HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-16-15 Tuckerman Cemetery Advisory Board
July
16,
2015
To:
City
Commission
From:
Russ
Tuckerman
Re:
Cemetery
Advisory
Board
CC:
Cemetery
Advisory
Board
City
Cemetery
Staff
I
have
served
as
Chairman
of
the
Cemetery
Advisory
Board
for
6
years
now
and
been
on
the
Board
for
12
years
total.
In
that
time,
I
have
had
the
opportunity
to
work
with
the
past
3
Parks
Directors,
James
Goehrung,
Ron
Dingman
and
now,
Mitch
Overton
and
various
city
staff
and
managers
and
Commissions.
I
contacted
Mayor
Kraus
in
March
and
he
suggested
a
joint
meeting
of
Cemetery
Advisory
and
Commission
for
June.
Unfortunately,
the
date
was
changed
to
July
and
I
am
unable
to
attend.
The
role
of
the
Cemetery
Advisory
Board
has
been
to
advise
Staff
and,
through
Staff,
the
Commission,
of
policies
and
procedures
that
affect
the
current
and
long
term
operations
of
Sunset
Hills
Cemetery.
Over
time
it
seems
that
the
roles
have
reversed
and
Staff
simply
makes
decisions
and
enacts
policy
and
informs
the
Advisory
Board
after
the
fact.
This
has
made
the
last
3.5
years
difficult.
As
a
consequence
we
regularly
lose
members
who
see
little
value
to
their
time
in
serving
the
Cemetery.
Several
specific
examples
of
this;
the
user
agreement
to
allow
cyclo-‐cross
within
future
Cemetery
lands,
which
was
executed
and
signed
with
no
consultation
with
the
Advisory
Board.
Next,
the
renewal
of
the
farmer's
agreement
on
the
currently
unused
(as
cemetery
land)
hayfield
-‐
it
had
long
been
in
the
purview
of
the
Advisory
Board
to
discuss
and
recommend
the
terms
of
this
agreement.
Most
recently,
the
Director
has
advised
the
Cemetery
Superintendent
not
to
attend
Cemetery
Advisory
meetings;
as
the
primary
day
to
day
operator
of
the
lands
and
activity
the
Board
oversees,
this
seems
to
leave
a
gap
in
knowledge
and
awareness
for
the
Board
to
rely
on
the
Superintendent's
expertise;
again,
this
was
a
unilateral
decision
with
no
consultation.
Approximately
one
year
ago,
the
Commission
sent
a
survey
request
to
all
28
City
Advisory
Boards,
to
gather
input
on
their
best
ideas
of
how
to
serve
the
City.
5
of
our
7
then
current
members
responded
to
this
survey.
The
results
overwhelmingly
indicated
a
need
for
an
updated
complete
Master
Plan
for
Cemetery
Lands,
as
the
last
plan
is
now
12
years
old
and
virtually
completed
(thank
you
Commissioner
Taylor
for
your
original
drafting
of
that
document).
The
first
step
in
this
process
was
a
clear
mapping
of
the
Cemetery
Lands,
which
we
now
have
before
you.
My
objective
in
this
meeting
is
to
clarify
the
interface
of
the
Staff
Role
and
the
Advisory
Board
role.
I
have
spoken
with
City
Manager
Kukulski
about
rewriting
the
outdated
ordnance
that
guides
the
Advisory
Board.
While
the
rewritten
ordnance
never
fully
reached
your
table,
we
have
a
newly
minted
map
(version
5)
clearly
delineating
the
lands,
current
and
future,
of
Sunset
Hills
Cemetery.
We
hope
the
Commission
will
approve
this
map
tonight
and
it
will
help
guide
our
efforts
to
develop
a
long
term
strategic
plan
for
all
Cemetery
lands
-‐
active
and
future.
You
will
note
this
includes
a
large
open
space
and
recreation
component
that
will
not
be
active
cemetery
lands
for
a
long
time.
Hence,
the
importance
of
plans
and
policies
for
how
this
land
will
be
used
currently
and
including
a
public
Board
in
that
process
seems
critical
to
ensure
that
there
is
support
for
both
the
near
and
long
term
uses.
Given
the
marginalization
of
the
apparent
role
of
the
Cemetery
Advisory
Board
in
recent
years
(per
the
examples
noted)
we
feel
a
strong
need
for
guidance
from
the
Commission
to
help
focus
Staff
and
the
Board
on
a
mutually
agreeable
set
of
operating
parameters
in
drafting
our
new
Master
Plan.
Finances
as
well
as
strategic
plans
are
all
an
integral
part
of
this
process.
We
have
successfully
reduced
the
operating
loss
from
the
general
fund
as
directed
by
City
Manager
Kukulski
eight
years
ago.
However,
it
is
very
challenging
to
maintain
an
understanding
of
the
Cemetery
Finances
when
the
annual
report
arrives
with
no
staff
to
explain
or
review
it.
When
Cemetery
Board
asks
for
help
from
legal
or
finance
in
order
to
make
policy
or
strategic
plans,
we
are
told
that
City
Staff
does
not
have
the
time
to
respond
to
such
requests.
Additionally,
the
Advisory
Boards
needs
to
be
included
in
the
Capital
Improvement
Program
(CIP)
funding
process
to
advise
staff
as
to
our
current
and
longer
term
capital
planning
items.
For
the
last
two
cycles
we
have
simply
been
informed
after
the
fact
of
what
capital
items
were
put
in
the
budget.
As
an
example,
our
second
columbarium
is
already
half
full
in
just
two
years
time;
the
CIP
request
for
a
third
columbarium
could
and
should
have
been
in
the
most
recent
funding
cycle
but
this
did
not
happen
as
we
were
not
included
in
the
process.
In
sum,
the
Advisory
Board
needs
a
clear
and
useful
role.
We
feel
strongly
that
we
can
provide
guidance
and
planning
direction
for
developing
a
successful
and
publicly
supported
Master
Plan.
We
can
only
do
this,
however,
if
Staff
views
our
role
as
integral
to
the
process
and
is
agreed
on
a
set
of
systems
that
are
useful
to
both
parties.
On
a
final
note,
as
a
founding
member
of
The
Friends
of
Sunset
Hills
Veterans
Memorial,
I
would
like
to
congratulate
the
Veterans
Group
for
their
recognition
in
completing
the
fundraising
for
the
All
Veterans
Memorial.