Clearwater Cemetery District

CLEARWATER CEMETERY DISTRICT Clearwater Cemetery District Board Meeting April 10, 2025 6:30 PM, City Hall 1. Call to Order Board member Loos called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. 2. Roll Call David Loos, Trustee Ohio Township, Tim Erwin, Trustee Ninnescah Township, and Burt Ussery, Mayor of Clearwater were present. Others present: Courtney Zollinger, City Administrator, and Mike Weakly, Cemetery Sexton 3. Approval of Agenda MOTION: Ussery moved, Erwin seconded to approve the agenda as submitted. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 4. Consent Agenda a. Minutes 3/13/2024 b. March Accounts Payable c. March Receipt Report d. April Payroll MOTION: Loos moved, Ussery seconded to approve the consent agenda as presented. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 5. Reports • After the Farm Bureau Workers Compensation audit the Cemetery received a reduced policy amount. The policy price went from $1,579 to $949 for the 2024 – 2025 policy. • Woods Tree Farm has finish planting trees in the new section. They have been watered in by Woods. Dennis Woods recommended to NOT use PVC pipes plugged into the ground for slow watering because he believes it will flood the roots. Ussery asked if there was a warranty on the trees. Zollinger stated she would check. • TruGreen and Whitney have started their spring maintenance. • Webb Shinkle was contacted and explained that the District needs to know about all burials even if there is no “open and closing” of the grounds. Justin Utt understood and will keep the District informed if there are any other headstone ash burials. • 25% through the year and have received 45.6% of the budgeted receipts and spent 3.8% of the budgeted expenditures. • There were 4 work orders for markings monuments and 2 burials. MOTION: Ussery moved, Loos seconded to accept the financial report. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 6. Business CLEARWATER CEMETERY DISTRICT a. Petition for Annexation The Cemetery District has started making improvements to the northern property. Currently that property is in Sedgwick County and not within the Clearwater jurisdiction. If the Cemetery Board wants to combine all the cemetery into one property for tax purposes, the board must petition to annex into the City of Clearwater, so all properties are within one taxing district. Then a survey can be submitted to the register of deeds to combine the properties. The second reason to annex into the city is to be within the Clearwater Police jurisdiction for response. MOTION: Loos moved, Erwin seconded to approve the sign the consent for annexation into City of Clearwater. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 b. Sale of 17 Acres There is interest in the 17.292 acres the Cemetery acquired in 2021 from the City of Clearwater swap agreement. In 2023 there was a market analysis on that land pricing it at $15,000 per acre. The City of Clearwater had a recent market analysis on the property they own at 135th and 95th and the price was $12,000. But comparable sale prices of other properties around Sedgwick County ranged from $12,100 to $16,500 per acre. The board discussed and are willing to sell the property but not less than $15,000 per acre. MOTION: Erwin moved, Ussery seconded to consider the sale of the 17.292 acres for not less than $15,000 per acre. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 Ussery will let the interested party and see if they want to submit an offer. c. Outhouse at Cemetery The city staff was contacted by a person who has a family member buried in 1st Addition Section 1 and asked if the Cemetery District would be willing to refinish the outside of the outhouse that is located near the north fence of that section. City Staff checked with Mike Weakley, and he informed us that it is or at one time an operational outhouse that is need of repair or destruction. Staff have reached out to Reddi Environmental services to see what the charge would be to clean out the pit but they have yet to call back. When discussed at the city staff meeting it was recommended to remove the outhouse, place lime in the opening and fill it with dirt. The board discussed and would like to consider an option for a serviceable port-o-john to be kept at the cemetery and asked for pricing to be brought to them at the next meeting. MOTION: Loos moved, Ussery seconded to have Clearwater Public Works remove the structure and fill in the hole. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 CLEARWATER CEMETERY DISTRICT d. Lock/Unlock Gates at Cemetery There have been some problems with the cemetery gates at the Clearwater Cemetery being unlocked on time or at all on the weekends. The Clearwater Police Department has been asked to make sure the gates are locked in the evenings and unlocked on the weekends. If officers are on a call on the weekend mornings sometimes the gates don’t get unlocked or if there is a new hire or someone unfamiliar with the shift the gates don’t get unlocked. There was a family that drove in from Newton on March 29th and the gates were locked and they had too much to carry with them to go through the walkthrough gates as well as an elderly person who wouldn’t make the walk easily. Mike Weakly was asked to ensure the gates were opened the following weekend, but since it wasn’t a regular task for him did not confirm they were unlocked on Sunday. The city didn’t receive a complaint that they weren’t open, but we can assume they were by the police. It has been asked why the gates need to be closed and locked each day. There are many cemeteries that don’t have fences and gates at. It has been suggested to leave the gates open and set a policy that the cemetery is closed from dusk till dawn like all city parks. That way when on patrol, if the police find someone in the cemetery after dark, they can escort them out. This will also avoid any frustrations for travelers wishing to visit the cemetery and find the gates locked. The smaller cemeteries in the district don’t have driving paths so the gates are not open, but the walkthrough gates are always open for visitors. The board discussed possibilities of putting security cameras up like Clearwater City Park, however the Cemetery doesn’t have any network equipment and that would be costly. The other thought was to put up motion lights so it would indicate when someone was in the Cemetery after dark. Zollinger stated she could get pricing on that, but the board declined at this time. The board settled on continuing on with no changes with the understanding that the police department may miss opening/ closing the gates from time to time and the board will address it later. MOTION: Ussery moved, Loos seconded to do nothing different with the opening and closing of the Clearwater Cemetery. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 e. Hukle Marker w/o a Foundation A Hukle family member was doing some family ancestry and found Iva “Myrtle” Hukle was buried at Noel Cemetery in Clearwater and a family member wishes to put a marker at the site. The Hukle family was the original owners of the Noel Cemetery before it was passed onto the Clearwater Cemetery District. The Cemetery district doesn’t have a record of this burial however it happened in 1885, and the Cemetery District didn’t acquire Noel Cemetery until 1943 and the records prior to that were not very thorough. There isn’t a problem with placing a stone on the family lot. Since we can’t prove Iva is buried here or not, we will update the Cemetery records to say Iva was buried at Noel in 1885.  CLEARWATER CEMETERY DISTRICT The Rules and Regulations of the Cemetery District 5.2 state that all markers and monument foundations shall be placed by employees or agents of the Cemetery Only. The Hukle family purchased a marker off of Etsy that is 11.5” x 5.5” and does not have a foundation. This stone is intended to be placed directly on the ground with no foundation. It only weighs 8lbs • All stones are very durable, water resistant and will handle All weather conditions.. snow, rain, heat, sun etc... • Material is a Concrete using a low water mixture of Portland Cement, natural fine sand, well graded aggregates, and other admixtures for strength and durability. • Outdoor Protective Enamel Paint and two coats of outdoor sealant and finish are applied. Designed to resist abrasion and retain its color in the toughest environment. • Color Stain is Water based which offers the best stain consistency. All stains are UV Stable and environmentally friendly penetrating waterborne acrylic pigmented dye specifically designed for concrete. The family was informed that the foundations are required so maintenance of the grounds is easier and the city staff will be unable to authorize the placement of the stone. The family would like the board to allow them to place this stone as a grave marker for Iva Hukle, they are willing to sink it into the ground to allow for easier mowing maintenance and they would like to be able to place it themselves. The board considered the request and decided it was in the best interest of all the cemeteries in the district to stay consent with their current Rules and Regulations standards when it comes to headstone placement and require a foundation. MOTION: Ussery moved, Erwin seconded require a minimum foundation of 12” x 12” x 2.5” concrete base, adhere the marker stone to the base and the Clearwater Cemetery District assumes no responsibility for damage. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 f. Roll Cemetery Loos stated that Ohio Township was not interested including Roll Cemetery in the Lazarus website. g. Other Business – No other business 7. Executive Session – No Executive Session 8. Comments – No Comments 9. Adjournment With there being no further business MOTION: Loos moved, Ussery seconded to adjourn the meeting. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 Meeting adjourned at 7:14 p.m.