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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-20-09 Cemetery Board Minutes.docx LINKED MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE SUNSET HILLS CEMETERY ADVISORY BOARD AUGUST 20, 2009 1:00 PM THE LINDLEY CENTER – 1102 EAST CURTISS BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Katherine Ball, Pro Tem Chairperson Gene Brooks Carl Craft Don Derby Betsy Fordyce Jeff Rupp, Commission Liaison David Cook, Park & Recreation Board Liaison Absent: Russ Tuckerman, Chairperson Lowell Springer CITY STAFF PRESENT: Thom White, Park & Cemetery Superintendent Shane Surber, Cemetery Foreman Michelle Dipzinski, Cemetery Board Secretary GUEST PRESENTERS: None Board Secretary Dipzinski called the meeting to order at 1:00. 0:00:01 – Election of Pro Tem Chairperson . In absence of Chairperson Tuckerman, Boardmember Ball was elected Pro-Tem Chairperson Motion: Boardmember Craft motioned to appoint Katherine Ball as Pro Tem Chairperson. Boardmember Fordyce seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Linked minutes of the Sunset Hills Cemetery Advisory Board Meeting, August 20, 2009 0:00:24 – Director of Parks, Recreation and Cemetery Ron Dingman opened with clarification of the rules of procedure for public comment and public conduct. ? Referenced Bozeman Municipal Code 9.10.010 – Interfering with Public Officials 0:03:06 – Item #1 – Approve May 14, 2009 meeting minutes: Motion: Boardmember Fordyce motioned to approve the May 14, 2009 minutes as presented. Boardmember Craft seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 0:04:39 – Item #2 – Public comment period, limit 3 minutes per speaker: 0:05:09 - Everett Thornton, Box 424, Bozeman ? Lived in Bozeman his whole life ? Was not allowed to set family stones because they didn’t follow the new rules ? Rules should be bent to fit what someone wants as long it is in within reason 0:07:33 - Zak Zakovy, 417 N. 9th, Bozeman ? Sculpted the memorial that is of questions ? Chronicled event that led to the setting ? Was shocked when Mr. Olsen protested the monument that it would come under questions because he had gotten approval ? Agrees that there needs to be a system where they can get approval and that is final. 0:10:16 – Mary Kay Mitchell, 1218 Emerald Dr. Great Falls ? Is the mother of the person whose bench is in questions ? Feels that the rules may need to changed so they will ok with everybody 0:11:33 – Deborah Diteman, 3309 Rector Rd., Belgrade ? Bench in the article is beautiful and unique ? Exceptions to approved rules and regulations are being made by the City of Bozeman ? Learned that City of Bozeman leases several hundred acres of Cemetery Land to unnamed farmer for $10 a year and that a local ski club can use the land for recreational uses. ? Permission was given for a local club to have a party inside the cemetery last year to celebrate Halloween ? Asked if an exception has ever been approved for the grieving patrons of Bozeman Granite Works? 0:14:20 – Joyce Schmitt, 423 N. Grand, Bozeman ? Has been attending meeting for the last 2 years 2 Linked minutes of the Sunset Hills Cemetery Advisory Board Meeting, August 20, 2009 ? Offered observations which are her personal opinions ? The city has a fiduciary responsibility to care for the monuments which are personal property ? The care of these monuments has improved over the last year ? The Veterans Memorial is outside the rules and regulations and is in need of repair, listed the panels that need repair 0:17:21 David Smith, 801 (unclear) Belgrade ? Stress is exasperated when they approach a business that is trying to comply with the rules and regulation and they can’t get what they are looking for ? If there are going to be exceptions, which he agrees that under special circumstances that you can create rules that apply to these situations. ? Question – If you are going to make exceptions are you commited as a board to make those exceptions universal so they apply to all entities equally? th 0:20:37 Tom Olsen, Bozeman Granite Works, 428 N. 7, Bozeman ? Told of a family that he could not provide what they asked for because it went against the rules ? Asked for support of this board for an exception and was told everyone has to follow the rules. 0:23:49 Sandra Smiley, former City Commissioner ? Disturbed on how board functions ? Has been told you don’t allow people to speak after the presentation ? Has been watching all of this – that certain people can do certain things that others can ? Board needs to clean up their act, it is dividing this community ? Is disgusted with the board because this community deserves better than you and she will campaign to get rid of every single one of them unless they start shaping up ? Someone should have the right to put in a bench or monument on their plot, they have the right to do the best thing they can for the person they are burying 0:27:00 Bernie Broffy, Butte Granite Works, 600 Sampson Ave, Butte ? Understand the situation but doesn’t know what the answer is would be. ? A lot of this stems from the dislike of Bernie Broffy by Tom Olsen ? Can produce letters written by him to the City Manager that contain lies 0:28:10 - Public comment session is closed 0:28:18 – Item #3 – Setting of Mitchell stone: ? Superintendent White gave chronology of events leading up to the approval of the setting and why the exception was approved ? Method or procedure for allowing exceptions has been at the discretion of the Cemetery staff and the Superintendent thus far ? Staff needs to work on what the criteria is, what the procedure is and how we justify the exceptions that are made, we are going to be working on it ? Chairperson Tuckerman, Boardmember Craft, Tom Olsen and his advisors all worked on the current resolution 3 Linked minutes of the Sunset Hills Cemetery Advisory Board Meeting, August 20, 2009 ? Staff will bring a draft policy for granting exceptions to the next board meeting ? Need to have clear ideas on what would make an exception not possible ? The Board would like an update at each meeting of what exceptions have been granted ? Communication needs to be worked on board members do not know a lot of what is happening between meetings that only happen every three months ? Cemetery staff is great and we only hear the bad things and not enough about the good things they do ? The Mitchel Stone has been approved and will not need to be changed or removed 0:41:41 – Item #4 – Veterans Wall Update: ? The Veterans Memorial is by the Friends of Sunset Hills Cemetery Veterans Memorial Fund which is a different organization than this Advisory Board ? The Memorial Wall has been in front of the City Commission at least five times before being installed ? The damaged panels will be taken care of this fall because it takes 6 weeks to get them returned. They are waiting for doing the repairs until after Veterans Day. Ten panels have been replaced so far. Description of the damage to the panels was explained. ? The Boy Scouts painted the back sides of the two walls that are up; the front was not painted so the adhesive used for the name plagues would stick better. ? The form for ordering a name plate and said it is available on the Friends of Sunset Hills Cemetery Veterans Memorial Fund website 1:00:30 – Commission Rupp verified the Veterans Memorial Wall went before the City Commission 1:11:36 – Item #5 – Superintendent/Foreman Update – Thom White & Shane Surber: ? Foreman Surber Shane provided a power point presentation on the maintenance and care of the cemetery ? Bob Marx, the farmer has taken 2 cutting off the field and is spraying for weeds ? Work has started on taking some of the good out of the presented Master Plan ? Budget is still with the Commission, $40,000 has been taken out of the Cemetery budget this year ? Perimeter of the farmers field will be sprayed by the Parks Division ? Superintendent White relayed a story of the cemetery crew helping a person and read a letter from a person that wanted to express gratitude toward cemetery staff 1:28:07 – Item #6 – Set next meeting date – should be November 12, 2009: ? November 12, 2009 is set for the next Cemetery Board Meeting ? The Board has met in 3 different places for the meeting and for the sake of the public and continuity to continue meeting at the Lindley Center. ? Name plates will be purchased for the board members & staff Item #7 – Other Business: 0:50:18 – All valid complaints need to be addressed ? Protocol needs to be set up for making exceptions and those protocols need to be adhered to 4 Linked minutes of the Sunset Hills Cemetery Advisory Board Meeting, August 20, 2009 0:53:26 – Need to stay on the agenda, the Board has not been able to accomplish the work they need to do because the same subjects keep coming up ? The Master Plan needs to be prioritized ? Set up protocol and structure on how complaints should be looked at ? Set up a communication process to keep board members aware of situations that could be brought up during the public comment session of the agenda 0:57:56 – Commission Rupp provided information on the protocol of how the City Commission meetings are run Agenda items for the next meeting: 1:04:18 – Protocol for exceptions to the monument resolution 1:31:15 – Request for updated contact information from the board members 1:33:35 – A work session on the Master Plan and prioritizing is scheduled for October 15, 2009 from 1:00 to 3:00 at the Lindley Center. ? Discussed process on getting a Master Plan approved ? Staff will have a draft document on the exception process available for the work session meeting Motion: Boardmember Fordyce motioned to adjourn at 2:39. Boardmember Craft seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 2:39pm. Michelle Dipzinski, the recording secretary, will contact Chairperson Tuckerman, Superintendent White, and Foreman Surber approximately three weeks prior to the next meeting to set up the agenda. ______________________________ Russ Tuckerman, Chairperson ATTEST: _____________________________________ Michelle Dipzinski, Board Secretary PREPARED BY: _____________________________________ Michelle Dipzinski, Board Secretary Approved on __________________________. 5 Linked minutes of the Sunset Hills Cemetery Advisory Board Meeting, August 20, 2009 6