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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Cemetery Sextons - 04/27/2021Cemetery Sextons April 27, 2021 The South Burlington Cemetery Sextants held a meeting on Tuesday, April 27, 2021 at 7:00 a.m., by virtual meeting. MEMBERS PRESENT: P. Taylor, D. Kinville, T. Chittenden Others Present: none 1. Agenda Review. No changes were made to the agenda 2. Comments & Questions from the public not related to Agenda items No comments from the public. 3. Approve minutes from December 14, 2019 P, Taylor then made the motion to accept the minutes and was seconded by T. Chittenden. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Review Shelburne Rd cemetery cleanup P. Taylor stated that the Shelburne Rd cemetery was off to a good start although not complete and T. Chittenden agreed that we underestimated the time it would take to get the cemetery grounds looking good again. It was decided that since we are on a roll and the Shelburne Rd cemetery still needs more work, that a proposed new date of May 8th for the second round of cleaning be set. P. Taylor asked D. Kinville to check with the highway department to see if they have any issue with that date for picking up the brush, leaves and trees that we leave. P. Taylor wondered what we should do with the leaves, collect them in piles or should they be mulched? D. Kinville will ask the city arborist what we should do. 5. Discussion of cemetery fund balance and current year allocation There is currently a $5,000 fiscal year allocation and another $1,000 in next years budget plus the over $6,000 that currently sits in the cemetery fund. T. Chittenden would like to see the fence at Shelburne Rd be repaired but not replaced and suggested that the City’s public works department be contacted to see about getting some quotes on it. P. Taylor mentioned that the fence at Eldredge which was taken down by car accident several years ago still has not been replaced even though we have asked about it before. T. Chittenden agreed to contact the T. Hubbard, the city treasurer, to see if the insurance money has come in and the status of getting it replaced. Vermont Statues regarding fencing can be found in Title 18, Chapter 121 § 5361 states: …:The selectboard may make necessary regulations concerning public burial grounds and for fencing and keeping the same in order.” § 5364 goes more in depth by stating “When the selectboard or cemetery commissioners neglect to keep in repair the fence around a public burial ground, the town may be prosecuted for such neglect and fined not more than $400.00. T. Chittenden asked if we could get an estimate on getting some of the stones repaired and straightened up before they fall. P. Taylor then suggested that both cemeteries be looked at for stones that need repairing and cleaning. D. Kinville will contact the 2 cemetery associations that the City are members of to see if we can get some advice on how to proceed. D. Kinville will coordinate a time between the cemetery expert and the other sextons to walk around both cemeteries. P. Taylor mentioned that a sign would be nice at Shelburne Rd and maybe could be a boy scout project. 6. Review of next steps from December 14, 2019 meeting D. Kinville read the minutes from the agenda item #6 from the December 14, 2019 meeting. Most of the items have already been discussed today but there remained a few items for discussion. The first item discussed is possible backfill of the Shelburne Rd cemetery. D. Kinville reminded everyone that D. Calkins, who did the sonar of the cemeteries, that backfill is needed at the cemetery and could actually see sections where backfill had previously been added over the years. T. Chittenden asked D. Kinville to inquire of public works if there is any unused backfill or knows of any projects going on in the City which we could get backfill from. T. Chittenden would like to walk around the Shelburne Rd cemetery before we proceed any further with asking for backfill. All members felt that the Shelburne Rd cemetery was our priority for now and that is where the focus of the sextons should be for a while. The second next step to be discussed was comparing grave site prices to other Chittenden County municipalities. D. Kinville will gather that information and present at the next meeting. P. Taylor wondered about what is more popular – urns or caskets. If urns, maybe create an urn mausoleum which would allow for more use out of the cemetery. 7. Discussion of plot for Sue Alenick D. Kinville mentioned that she walked the Shelburne Rd cemetery with Sue Alenick who would like to purchase a plot there. D. Kinville asked the sextons if they were interested in going before the Cemetery Commission (aka City Council) to ask them to give Sue Alenick a free plot for all the work that she has done for the City over the many years. The vote was unanimous. 8. Other business 9. Adjournment: As there was no further business to come before the committee the meeting was adjourned by common consent at 7:39 a.m.