Clearwater Cemetery District

CLEARWATER CEMETERY DISTRICT Clearwater Cemetery District Board Meeting November 14, 2025 6:30 PM, City Hall 1. Call to Order Board member Loos called the meeting to order at 6:3op.m. 2. Roll Call David Loos, Trustee Ohio Township, Tim Erwin, Trustee Ninnescah Township and Burt Ussery, Mayor City of Clearwater were present. David Loos, Trustee Ohio Township, arrived at 6:47pm Others present: Courtney Zollinger, City Administrator, Mike Weakly, Cemetery Sexton, Logan Patrick, Majority Leader Blasi’s Office. 3. Approval of Agenda MOTION: Loos moved, Ussery seconded to approve the agenda as submitted. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 4. Consent Agenda a. Minutes 10/9/2025 b. October Accounts Payable c. October Receipt Report d. November Payroll MOTION: Loos moved, Erwin seconded to approve the consent agenda as presented. Voted and passed unanimously. 23-0 5. Reports • 83% through the year. Revenues are at 93% and expenses are at 34% • Received $61.82 in restitution, sold 1 lot in Clearwater, processed 3 quit claims, and had 5 burials in October. • Mike said the port-o-john can be picked up for the winter months with no issue. His recommendation is to have it delivered again in March. Is the board agreeable to this? The cost of the port-o-john is $120.75 per month. MOTION: Ussery moved, Loos seconded to remove the port-o-john for the winter and return it in March. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 6. Business – a. Senate Bill Logan Patrick Provided two versions of the Senate Bill. One version required a unanimous vote from the Cemetery Board and the other was a majority vote. In each the third member would be voted in at the  CLEARWATER CEMETERY DISTRICT next meeting to fill the vacancy and then will stand for election by the voters at the next regular election and every four years thereafter. Within the necessary resolution that the District must adopt for Ohio Township to be removed it allows for the District to state how to divide assets. Ussery spoke and said he completely disagrees with a unanimous vote. Erwin spoke and agreed that the board should not be forced to have a unanimous vote. The democratic way is majority. However, from Ninnescah Township board they do not agree with the change, and he will vote no on their behalf. With a majority vote if Ohio and Clearwater vote yes, the bill would still pass. Ussery went on to point out that out of the District taxes Ohio Township is paying 27% of the taxes but the one cemetery located in their district, Noel Cemetery, only 2% of the expenses are going to support Noel. Ussery doesn’t agree that Ohio Township should continue to pay taxes into the District at 27% if the only cemetery that ties them to the District costs 2% if they don’t want to. He stated that Ninnescah Township and the City of Clearwater can effectively run without the Ohio Township tax base. Ussery recalled that Noel Cemetery was titled to the City. Zollinger confirmed that it is titled to the City Hall Clearwater. He would propose that, if passed, Noel Cemetery remains in ownership with the City and remains with the Cemetery District for maintenance. The 27% of taxes that come from Ohio Township are approximately $38,000. The other revenue the District receives is mainly from the Clearwater Cemetery. All income from the future cemetery is not going to benefit the Ohio Township. Ussery spoke to Erwin and stated he understands Erwins point and understands Ninnescah Township point of view on this, but he thinks if the objection is because it's always been that way he would ask that Erwin reconsider or talk to the Ninnescah Board again about it . It was asked of Erwin if it was the financial piece his township had concerns about. The answer was “no” that was not the issue. The issue is this district has been this way since the 1940’s and had worked well and they don’t want to see it change. Ussery asked Patrick specifically why unanimous had to be in the bill and who is pushing the burden of a unanimous vote. Patrick explained the unanimous versus two-thirds came from the community from the 2024 draft of the bill. Ussery recapped the 2024 discussion and reminded the board that in 2024 Ninnescah stated the city was trying to overrule. That wasn’t the case since Ohio Township originated the conversation. That bill was to dissolve the entire district and never made it out committee. This bill is to allow Ohio Township to remove themselves from the District, while the City of Clearwater and Ninnescah Township continue to work together. All board members agree that majority vote is how they would like the bill to be presented to the Senate. 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  CLEARWATER CEMETERY DISTRICT from the district. Such resolution shall be adopted by a majority vote of the trustees. The reorganized cemetery district shall have three members: one member from the city of Clearwater, one member from the Ninnescah township and one at-large member. The resolution shall provide that the third at-large member of the board of trustees shall be initially elected by the board of trustees at the next meeting of the board following the adoption of the resolution. The third at-large member shall then stand for election by the voters of the district at the 2026 regular election and every four years thereafter. 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. 25rs2418 MOTION: Ussery moved, Loos seconded to ask the Senate to consider the bill with majority vote. Voted and passed. 2-1 (Erwin) Patrick thanked the board and let them know he will inform Rep. B. Bergkamp and Sen. C. Blasi of the about discussions with the board. b. Financial Distribution – The board had reviewed the financial splits and asked Zollinger to prepare resolutions to be considered to remove Ohio Township from the District. The points that need covered in the resolutions. 1. Ohio Township to be removed from the District, 2. Noel Cemetery is to stay with the District, 3. Ohio Township will receive no financial compensation, 4. In District pricing will be offered to Ohio Township (previously In District) for a period of 24 months after removed. A second resolution was to change item 4 to If property was owned for 10 years or more by an individual prior to the split they would be allowed In District pricing while they still own the land. No action taken. c. Request to Bury Urn in lot with Infant Burial Michelle KIiever contacted the office inquiring about burying her mother, Mildred Ruth Storment (Enegren), in the family plot. Her mother had always told her that she would be buried with her parents in the family plot. Her parents are Annie and Fred Enegren (position 1 and 2). Annie and  CLEARWATER CEMETERY DISTRICT Fred are in standard caskets. Dorothy and Donald are brother and sister infants buried in positions 3 & 4. Michelles mother has been cremated and is asking permission to place the urn in one of the lots with either Dorothy or Donald. According to the districts rules and regs multiple burials can be in the same lot but must be determined with the first burial. Since the infant burials were from the 1920’s there is no recorded multiple burial determinations made. Mike Weakley has probed the lots but said the ground is too dense and he can’t go very far. He also stated that graves in the 20’s were 6’ deep. For an urn he can go 28” anywhere in the grave and be fine to bury an urn only without a vault. The board discussed and would like a letter from the family authorizing the District to open the lot where Donald Enegren in buried with the change the grave may be disturbed. The board directed Weakley that if the family moves forward with this burial to open the grave at the farthest edge from the headstone. MOTION: Ussery moved, Erwin seconded to allow the burial with an authorization letter from the family. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0 d. Review Open and Close Pricing Garretson Equipment informed the office that their open/ close rates were changes as of October. They are as follows: Open/Close Rates Cemetery Charges Garretson Fees Difference CLEARWATER Weekdays $ 550 $ 500 $ 50 Saturday $ 700 $ 650 $ 50 Sunday $ 830 $ 750 $ 80 Holidays $ 960 $ 850 $ 110 Urns $ 375 $ 400 $ (25) NOEL-HARRINGTON-RUBY Weekdays $ 600 $ 575 $ 25 Saturday $ 795 $ 725 $ 70 Sunday $ 925 $ 825 $ 100 Holidays $ 1,055 $ 925 $ 130 Urns $ 475 $ 475 $ - The board discussed to change the pricing and also considered to automatically increase the prices if Garretson increased their pricing and keeping the same margins. The board decided to review all price change as they come in. MOTION: Ussery moved, Loos seconded to change the Clearwater urn price to $425, Noel, Harrington, Ruby weekday price to $625 and run price to $500. Voted and passed unanimously. 3-0  CLEARWATER CEMETERY DISTRICT 7. Executive Session – No Executive Session 8. Comments – No comments 9. Adjournment With there being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 7:27pm