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Minutes 01-12-06 MINUTES OF THE CEMETERY BOARD SPECIAL MEETING HELD IN COMMISSION CHAMBERS, CITY HALL, BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA, ON MONDAY, JANUARY 12, 2006 AT 6:00 P.M. Present: Michael Enkoff, Chairman Janet Prainito, Secretary Karilyn Norem Hohner Susan Morrison Jody Rivers, Parks Superintendent Tom Balfe, Parks Manager Absent: Teresa Frazier, Vice Chair I. Call to Order Chairman Enkoff called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. II. Attendance Secretary Prainito called the roll and declared a quorum was present. III. Agenda Approval Motion Ms. Morrison moved to approve the agenda, seconded by Ms. Hohner. IV. Approval of Minutes - No minutes to approve V. Receipt of Revenue/Expense Sheets - September 8< October 8< November 200S Secretary Prainito noted the September report had been included in the previous agenda package. Chair Enkoff noted there were some rather large items under Miscellaneous Receivables, some of which appeared to be opening and closing costs. Secretary Prainito will investigate this with Finance and report back to the Board. Chair Enkoff also noted the adjustments that appeared to be credits did not have a minus sign in front of them. This item was left on the table until the next meeting to give Secretary Prainito time to get clarification from Finance. VI. Receipt of Sales Reports - September 8< October 8< November 2005 Motion Secretary Prainito moved to accept the subject sales reports, seconded by Ms. Hohner. Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida January 12, 2006 VII. Unfinished Business A. Parks Division Report - September & October & November 2005 Mr. Balfe reported the statistics for the cemetery burials and entombments for September, October, and November. The detailed report is attached to the backup for the minutes. Motion Secretary Prainito moved to accept the Parks Report for September, October, and November 2005. Ms. Hohner seconded the motion. B. Update on Cemetery Survey Mr. Balfe reported the survey had gone to Engineering, who did a preliminary review. Engineering requested some changes and returned the survey to the Recreation & Parks Department on December 14, 2005. On December 16, Mr. Balfe returned the survey to O'Brien, Suiter, & O'Brien and he had gotten the survey back with the corrections. The corrected survey would go to Engineering on the day following this meeting. Chair Enkoff confirmed with Mr. Balfe the process would be the survey would come back to the Board, who would arrange for it to be put on the City Commission agenda. It could be back before the Board by February. Secretary Prainito mentioned it could conceivably be placed on the Commission agenda for the March 21 meeting. Chair Enkoff inquired about the contract and whose responsibility it was to prepare it and to excavate the roads. Mr. Balfe thought this would be done internally. He had already spoken to the Supervisor of Roads and Streets, who had agreed to help by removing the existing asphalt, removing a layer of shell rock and backfilling it. The fill was already available at the Cemetery. VIII. New Business A. Approve the request of Steve Kriska to allow Scobee-Combs-Bowden to disentomb the remains of Susie Kriska, his wife, from Boynton Beach Mausoleum, Sunrise Building, Section C, Crypt F-9 Secretary Prainito indicated all appropriate paperwork was in place. Motion Secretary Prainito moved to approve the subject request for disentombment, seconded by Ms. Morrison. B. Ratify approval of the purchase of a golf cart from the Golf Course in the amount of $1,200. (Emergency approval was attained through a telephone poll.) Mr. Balfe reported he had originally wanted the golf cart so the Cemetery personnel could transport elderly people around the Cemetery while choosing plots. It was very hard for them to walk around the Cemetery. He got a quote for putting a bench seat on the golf cart and it was $450 to fabricate it. 2 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida January 12, 2006 Chair Enkoff thought this would be acceptable, as long as it was properly installed and met all OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Act) and other requirements. Ms. Morrison asked if the bench seat would be safe. Mr. Balfe responded it would be fabricated with an aluminum footrest, two side rails and seat belts could be put on for an additional cost. There would be handrails on each side of the cart. Chair Enkoff believed Mr. Balfe should discuss this with the Risk Management supervisor before going any further with the project. Risk Management might want to discuss it with the City Attorney to see what the legalities were. Chair Enkoff did not believe the City could be legally sued if someone were hurt while on Cemetery property. The Board agreed Mr. Balfe should proceed with the project pending approval by Risk Management and the City Attorney's office. C. Approve the request of Daisy Stephens for a refund on Lot 176-A, Block Y, Boynton Beach Memorial Park. Original purchase price was $450 less 20% ($90) for a total refund of $360. Motion Secretary Prainito moved to approve the subject request, seconded by Ms. Hohner. D. Approve the request of Raymond M. Schwartz and Gloria B. Schwartz for a refund on Lots 75-A&B, Block R, Boynton Beach Memorial Park Addition #1. (Original purchase price was $450 less 20% ($90) for a total refund of $360. There was some discussion about the price since there were two lots involved, purchased in June of 1994. However, the deed for the two plots also indicated a total price of $450, so the refund was figured on that amount. Motion Secretary Prainito moved to approve the subject request, seconded by Ms. Hohner. E. Discuss Arrivals at Cemetery Mr. Balfe reported a concern about funeral homes showing up at the Cemetery either extremely late or extremely early. He referenced a recent case where the funeral home had a 10:30 a.m. arrival time and showed up at 1:20 p.m. in the afternoon. When Cemetery staff had to rush to go from one funeral to another and accommodate all the traffic, it created a serious safety hazard. Someone could be hurt very easily. Early arrivals are just as much a problem. Parking at the Cemetery is limited and when a funeral party shows up one or two hours ahead of their agreed-to arrival time, the parking situation is made worse. Not everyone was cooperative about parking where Cemetery staff asked them to park. It was not fair for a family who was there on time to not be able to get into the Cemetery because the parking was already in use by a funeral party that came one to one and a half hours or more too early or late. 3 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida January 12, 2006 When the Cemetery Clerk gets a request for a funeral at 11:30 a.m., for example, arranges it, and gets a call from another funeral home for the same time, the Cemetery Clerk will suggest another time that same day when there is no other funeral. The funeral home might agree, and yet still come at the arrival time they desired, regardless of having agreed to a different arrival time. When the Cemetery Clerk and the funeral home agree to an arrival time, it seemed reasonable that there could be fifteen minutes leeway on either side of the agreed-to time, but funerals arriving at times dramatically different than the agreed-to time were causing a great deal of chaos at the Cemetery. Mr. Balfe referred to Res olution ROO-OS passed by the Cemetery Board and the City Commission in 2000 establishing a $200 fine per hour or part thereof for funeral parties delayed more than one hour. In checking past minutes, Mr. Balfe determined Commissioner McCray had requested a letter be sent to all the funeral homes at the time reaffirming the Cemetery Board's expectation a late fee would not be passed on to the family, but would be paid by the funeral home itself. Many individuals came forward when the Resolution was discussed to comment and their main concern was that this cost would be passed on to the family. Mr. Balfe looked to the Board for direction. Ms. Morrison asked if the Resolution had ever been enforced. Secretary Prainito responded the issue had been confrontational and controversial at the time. She added and Mr. Balfe confirmed, the early/late issue was restricted to three or four particular funeral homes. In discussion, the Board generally felt that coming two hours late, or early, to a funeral was inexcusable, particularly when the funeral home's director did not even telephone the Cemetery or the City to advise they would be late or early and provide an estimated arrival time. It was generally felt by the Board if the funeral director did not telephone the Cemetery with an updated arrival time, the fee should be assessed. It was felt the Resolution should go out to the funeral homes again along with a letter reminding the funeral homes of the City's policy. The telephone numbers the funeral director needed to call in case of schedule changes should be included in the letter. If a funeral director expected to be more than half an hour early or late, they should telephone those numbers. If they failed to do so, the Board felt the fine should be imposed. At the time the Interment Order is taken, the Cemetery Clerk ascertains the cell phone of a person in the funeral party so the Cemetery can call if they have not heard from them. Very often, the telephone number(s) given by the funeral directors go unanswered. Mr. Balfe noted at the November 16, 2000 Commission meeting, a discussion took place to the effect that the Commission would not have to discuss a late arrival fee, since that would be a function of the Cemetery Board. The Board had agreed to modify the process so it virtually eliminated the process of the family being charged. The Commission, Mr. Balfe thought, was saying the Cemetery Board could make rules without going to Commission. Secretary Prainito commented the Cemetery Board served in an advisory capacity to the Commission. She realized what Mr. Balfe was reading, but said the Resolution was still on the books. It could be enforced, but everyone should realize what a controversial issue it was. She thought the City Manager should be involved in the decision. The City Manager could inform the Commission about what was happening. 4 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida January 12, 2006 Chair Enkoff said they should not send a new letter to the funeral directors. He believed Mr. Balfe needed to draft the problem in a letter and send it to Mr. Bressner immediately. Mr. Balfe should inform Mr. Bressner of the problem, tell him it was an ongoing situation, and that Mr. Balfe was worried about safety issues. Mr. Balfe should ask Mr. Bressner to respond ASAP with an indication of how to proceed. Mr. Balfe should provide a copy of the existing Resolution with the letter to Mr. Bressner, along with a copy of the August 8, 2000 letter Commissioner McCray requested be sent to all funeral homes on the matter. The Cemetery Board wanted to make sure the families would not be charged the late fee. Chair Enkoff asked Mr. Balfe to work with Secretary Prainito on this letter and fax it to Chair Enkoff before sending it to Mr. Bressner. In the meantime, the Board thought it would be a good idea to send a letter to the funeral homes from the Parks Division as a courtesy, reminding them of the need to contact the Cemetery staff, including the telephone numbers, in case of deviations, early or late, from the agreed-to arrival times. Ms. Hohner felt the late fee should not be included on a bill for plot fees or opening and closing fees. It should be on a separate invoice. It could even be invoiced, she thought, without having a family's name referenced. The Board felt Mr. Bressner should send a certified letter, return receipt requested with signature service, to the offending funeral homes. Secretary Prainito indicated it should go through Wilfred Hawkins to Mr. Bressner. Secretary Prainito asked Mr. Balfe if he could simply ask the funeral directors arriving very early or very late according to their agreed-to arrival time to wait until the other funerals had been done. Mr. Balfe indicated he had received a call from a Cemetery worker that there were two funerals going on at one time and another was an hour late. Mr. Balfe told him to have them wait out on Seacrest Boulevard. That is what they did. Mr. Balfe indicated it would be nice if the Cemetery had a "holding" area, but it was not uncommon when they had one funeral to have the entire Cemetery full. Coming early or coming late created chaos. Mr. Balfe felt there was some liability associated with having people park out on Seacrest Boulevard also. On one day, there was a parking problem in the Cemetery and someone was parked at the entrance to the Cemetery and would not move. A Cemetery worker had to open the gates on Woolbright to gain ingress and egress to the Cemetery. Mr. Balfe felt funerals were stressful in themselves. He was concerned about what would happen if a funeral were going on, all parking in use, and a need for an ambulance arises. It would be very difficult for an ambulance to enter the Cemetery at those times. It was felt the parking problem at the Cemetery would only get worse with the advent of the replatting, since they would lose a number of roads. When they replatted, where were the cars going to go? Mr. Balfe felt scheduling was an important issue and would become even more so after the replatting. Chair Enkoff believed the habitually late (or early) funeral directors would be accommodated, but the funeral directors who were on time should be accommodated first. 5 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida January 12, 2006 IX. Other A. FYI - City Commission Policy decision that funeral homes collect all upfront fees in order to have interment in Boynton Beach cemeteries Secretary Prainito asserted this item had been placed on the agenda as a result of some uncollected invoices for cemetery expenses that had come to the attention of the Commissioners. The cemetery uncollectables represented only about 1% of the total uncollected amounts and were primarily due to a funeral home that was now defunct. The Commissioners discussed it and Commissioner McCray was of the opinion all opening and closing fees should be collected from the funeral homes before burials took place. Secretary Prainito sought the opinion of the Board on this. A discussion ensued. The Board believed setting this policy would lead to many situations in which it would be impossible to get the money to the City in time. Funerals were often arranged after City hours and over weekends, for example. Since the problem appeared to be small in relation to the total amount of uncollectables, it was believed the few uncollected amounts should be sent to a collection agency. Motion Chair Enkoff moved to allow the current policy in regard to collecting of opening and closing costs from funeral homes to remain in place. Ms. Morrison seconded the motion. B. FYI - Complaint filed by Florida Monument Builders Association regarding marker fees charged by the City of Boynton Beach - See Responses from Assistant City Attorney Jamila V. Alexander and City Attorney James A. Cherof. Secretary Prainito explained marker fees had been charged for years. The monument companies filed a complaint, the City Attorney investigated, and the City Clerk's office was advised to cease collecting any fees for markers. Fees were collected through September 30, 2005, but as of October 1, 2005, no marker fees had been charged. Anything outstanding and already paid was refunded. Mr. Balfe noted the monument companies still had to get authorization from the City and the City Clerk's office still had to send a work order to the Cemetery personnel. The only difference was there were no longer any fees. Mr. Balfe announced the City was locating the graves for the markers and installing headstones. He recommended the City no longer install headstones, especially the bronze ones. There were hourly staff costs but also material costs for the concrete. The normal time to install this type of headstone was at least 1.5 hours. He recommended continuing to install Veterans' markers only. Veterans' markers were sent to the Cemetery directly from the Veterans Administration and that was the only headstone the Cemetery workers would accept without a work order, as agreed to at a previous Cemetery Board meeting. Secretary Prainito asked if the Cemetery workers were installing markers for anyone and Mr. Balfe responded they were doing it for a couple of the funeral homes and for Mr. Osborne. Mr. Osborne was now selling markers and had been doing so for the past six months. 6 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida January 12, 2006 Chair Enkoff recommended the Cemetery workers only install Veterans markers. Ms. Hohner understood the law stated a Cemetery could not charge a fee to third-party installers, but she felt the Cemetery should be able to charge a fee if the Cemetery was expected to install them. This had to be clarified. If the monument companies were bringing the markers to the Cemetery and installing them, she agreed there should be no charge. Ms. Hohner thought a third party would be someone other than the lot owner or the City. If Mr. Osborne was acting as a monument company, he needed to hire employees to set his markers, not the City employees. Mr. Balfe commented Mr. Osborne's markers, bronze and granite, all came to the Cemetery via UPS. Chair Enkoff did not recommend the Cemetery continue to install Mr. Osborne's markers and agreed Mr. Osborne should get an installer to do it. The Board felt a letter should be sent to Mr. Osborne explaining the City would no longer install his markers. If they could not send a letter, the Board would have to send a recommendation to the City Commission. Mr. Balfe explained in the past, Mr. Osborne paid when the Cemetery installed his markers. Without the fee, Mr. Balfe did not believe the Cemetery personnel should install his markers. Ms. Hohner expressed the opinion the Cemetery personnel should only install Veterans' markers and if they installed any other markers, they should be reimbursed for it. The Board felt there was some risk in allowing individuals to install markers without the assistance of a monument company or the Cemetery workers. Secretary Prainito asked if the Board wanted to accept the liability for individuals to install markers on their own. The general opinion of the Board was installations should be done by monument companies and not by families. It would be too difficult to ascertain whether individuals had followed the procedures correctly. Ms. Hohner commented a person could purchase a monument on line or wherever they wished. When the monument was delivered to their home, they could call a monument company and arrange with them to pick it up and install it at the Cemetery. The Board agreed monument companies should install all markers except Veterans' markers. They also agreed another rule should be added to the Cemetery Rules pertaining to the City not accepting drop shipments of monuments without a work order from the City Clerk's office, except from the Veterans Administration. Rayman Shakoor at the Cemetery was not accepting any markers at present without a work order, except Veterans' markers. With regard to items removed from graves by Cemetery staff, Ms. Prainito felt the Cemetery should place dates for disposal on those items. It was felt 60 days was an appropriate amount of time, since not all people were local. The disposal should be at the City's discretion. Mr. Balfe asked how difficult it would be to get the marker installation by monument companies and monument storage issues into the Cemetery Rules. Someone else asked about the fee issue, but Secretary Prainito was not certain the fee for marker placement was in the Cemetery Rules. Secretary Prainito said the Cemetery Rules would have to be sent to Mr. Osborne again, and he would have 45 days in which to respond. Then, they could be forwarded to the City Commission for a new Resolution, and it would probably take two or three months. Mr. Osborne had to be notified any time the Cemetery Rules were changed. 7 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida January 12, 2006 Mr. Balfe was asked to bring a proposal to the next meeting about: 1) markers having to be set by monument companies; and 2) that the Cemetery would not accept markers without a work order. Secretary Prainito mentioned there had been a delay in the Cemetery Rules and they were scheduled to go before the City Commission on February 7, 2006. After the Cemetery Board set the Rules, they had to be sent to Brady Osborne, who had 45 days in which to appeal them. He had not responded to date. Accolades for CemeterY Workers Mr. Rayman Shakoor is on the staff at the Cemetery and Chair Enkoff asked a letter from the Cemetery Board be put in Mr. Shakoor's personnel file praising him for the quality of his work. The City should be very proud of Mr. Shakoor's work, he said. Ms. Hohner remarked she received compliments from families all the time about Mr. Shakoor, saying he was extremely helpful. All agreed. Secretary Prainito thanked the Recording Secretary, Susan Collins, for the work she did while the regular Cemetery Desk Secretary was on an extended leave. She also thanked Carol Mahoney, who had undertaken the duties of that job recently was doing an excellent job. Chair Enkoff commented the Cemetery was looking good. Cemetery Audit Secretary Prainito indicated the City Clerk's office was auditing its Cemetery records. It would take about six months, but the work was in process. She would keep the Board updated as work proceeded. They were sampling a percentage of the burials in two ten-year periods. Other cities were polled as to their audit practices and Secretary Prainito commented only one other municipal cemetery had done an audit, Delray Beach, and that was only a financial audit. The proposed audit was more than financial and would focus on making certain all aspects of the various record keeping systems were correct and in order. Most other municipal cemeteries used the same record keeping systems as Boynton Beach, except one of them included maps in their computer records, which was currently being pursued for Boynton Beach. Sandblasting of Niche Fronts in Mausoleum Mr. Balfe indicated a lot of the niche fronts could hardly be read because the inscriptions were so tarnished. Broward Monument Company was in charge of the work. Mr. Balfe thanked the Board for its support in his proposal for the sandblasting. All thought the work being done would greatly improve the appearance of the crypt and niche fronts. Palm Beach County Genealogical Society, Margery Nelson Ms. Nelson explained she was involved in a project to produce books about the municipal cemeteries in Palm Beach County. They had done three cemeteries so far: Delray Beach, Lake Worth, and West Palm Beach. They began doing Boynton Beach in May of 2005. She had spent 8 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida January 12, 2006 a lot of time in the City Clerk's office copying records and the book on Boynton Beach Municipal Cemetery was almost finished. She brought the books on the other cemeteries with her and invited anyone interested to peruse them. Ms. Nelson asked the Board's help in two areas: 1) Obtaining copies of the Boynton Beach Mausoleum records, which Mr. Osborne declined to provide, and 2) History of the Boynton Beach Memorial Park. Entombment Information Ms. Nelson advised Mr. Osborne declined to provide the entombment information as he considered it was private information. If anyone else provided it, he would be happy to work with them on any corrections. Ms. Nelson advised Mr. Osborne the entombment records were public information, but he did not agree. Ms. Morrison asked about the Delray Beach Mausoleum and whether they had provided the information, and Ms. Nelson responded at the time the Delray Beach book was done, they did not have a mausoleum. Ms. Nelson thought the Mausoleum might be a private enterprise, but it was on public property. Chair Enkoff believed the mausoleum entombment information should be included in the book and that it would not be complete without it. The Board agreed. Chair Enkoff asked Secretary Prainito to search the Public Records law to determine if the City or Mr. Osborne could produce the entombment records for Ms. Nelson. He did not understand why Mr. Osborne could not provide the information, since he was operating as an agent for the City of Boynton Beach. Ms. Nelson referred to corrections she had done on the City's cemetery records. When asked, she commented the focus of the Genealogical Society was on the date of death, and sometimes, the records indicated a date of death the same as the date of purchase, and she used various methods to determine the exact date of death. Secretary Prainito noted this piece of information was not one that the Clerk's office routinely collected in the past, but it had started to do so in recent months. Some Cemetery Clerks over the years had also collected the information, but it was not a requirement in the past. Ms. Nelson used the computer printouts of the Cemetery records provided by the City Clerk's office and compared them to a published death index to ascertain the correct date of death. She explained most people reading the book would be interested in exact dates of death. Ms. Nelson learned from Mr. Shakoor that a number of people were buried without markers, and she asked whether the City allowed that. Chair Enkoff responded if someone did not want to have a marker on a grave, they were not required to do so. The Board did not give authorization for any corrections to be made to its records by third parties. Chair Enkoff advised Ms. Nelson he would be interested in receiving a copy of the Mausoleum entombments if she received them. He suggested Ms. Nelson wait for a letter from the City Clerk providing the entombment information, if she were authorized by the City Manager and 9 Meeting Minutes Cemetery Board Boynton Beach, Florida January 12, 2006 City Attorney to do so. Ms. Nelson responded: Ms. Margery Nelson, 4754-B, Greentree Drive, Boynton Beach, 33436-4136. Chair Enkoff asked Ms. Nelson the timeframe for the project, and Ms. Nelson responded they hoped to get the Boynton Beach book to the printers by June. Historv of Cemetery Ms. Nelson stated she needed the highlights of the Cemetery such as when it started. Mr. Shakoor visited the Old Section with her and the earliest date on a marker was 1903. The computer records showed burials began when the City took the Cemetery over in 1940. She wanted to know when it started and who started it. She knew from the Property Appraiser's office when the City got the property through Erick Hinckley, another project participant. She was interested in the human-interest angle. Secretary Prainito noted the records were on microfilm and invited Ms. Nelson to come in to the City Clerk's office, view the microfilms, and make notes. Ms. Nelson would call for an appointment to do so. Chair Enkoff said while she was looking through the minutes, if she discovered anything pertaining to the intent for the use of the cemetery and the adjoining property, to please give him a copy. Ms. Nelson said Mr. Hinckley told her the land the cemetery was on was included in a lot of property the City acquired around 1939. Chair Enkoff gave Ms. Nelson his name and address. He indicated a lot of the land was in limbo right now and part of it was being used as a ball field. X. Adjournment There being no further business before the Board, the meeting was duly adjourned at 7:45 p.m. Respectfully submitted, r-.. ~J. . , .;'""t.u?dJ1 ~lJ Susan Collins Recording Secretary (011706) 10