 2ND AVENUE, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2004 AT 7:00 P.M. Present Jim Ryzy, Chair Teresa Frazier, Vice Chair Janet Prainito, Secretary Michael D. Enkoff Susan Morrison, Voting Alternate John Wildner, Deputy Recreation & Parks Director I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Ryzy called the meeting to order at 7:06 p.m. II. ATTENDANCE Secretary Prainito called the roll and declared a quorum was present. She welcomed Assistant City Attorney David Tolces to the meeting. Secretary Prainito announced the resignation from the Cemetery Board of Lynn Huckle. This news was met with regret on the part of the Board members. III. AGENDA APPROVAL Motion The agenda was approved. IV. PRESENTATION ON SUNSHINE LAW/PUBLIC RECORDS - David Tolces, Assistant City Attorney Attorney Tolces explained that the City Attorney has requested that all the City Boards be provided with updates on three areas of Florida law dealing with Boards as follows: (1) the Sunshine Law; (2) the Public Records Law; and (3) the Code of Ethics. Prior to Attorney Tolces beginning his presentation, he distributed a copy of pertinent provisions of the Florida Statutes. The Sunshine Law provides that all public meetings and records be open to the public. Attorney Tolces explained that the Cemetery Board was a public body of the City of Boynton Beach. Therefore, the provisions of Section 286.011 of the Florida Statutes govern this Board. This statute provides access for the citizens to their government. This applies to any meeting or gathering of any two or more members of the same board to discuss a matter that would deal with any action that might come before the Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 26, 2004 Board. The members will make decisions based on the information presented to them and not on any outside influences. Meetings must be noticed publicly and minutes must be taken. The Cemetery Board meetings are noticed by the City Clerk's Office and that office provides the Recording Secretary to take the minutes of the meeting. If two or more Board members discuss anything Board-related outside of the meeting, they could be found to be in violation of the Sunshine Laws. The law provides for certain non-criminal penalties to be imposed up to $500 and under some circumstances, criminal penalties could be imposed as a misdemeanor. Attorney Tolces also noted that the law provides that all minutes of the meeting are to be available for public inspection. Sometimes written communication among Board members, including E-mail, could also be considered a violation of the Sunshine Law. All meetings must be open to the public, with the doors open, and anybody can come in. The Board is prohibited from meeting in a private place where access has to be secured from a security guard to enter. · Reasonable notice is at least 24 hours, but normally 72 hours or more is provided. · Minutes must be available to the public for review at anytime. The Public Records Law is covered in Section 119.011(1) of the Florida Statutes. Section 1 .A. states that all public records are open and available to the public unless an exemption is provided. Anything that Board members see and possess as it relates to the functions, duties and actions of this Board is considered a public record and must be made available to the public for inspection. Therefore, all the information in the agenda packet or any correspondence or letters received regarding any issues is public record. If any Board member receives any kind of communication from anyone associated with a matter that would be coming before the Board, this is also public record and should be forwarded to the Board Liaison for distribution to the other Board members. A copy must be given to the City Clerk's office as well, who will maintain the information in accordance with the records management laws of the State. A~orney Tolces remarked that the notes taken by Board members during a meeting were also considered public record and would have to be produced if requested. All requests for public records should be submitted to the City Clerk's Office. That office will contact the appropriate department or individual to ensure that the request is responded to in a timely manner. There are also potential civil and criminal penalties for not complying with the Public Records Act. If a person files suit against the City for failure to produce public records and the court finds that the City did violate the Public Records Act, the City would be liable for the attorney fees for that individual. Ethics In Government is covered in Chapter 112 of the State of Florida Statutes that deals with the Board's obligation to vote as a member of a public body. Section 112.3143 provides in detail the Board's obligation on voting unless a member has a 2 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 26, 2004 conflict. A conflict usually occurs when a Board member would personally gain or lose financially, or a relative, family member, business partner, or associate would also stand to gain or lose financially from a matter before the Board. This is the only time a member may abstain from voting. Forms are provided by the City Clerk's Office that must be completed and filed when a member abstains from voting and the reason for abstaining must be listed. The forms must be completed within fifteen days of the vote. The reason for the Code of Ethics is to avoid any appearance of impropriety. If any Board member has any question on whether they should vote on a matter because of a potential conflict, they should contact the City Attorney's Office. Because the City Attorney's Office represents the City and the Boards, but not the individual members of the Boards, if any member feels that they may have done something, contrary to the City Attorney's advice, it would be beneficial to obtain their own attorney in those instances. Attorney Tolces explained that the City Attorney's office is always available to answer any questions and can be contacted at 561-742-6050. Attorney Tolces gave practical examples of some of the points in his presentation, saying that a Board member could call another Board member and ask if they were going to the meeting, but could not ask that person how they planned to vote on a certain issue before the Board. If the Board members refrain from discussing Board business outside the confines of the Board meeting, they can avoid trouble and any appearance of impropriety. Also, A person cannot be used as a conduit to get information to another Board member. For example, a Board member could not call John Wildner and ask him to call another Board member to see how they were going to vote on an issue and provide him with that information. Attorney Tolces mentioned that some boards had asked if they could meet by telephone or via the Internet, and the response was that this could not be done since there was no public access. It would be possible to set up procedures to have members appear by telephone, but those procedures would have to be adopted by quorum. Mr. Wildner asked Attorney Tolces about whether he perceived a conflict in having funeral directors serve on the Cemetery Board. Attorney Tolces stated that it would depend on the issue and how speculative the potential gain to the funeral director or his employer would be. The feeling on the Board was that even if the Board suggested rate increases, for example, their decisions were only recommendations to the City Commission, who would make the final decision. The Board thanked Attorney Tolces for an informative presentation. V. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - January 27, 2004 3 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 26, 2004 Motion Ms. Morrison moved to approve the minutes seconded by Mr. Enkoff and unanimously carried. of the January 27, 2004 meeting, VI. RECEIPT OF REVENUE/EXPENSE SHEETS - January 2004 Motion Ms. Morrison moved to accept the revenue/expense seconded by Vice Chair Frazier, and unanimously carried. sheets from January 2004, VII. RECEIPT OF SALES REPORTS - January 2004 Members reviewed the reports as submitted. Chair Ryzy commented that it appeared that sales were good, with 13 sales for the period. Mr. Wildner stated that this was an average month. Motion Mr. Enkoff moved to accept the January 2004 Sales Report, seconded by Secretary Prainito and carried unanimously. VIII. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Parks Division Report Mr. Wildner distributed the report, apologizing that the report had not been included in the packet. He also commented that the date should state February 3 instead of January 3 on the report and that the data contained in the report is for January of 2004. There were no questions on the report. Proposed Change to Cemetery Rules & Regulations - Rule #18 (Tabled on 1/27/04 Secretary Prainito stated that she had sent a letter to Mr. Brady Osborne conveying the Board's acceptance of his proposed language change in paragraph #1 concerning flowers. She also expressed the Board's request that the words Easter and Christmas be replaced with the words "religious holidays" in paragraph #2. To date, she had not received a reply from Mr. Osborne, but expected to hear from him soon. The Board decided by consensus to table this item until the next meeting. C. Election of Vice Chairperson (Tabled on 1/27/04) 4 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 26, 2004 Vice Chair Frazier was asked if she would be willing to continue as Vice Chairperson, and she replied that she was willing to do so. Motion Ms. Morrison moved to elect Ms. Teresa Frazier as Vice Chairperson of the Cemetery Board. Mr. Enkoff seconded the motion that carried unanimously. D. Discussion of Replatting of Existing Cemetery Space Mr. Wildner distributed a plot map of Boynton Memorial Park for the members' review. He expounded upon the various possibilities for maximizing the use of the space in the existing cemeteries such as: · replatting Boynton Memorial Park and the Sara Simms Memorial Gardens · eliminating two or more roadways at Boynton Memorial Park and closing off some of the roads o provide more room · encouraging the option of cremation · possible purchase of land adjacent to Sara Simms for expansion there · further improvements to Sara Simms such as a center roadway, increased landscaping, and sidewalks surrounding it · having permanent shelters instead of having to use set-up equipment each time · increase non-resident rates to give residents a better chance to purchase a lot · consider the amount of space in the northwest side of the cemetery adjacent to Woolbright Road, which space could be used for infants or adults* · doing a full survey of the existing land in Boynton Memorial · remove asphalt to the east and west of the existing infant block to gain more spaces · consider potential for a single row, side-by-side Mausoleum along Woolbright Road · consider allowing more cremains in a full grave · remove existing markers and place larger marker with space for more names Mr. Wildner urged the Board to consider authorizing him to proceed with a full survey of Boynton Memorial Park so that the existing markers could be confirmed and assurance gained that the lots were in the right places. This would also help to determine the exact amount of space that is actually remaining at this cemetery. Mr. Wildner offered to get three bids for doing a survey at Boynton Memorial to include the potential replat areas, and bring the results to the Board at its next meeting. MotiQn Mr. Enkoff moved that Mr. Wildner get expenses for replatting the Boynton Memorial Cemetery sections, leaving the section to the north along Woolbright Road in front of Blocks 0 and N open for other considerations. Vice Chair Frazier seconded the motion. Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 26, 2004 In discussion, it was decided to do a full survey and omit the part about the section to the north. Mr. Wildner stated that it was not necessary to replat unless the Board wished to do so after it saw the results of the full survey. Mr. Enkoff agreed to the above and the motion passed unanimously. D. Potential Mausoleum Rule Chanqes - John Wildner Mr. Wildner did not believe that there was a clear direction on the issue of the recommended rule change. At the last meeting, the Board decided that embalming would be required and on pre-need purchases, hermetically-sealed caskets would be required. Mr. Wildner distributed a diagram of a casket protector to the Board members. ~It was a clear plastic protector that went around the casket and prevented any leaks. The funeral directors present stated that they had never seen such a plastic liner and were not in favor of using it, suggesting a Ziegler device instead. A Ziegler device is a hermetically sealed metal box that is placed inside a casket to prevent leaks. This is typically used for those who choose not to be embalmed for religious or other reasons. According to Chair Ryzy, the funeral home would provide this and the customer would pay for it and the cost would be about $500. Mr. Wildner commented that he had learned of the plastic cover-all from the owner of the Eternal Light Cemetery, who has a lot of clients who do not wish to be embalmed. Mr. Wildner thought that the plastic cover he proposed might be another, less expensive, alternative. Secretary Prainito asked if the Ziegler device would definitely take care of leaks, and Mr. Enkoff and Chair Ryzy both responded that it would. Mr. Wildner proposed that funeral homes inform Cemetery staff when a body was not embalmed, and what methods they were using to prevent leaks. Those methods would be: 1) a tray, and 2) a Ziegler device. Motion Mr. Enkoff moved that on all new sales, the bodies to be placed in the Mausoleum have to be embalmed. On previously purchased crypts, if an individual does not wish to have embalmment for whatever reason, the body must be placed in a Ziegler case. Plastic trays must be placed under the casket on all entombments in the Mausoleum, whether the bodies are embalmed or not. The funeral home would bear the cost of the Ziegler cases and plastic trays, but would pass that cost on to the purchaser. Secretary Prainito seconded the motion. Mr. Enkoff said that the tray would also eliminate the use of b-b pellets as a means of rolling the casket into the crypt. Mr. Wildner stated that it was in the budget to 6 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 26, 2004 purchase another mechanical device with rollers that takes the casket in and drops it. Mr. Enkoff thought that the b-b pellets would lead to corrosion. Mr. Osborne will have to be informed of the Board's recommendation. The motion passed unanimously. Expansion Issue Chair Ryzy expressed disappointment at the City Commission's decision not to allow the cemetery to expand into Little League Park. He stated that the citizens of Boynton Beach would have no option except to go to the private sector and pay more for cemetery plots. He did not think that anyone had made a presentation to the City demonstrating that the cemetery business could be profitable. Also, the comment was made that several cities in the vicinity of Boynton Beach maintain municipal cemeteries: West Palm Beach, Delray Beach, Pompano Beach, and Riviera Beach, to name a few. Some discussion ensued about raising the money to purchase land and improvements for a new Little League Park, which was thought to carry a price tag of approximately $4M. Mr. Wildner had been listening to conversations of various Commissioners on this subject. He heard one of them say that if the Cemetery Board were able to finance the replacement of Little League Park, including the land, that the cost of an individual lot would be so expensive that no one could afford to buy one. Mr. Wildner thought the Board wanted to pass a revenue bond for $4M, pledge the revenue from the sale of lots, and pay it back over a 30-year period, using the $4M borrowed to finance $4M where Little League Park could be moved to a new location in its entirety. Mr. Wildner further commented that ten acres of land would be required for another Little League Park and there were only two pieces of land in Boynton Beach suitable for another Little League Park and they were an irregularly shaped parcel in Quantum Park and the Winchester property, which has already been spoken for. The idea was mentioned that the Little League's boundaries extended further than those of Boynton Beach and that there might be land to the west of Congress. The Board is still interested in expansion and it does not want to hurt the Little League. It will continue to consider this issue. This topic will be on the March agenda for further discussion. IX. NEW BUS~[NESS A. Possible Cemetery Rate Increases 7 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach~ Florida February 26, 2004 Chair Ryzy has been gathering the various prices for cemetery services from the different funeral homes and will bring this to the next meeting for discussion by the Board. The Board had a discussion about potential rate increases and the consensus was that with the exception of Delray Beach, the prices charged by Boynton Beach were lower than anyone else in the area. The current charge for a non-resident plot in Boynton Beach Memorial is $750. The current charge for a resident plot is $450. Ms. Morrison asked that a copy of the current rates be included in the next agenda packet. Chair Ryzy stated that the Board should look at plot prices and also opening and closing costs. For example, other cemetery operations typically charge 1/2 the price of the lot for "second right of interments." Mr. Wildner directed the Board members' attention to the prices that were listed in Mr. Livergood's report in the January agenda packets. The chair suggested charging $1,050 for a non-resident plot and $750 for a resident plot. This item will be on the March agenda. X. OTHER Secretary Prainito mentioned that there was a Board opening and encouraged the members to suggest potential applicants. The issue of having too many funeral directors on the Board was mentioned in connection with Ms. Morrison's indecision about whether or not to reapply. Mr. Enkoff noted that it was typical to have two consumer members on such boards. Secretary Prainito stated that Board members whose terms were up would be receiving a letter around March 17 from the City reminding them that if they wished to continue on the Board, they would have to re- apply. Xl. ADJOURNMENT Since there was no further business, the meeting properly adjourned at 9:20 p.m. 8 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida February 26, 2004 Respectfully submitted, Susan Collins Recording Secretary (022704)