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Minutes 02-08-00 MINUTES OF THE CEMETERY BOARD MEETING HELD IN CONFERENCE ROOM “C”, WEST WING, CITY HALL, Boynton Beach, FLORIDA, ON TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 2000 AT 7:00 P.M. PRESENT Oris Walker, Chairman John Wildner, Parks Director Joan Kuehn, Vice Chairperson Sue Kruse, Secretary Tim Hensley Tereesa Padgett David Nyquist Mack McCray, Alternate I. CALL TO ORDER Chairman Walker called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II. ATTENDANCE Secretary Kruse called the roll and Chairman Walker announced that a quorum was present. III. AGENDA APPROVAL Secretary Kruse advised of revisions to the agenda and read the new agenda. Mack McCray moved to approve the revised agenda. Joan Kuehn seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. IV. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A)Job Responsibilities of Cemetery Workers Chairman Walker opened up this topic for discussion. The Board discussed the issue of cemetery workers acting as pallbearers for the funeral directors. It was declared that the City would not allow its workers to serve as pallbearers for liability reasons and the area funeral directors have been so advised. Mr. Wildner stated that the job descriptions are currently generic in nature and do not contain specific procedures on a job-by-job basis. that the Board draw up some written procedures Tereesa Padgett made a motion concerning job descriptions and procedures at the cemetery so thisissue would MEETING MINUTES CEMETERY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA February 8, 2000 be resolved and bring it back to the Board for approval . David Nyquist seconded the motion and after Ms. Kruse called the roll, the motion carried unanimously 6-0. B) Reconsideration of Resolution #R00-05 Chairman Walker recognized members of the audience who wished to speak on this topic. The speakers were: Ms. Martha Meeks-Lite Mr. Leonard Witherspoon Ms. Sarah Williams ndth 225 N.W. 6 Avenue 1790 N.E. 2 Lane 1331 S.W. 27 Avenue Boynton Beach, Fl Boynton Beach, Fl Boynton Beach, Fl Summary of Public Audience Comments on Agenda Item B Several speakers told of the financial hardship the levying of fines would create for the disadvantaged. The funeral home directors have stated in community workshops their intention of passing on any fines so levied to the bereaved families. The citizens questioned the need for a Resolution at all since the letter sent to the funeral homes brought them into compliance. The citizens also felt that definite policies and procedures needed to be established concerning cemetery use issues. The Board confirmed that the Resolution’s fines were not based on the length of the funeral but hinged instead on the lack of notification by the funeral directors to the cemetery workers as to changes in time of arrival. Another speaker stated that the City should arrange the schedules of the cemetery workers so that Saturdays, the most frequent burial day in Boynton, would be a regularly scheduled work day to avoid overtime payments. Mr. Wildner reiterated that traffic congestion, confusion and inconvenience to ongoing funeral participants from off-schedule arrivals and not overtime was the main issue. The various speakers from the community were in agreement that the Resolution needed to be revised to avoid misunderstandings and to achieve harmony among the community. Summary of Board Discussion on Agenda Item B Chairman Walker advised that the City Manager had turned this issue over to the Cemetery Board for resolution. Staff representative John Wildner circulated a draft he had drawn up of cemetery policies and procedures addressing such things as scheduling of funerals. Mr. Wildner stated that the purpose of the policies was to provide the best possible service to families and funeral homes by avoiding 2 MEETING MINUTES CEMETERY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA February 8, 2000 simultaneous arrivals, traffic congestion and equipment use conflicts during funerals at the City Cemetery. In response to a request from a Board member, Sue Kruse read Resolution #R00-05, a copy of which is attached to these minutes. The Board agreed it would be better to have detailed policies for burials and funeral processions, and what to do if they are running late, than to levy a $200 hourly fine that funeral homes might hand down to grieving families. Various members gave input concerning the draft policy. It was agreed that the policy statement should definitely include the funeral directors calling the cemetery if they anticipated an arrival time different than planned. The contact would be made by calling the beeper number of the cemetery workers for maximum effectiveness. Another idea was that early or late- arriving funeral groups would, after calling to announce their arrival time, proceed to a quiet area of the cemetery to wait for the ongoing funeral to conclude. It was agreed that the Resolution was in place merely as a mechanism to use if the funeral directors continued to arrive late without notice. The Board hoped it would never be necessary to use the fine procedure and that if it were necessary, the individual cases would be considered based on the circumstances and the severity of the violation. It was generally agreed to suspend Resolution #R00-05 for sixty days to allow for input from concerned groups in the community including the citizens, the funeral home directors, the Board members, and the clergy. When the Board meets at its regular meeting in April it will consider the proposals from concerned parties and decide on a definite set of policies and procedures that would serve the best interests of all. that in the next 60 days each Cemetery Board member will Dave Nyquist moved give thought to this issue and notification be sent to the local area funeral homes using the Boynton Beach Cemetery, the churches, and the citizens of Boynton Beach, soliciting their written input concerning cemetery policies and procedures, said input to be presented to the Board via the CityClerk’s office . This motion was seconded by Tim Hensley and after a roll call vote, the motion passed unanimously. that in the interim 60 days no fees would be levied Tim Hensley made a motion under #R00-05 pending input from the community and the Board’s final decision. Joan Kuehn seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. C)Next Meeting Date After discussion it was determined that the next meeting date would be February 17 at 7:00 p.m. in the West Wing, Conference Room “C”. The purpose of this meeting is to 3 MEETING MINUTES CEMETERY BOARD BOYNTON BEACH, FLORIDA February 8, 2000 address the balance of the agenda not covered in tonight’s meeting. In further th discussion after the meeting it was decided to change the date to February 24 at the same time and place. V. ADJOURNMENT Dave Nyquist moved to adjourn the meeting. Tim Hensley seconded the motion and it passed unanimously. Respectfully submitted, ______________________ Susan Collins (two tapes) Attachment (Copy of Resolution #R00-05) 4