Fairview Cemetery Advisory Board Meeting

City of Bastrop Cemetery Advisory Board Meeting October 15, 2014 4:00 p.m. City Hall Council Chambers 1311 Chestnut Street Bastrop, Texas 78602 The Cemetery Advisory Board met in a regularly scheduled meeting on October 15, 2014 at 4:00p.m., in the Council Chambers of the City Hall at 1311 Chestnut Street, Bastrop, Texas. Cemetery Board members present were Terry Sanders, Carl Spooner, Ted Schaefer and Jerry Woehl. Staff in attendance was Karla Stovall, Tracy Waldron, Zana Jones and Jason Alfaro. I. Call to Order Board Chair Terry Sanders called the meeting to order at 4:10 p.m. II. Announcements Karla Stovall had the following announcement: City Christmas Party will be Friday, December 19, 2014 at the Convention Center. Invitations were given to each Board member present. She asked that they return their completed forms to the HR Department. III. Public Comments. [Note: By law, the Board cannot undertake discussion or take any action on Public Comments received at the meeting, but can: (1) recite Board/City policy on the points raised and/or (2) place items on upcoming agenda for both discussion and action at that upcoming meeting.] There were no public comments. IV. Presentation by Robbie Sanders from the Bastrop County Historical Society regarding the “Honoring Texas Rangers” event scheduled for November 8, 2014. Ms. Sanders was contacted by Sons of the Republic of Texas in regards to Texas Rangers buried in the Cemetery. After researching, she found that 15 Texas Rangers, all from the 1800’s, are buried there. She provided details on the scheduled event, specifically that a plaque and granite footstone honoring these Rangers will be placed by the rock gazebo, and individual crosses at each gravesite. She provided a map of the Ranger burial sites. V. Consideration, discussion and/or approval of the Cemetery Advisory Board’s July 16, 2014 meeting minutes Jerry Woehl made a motion to approve the minutes as written. Motion was seconded by Ted Schaefer and carried unanimously. VI. Consideration, discussion and possible action of recommendation that City Council either Grant or Deny a variance request to allow for the cemetery plot legally described as being Block 7, Row C, Lot B (2 spaces) to be covered with plastic sheeting and rocks as prohibited in Ordinance No. 2009-31, “Fairview Cemetery”, Section 15.15 (e) and (f), “Prohibited activities”. Karla Stovall presented the variance request on behalf of Nancy Jane Howell. She asked the Board to review the request and make their recommendation as to whether the request should be granted or denied. Discussion was held on the variance request and Ordinance No. 2009-31. Jerry Woehl made a motion to grant the variance. Motion was seconded by Ted Schaefer and carried unanimously. VII. Discussion on Cemetery Ordinance 2009-31 “Fairview Cemetery”, Section 15.17 (e) Placement of Objects in the Fairview Cemetery, Flags smaller than twelve (12) inches are permitted on gravesites. Karla Stovall reported that at the July 16, 2014 meeting, Board Member Cheryl Long questioned the limitations on the size of flags permitted in the Cemetery as stated in the Ordinance. Ms. Long felt there should be no size limitations. Ms. Stovall asked the Board to decide whether they would like to see this item included for further action at the next Cemetery Board meeting. Discussion was held by the Board members and their consensus was to make no changes to the size limitations of flags provided in the ordinance. No further action is required. VIII. Informational update to Board, by Terry Sanders, on repairing headstones in the Cemetery Terry Sanders addressed the situation of the old headstones that are in disrepair throughout the Cemetery. He shared that he has discussed this with Mayor Ken Kesselus, who recommended that Mr. Sanders go before Council at the November 10, 2014 meeting to request funding from the Hotel Motel Tax (HOT) to repair the headstones. Mr. Sanders stated that he and the Mayor envision that the Board will determine which headstones should be repaired. He also reported that the Mayor said that possibly HOT funds of $1,000 per year could be placed in the Cemetery Fund and designated for repairing headstones. Mr. Sanders asked for the Boards blessing to continue working with Mayor Kesselus on requesting funding. Karla Stovall stated that possibly the City could provide the funding to the Historical Society designated for repairing headstones. Terry Sanders responded that the Historical Society is not interested in taking on this project. Mr. Sanders indicated that he would like some of the Board members attend the Council meeting with him. IX. Informational update to Board, by Staff, on matters related to the Fairview Cemetery operations and maintenance Carl Spooner pointed out that people are continuing to allow their dogs to run loose in the Cemetery in the early morning; and the Police Department is not closing the gates at the designated time and sometimes not at all. Discussion was held on these items. Karla Stovall stated that Staff will monitor the issue with dogs running loose in the Cemetery. She also stated that she will meet with Chief Adcock to discuss the issue with the gates. She added that installing electric gates had been discussed in the past and if necessary will add that as an agenda item for the next meeting. Mr. Spooner also noted that the undeveloped block needs to be cleaned and shredded. Jason Alfaro responded that he will have his crew shred the block on a quarterly basis. Jason Alfaro reported that David Rojas has been working to remove low hanging limbs located along the streets in the older section and Greg Fairlie is working on treating ants. Karla advised Jason that a couple of Parks staff will be needed to assist with placing the crosses prior to the Texas Ranger event; she will provide him with the dates and times once they are finalized. Jason also noted that there were quite a few trees that did not survive the drought. Some have already been removed and there are still more that need to be. He added that the Parks Department will be planting trees during the months of October through February. He asked the Board to let him know if there were any areas that they would like to replant. Terry Sanders suggested that the area be evaluated after all dead trees are removed to see if replanting is needed. Jerry Woehl reported that the tree in the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) right of way still needs trimming as it blocks the view of traffic when exiting the Cemetery. Jason reported that TxDOT had trimmed trees along the west side of the highway but not along the east side.  Mr. Woehl also reported that he has noticed some roadways in the Cemetery are breaking off at the edge and are in need of repair. Discussion was held regarding the roadways. Karla Stovall suggested that each Board member make a list of the street repairs that they would like completed and submit them to her office prior to the next meeting. She will present their recommendations to Trey Job, Director of Public Works, who will provide a costs for completing the repairs. She will add this as an item for the next meeting agenda. Karla Stovall advised that lots sales were strong this year, with a total of 85 being sold. Some of the increase could be attributed to the lack of availability in surrounding communities. Terry Sanders asked the cost of purchasing a plot. Karla answered that the cost of a plot is $1,000 and Bastrop County charges a $20 filing fee. Discussion was held regarding the costs of a plot. Terry Sanders said that the costs of purchasing a plot may need to be reevaluated to in order to be able maintain the upkeep provided in the Cemetery as continues as it grows. He added that increasing the costs should be added to the next meeting agenda to for discussion. X. Discussion, consideration and possible action on setting the dates and times for next Cemetery Advisory Board meeting(s) Karla Stovall said in order to stay with the quarterly meeting schedule, the next meeting will be in January. She asked if there is a particular day in the week that works for everyone and the consensus was Wednesday. XI. Invitation for input from Board Members related to issues for possible inclusion on the next meeting agenda a.) Karla Stovall – road paving projects in the Cemetery and related costs. Public Works Director Trey Job will be invited to the meeting to provide information. b.) Terry Sanders – evaluate and discuss increasing the price of purchasing a cemetery plot. XII. Adjourn Jerry Woehl made a motion to adjourn at 5:00p.m. Motion was seconded by Carl Spooner and passed unanimously. APPROVED: ATTESTED: __________________________________ __________________________________ Terry Sanders, Chair Mary Williams, Secretary