Clearwater Cemetery District

CLEARWATER CEMETERY DISTRICT Clearwater Cemetery District Board Meeting September 11, 2025 6:30 PM, City Hall 1. Call to Order Board member Loos called the meeting to order at 6:30p.m. 2. Roll Call David Loos, Trustee Ohio Township, Tim Erwin, Trustee Ninnescah Township and Burt Ussery, Mayor of City of Clearwater were present. Others present: Courtney Zollinger, City Administrator, Mike Weakly, Cemetery Sexton, and Logan Patrick, Office of the Senate Majority Leader. 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 8/14/2024 b. August Accounts Payable c. August Receipt Report d. September Payroll MOTION: Loos moved, Ussery seconded to approve the consent agenda as presented. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 5. Reports • 66.6% through the year. Revenues are at 82.9% and expenses are at 26.5%. • The new Cemetery Software was released to us mid-August. We will have reports for the board on the software next month and we will also have the view live on the website. • Reddi has not been able to fix Ruby Cemetery fence yet. It is scheduled for 9/22 pending weather. • Logan Mills, CED will be at the next meeting for the board to discuss development options for columbariums. • Weakley s changing oil in the mowers, sharpening blades and waiting for the grass to dry a little to weed eat the fence line. Also keeping up with hauling off brush. • 1 Lot sale, 4 burials, and 1 quit claim MOTION: Ussery moved, Loos seconded to accept the reports. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 6. Business – a. Logan Patrick, Office of the Senate Majority Leader – Mr. Patrick came back with a senate bill proposal that said: CLEARWATER CEMETERY DISTRICT SENATE BILL NO. ____ By Senator Blasi AN ACT concerning cemeteries; authorizing the reorganization of the Clearwater cemetery district; deleting Ohio township from the district. Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Kansas: Section 1. (a) The board of trustees of the Clearwater cemetery district located in Sedgwick county is authorized to reorganize such cemetery district by adoption of a resolution of reorganization to exclude Ohio township from the district. Such resolution shall be adopted by a unanimous vote of the trustees. The resolution shall provide for the election of a third member of the board of trustees at the next meeting of the board. The third member may reside in either the city of Clearwater or Ninnescah township and shall represent the entire district. The Ohio township and the reorganized Clearwater cemetery district may enter into an interlocal cooperation agreement regarding the future care of cemeteries and the sharing of existing tax funds. (b) A copy of the reorganization resolution shall be mailed to the Sedgwick county clerk. The reorganization of the cemetery district shall be deemed effective on January 1, 2026. Sec. 2. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its publication in the Kansas register. The board discussed the proposal and made the following recommendations and comments: • Ussery and Loos were not in favor of the vote needing to be unanimous but didn’t think the bill would pass if it wasn’t unanimous. • Sharing of existing funding must be addressed in the resolution. • The open position on the board whether statute states that there shall be 3 or 5 members on the board, any at-large position should be voted in on a ballot and not through an electoral meeting. Patrick stated he will go back to the revisors office and review any conflicting statutes that exist and be back at the next meeting with more information.  CLEARWATER CEMETERY DISTRICT b. 2026 Budget Hearing – MOTION: Loos moved, Ussery seconded to open the 2026 Budget Hearing at 7:29pm. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 Notice: The Public Notice for the 2026 Clearwater Cemetery District Budget Hearing was posted in the Times Sentinel Newspaper on August 28, 2025, setting the public hearing for September 11, 2025, at 6:30pm at City Hall. Budget Proposal Recap: The Board has proposed keeping one Sexton for grounds maintenance, continuing contract with Whitney Landscaping for mowing, TruGreen for chemical spraying on the Clearwater Cemetery lawn, and hiring tree trimmers when necessary. Capital projects include development for the new cemetery. The Board has also proposed to set aside $30,000 for the equipment reserve for the purchase of a new maintenance truck. Beginning Cash estimated for 2025 = $270,962.42 Total Revenue outside of Ad Valorem taxes = $60,523 (lot sales, burials, etc) Total Expenditures = $471,953 Total Ad Valorem Taxes Needed = $143,542 The Cemetery District voted not to exceed the Revenue Neutral Rate therefore will not be asking for more taxes for the 2025 budget. The mill levy will go from 2.637 to 2.479. No comments or questions from the board. No comments or questions from the public. MOTION: Loos moved, Erwin seconded to close the 2026 Budget Hearing at 7:31pm. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 MOTION: Loos moved, Erwin seconded to adopt the 2026 Budget as presented. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 7. Executive Session – No Executive Session 8. Comments – Ussery asked that the financial models the board worked on a couple years ago when disorganization discussions were discussed, be brought back to the next meeting to be part of the discussion of the Senate Bill. 9. Adjournment With there being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 7:40pm