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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCEM BOARD MINUTES 11-09-06 SUNSET HILLS CEMETERY ADVISORY BOARD MINUTES NOVEMBER 9, 2006 1:00 PM BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Russ Tuckerman, Chairperson Katherine Ball Betsy Fordyce Don Derby Carl Craft Jeff Rupp, City Commission Liaison David Cook, Park & Rec Advisory Board Liaison CITY STAFF PRESENT: Ron Dingman, Park & Recreation Superintendent Tim Murphy, Cemetery Foreman Michelle Dipzinski, Cemetery Board Secretary GUESTS PRESENT: None Chairperson Tuckerman called the meeting to order at 1:10 Item #1 ? Approve August 31, 2006 meeting minutes: Chairperson Tuckerman requested the following change in wording to the minutes: Item #6 should read ?There has been a suggestion to install a tunnel under the Ellis St. crossing on Highland Blvd but no tunnel is planned. The Minutes were approved with the above requested correction. Item #2 ? Public comment period, limit 3 minutes per speaker: None Item #3 ? Veterans Wall ? Action Item: A Moving Vietnam Veteran Memorial Wall is retiring and Board member Derby is interested in putting in a bid for it. It would be installed in the cemetery where a traveling wall was on display in 1995. Board member Derby has been in contact with the Veteran?s Memorial Fund in Washington DC regarding the purchase and believes the wall could be acquired for $30,000.00 to $40,000.00. The purchase would be beneficial to the citizens of Gallatin County; it would give the people who cannot travel to the original Vietnam Veterans Wall in Washington DC a place to visit a memorial. The purchase of this wall would be the corner stone to an All Veteran Memorial, all conflicts involving local veterans would be represented. The cost of moving the wall would be in addition to the cost. The wall weighs approximately 6300 lbs.; the shipping cost could be considerable. Board member Derby believes he can get a trucking company to haul the wall to Bozeman for the cost of fuel only. The wall would be located in the same place it was installed in 1995. There would be some modifications that would need to be done such as building the ground up so when the lawn is mowed the mower wouldn?t hit the memorial. A track will be installed to bolt the wall into to stabilize it. Three flag poles would be put up and electricity would need to be run to the site. Board member Derby has been in contact with Northwestern Energy regarding a $1200.00 grant that could be available for installing the electricity. Other memorial sites have been looked at, Board members Derby and Craft and Foreman Murphy have looked at memorials in Harlowton, Great Falls, Billings, Butte and Ennis. All of the memorials were impressive and it is believed that to build a wall from scratch could cost up to $1,000,000.00. David Cook stated he is a veteran who feels the memorial in DC is a sacred place, he feels there are several replicas already and to put another copy out there might lose some of the sentiment. He would like to see the city go to MSU to get suggestions from the students on what a memorial would look like that is unique to Montana. Board member Derby and Craft have talked to veterans and veteran groups in the area and they are all in agreement that purchasing this wall would be a benefit to the community and surrounding areas. Other communities are interested in putting in a bid for the Wall. A bid for the purchase would need to be faxed to the Veterans Memorial Fund in Washington DC today, they are having a board meeting tomorrow regarding bids received and a decision will be made then. Board member Derby will contact Reier Broadcasting regarding holding a fund raiser, it is believed the funds could be raised in a one or two day fund raising event. Board member Ball is supportive in getting some type of memorial there, she wants it to meet the needs of the veterans and she supports them. Board member Craft stated this is the only community of this size that doesn?t have a memorial. Great Falls has over 3000 names on their memorial wall and they are in the process of building an addition to it. The purchase of this wall would be corner stone to getting an All Veteran Memorial that would include veterans from all conflicts involving our service men and women. The other wars would have their areas with their own unique design. There are 267 names of people from Gallatin County on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall. Motion ? Board member Ball moved to move ahead with the purchase of the veteran?s wall as the first part of a memorial within the cemetery and to start the fund raising process. It passed unanimously. Compliments were given to Board members Derby and Craft and Superintendent Dingman for the quick and hard work put out to accomplish this. Board member Derby showed a picture of a life size statue of boots, a weapon, and a helmet that will stand in front of the monument. Dog tags can be added and options can be changed to fit the war that it represents. The cost of the statue would be $4400.00. Board member Derby stated that once the fund raiser has been scheduled volunteers would be needed to help answer phones. Item #4 ? Update on Monument Setting issues: A letter has been drafted but not sent to the company that is not setting monuments according to cemetery rules. All correspondence regarding this issue must be approved by the Legal Department before being sent. The draft of the letter has been sent via e- mail to Tim Cooper, Staff Attorney for his approval and Superintendent Dingman is waiting for his response. Superintendent Dingman is working on new language for the ordinance regarding monument settings; he will have a draft copy available for the next meeting. Once the board has looked at the changes the changes will go before the City Commission. The original resolution was written in 1977 by an administrative board. There are several stones that are not set correctly but as of the date of the meeting only eight look like they will cause problems in the future. Foreman Murphy or his designee will inspect all settings regardless of the company, if the setting is not completed to code the company will be required to fix the problem or they will not be allowed to set another monument until the first one is fixed. Item #5 ? Update on new shed: The new shed had gone through the Development Review Committee but was stopped at the City Commission level. The plans must include what all others are required to provide such as curb and gutters, landscaping, sidewalks and a retention pond. Since the plans are having to be redone Superintendent Dingman and Foreman Murphy have decided to move the proposed shed to the flat surface east of the shop and include an office for people to come and research records. Superintendent Dingman stated he could have pushed to get the shed built but he wanted to make sure all was done right. The money for the changes would come out of next year?s budget. The contractor will store the material that has already been purchased until the plans are approved and they are ready to build. Item #6 ? Landscape plan, tree guidelines and timing: There was discussion as to what the board thought needed to be done first fence and hedges where they are missing or planting trees. Statements were made that if hedges were planted now in areas that are not developed they would be established by the time the cemetery expanded to that area. Areas discussed were: Do nothing east of Golf Way, anything done in that area will interfere with the BSF ski trails and if Highland Blvd. is widened what ever was put in would have to be moved. The south side of the Harrison right-of-way, trees would be north of the hedge that is already there. Do nothing at the bottleneck at Ellis and Old Highland Any trees planted would be varietal trees in the pine family to match the rest of the cemetery. The trees in the old nursery could be planted along the vet wall. How the trees would be paid for was discussed, they could be put in the budget as a CIP project or as a general operation project. Because CIP funding is harder to get it would be best to add more to the operational budget each year for more tree planning. Superintendent Dingman would like the board to think about a tree donation plan. People are calling all the time to get a tree planted in a park as a memorial but thought it would be better in the cemetery. Memorial plaques could be put up by the trees. Foreman Murphy will have a landscape plan with a couple of sections planned out for the Board to look at for the next meeting. Item #7 ? BSF Agreement: Superintendent Dingman, Duane Berkenpaus from the Marwyn Subdivision and the BSF Group met to go over the 2006/2007 BSF User Agreement. The issues between the Neighborhood and BSF were discussed. Minor changes were made in the agreement. Superintendent Dingman informed BSF that the $2000.00 the city pays the group will be looked at closely. The donations received through pin sales have been going up each year so it was questioned as to how long BSF would need the money from the City. It was suggested that some of the costs associated with that area used such as signing should be taken out of the $2000.00 paid to the group. The changes to the insurance language that was suggested at the last meeting were not made because the City is indemnified. Also because the Cemetery Board is an advisory board they are not authorized to sign any agreements involving the city, therefore no board member will sign the BSF User Agreement. Item #8 ? Other Business: None Board member Derby motioned to adjourn and Board member Craft seconded the motion. The next meeting will be held in the City Hall Conference Room, Thursday, February 8, 2006 at 1:00pm to 3:00pm. Michelle Dipzinski, the recording secretary, will contact Chairperson Tuckerman and Superintendent Dingman three weeks prior to the next meeting to set up the agenda. The meeting adjourned at 2:45 Russ Tuckerman, Chairperson Date