Trustees of Public Burial Grounds

City of Fitchburg, Massachusetts 115 Mt. Elam Road Fitchburg, MA 01420 Office: 978-345-9578 FAX: 978-345-9686 www.fitchburgma.gov CEMETERY TRUSTEE BOARD MEETING MINUTES Thursday, June 18, 2015 Call to Order: Chairman Philip Jordan called the June 18, 2015 meeting to order at 9:00 am Trustee Members Present: Philip Jordan, Donna Coco, Joe Coco and Diane Ouellette Trustee Members Absent: Donald Lassila Minutes of the Meeting: A motion made by Diane Ouellette, and seconded by Donna Coco to accept the minutes from April 16, 2015. 4 in favor, 0 opposed - Motion passed. Oral Requests from Audience: None Cemetery Department Report: Report given by Jaquelyn Poirier Forest Hill - Cleaning up from winter - Dethatched and fertilized entire cemetery - Repairing damaged stones from winter - Reset stones - General maintenance, rubbish collection – in cemetery, around bike bath, in woods Chestnut Avenue/Electric Avenue - Clean graves after Memorial Day weekend - Cleaned mausoleum - Organized and cleaned garage - 2 trees scheduled by Tree Warden removed – Cleaned up after removal - Filled sunken graves - Charged water and repaired damaged water faucets and pipes - Opened drains - Repaired white posts damaged during winter - Installed Veteran flag holders - Installed Veteran markers - Spread bark mulch - Installed new American flags for the season - Watering – new graves & flowers in planters - Streets Division swept streets - Started spraying weeds - Raked and cleaned up dirt, sand and trash along back fence – Rollstone Street - (22) Funerals since last meeting Laurel Hill - Checked and picked up trash - Cut & trimmed grass - Met with police regarding vandalism - Reset 6 stones that were vandalized - Uplifted stone from winter - Fixed path damaged by ATV - Picked up sleeping bags, clothes - Cleaned road - Started spraying weeds - Filled in sunken grave on North Avenue - Bee nest on Downe monument removed South Street/West Street & Dean Hill - Checked and picked up trash - Cut & trimmed grass Cemetery Staff - 1 full-time workers - Disabled list 1 SMEO and 1 LMEO (returned 5/18 – 5/22 back out) - 5 Temporary Summer Help - 1 Student in Transition -2 half days (last day 6/16/15) - 1 Luk employee – 20 hours per week (started 6/11/15) - 1 Superintendent - Prisoners and Community Service when available Administration - Revolving Account – Balance $ 64,266.73 (last report on 4.16.2015 balance $ 63,675.06) - Applied for Veterans markers in Washington - Consult with grieving families - Working on FY15 budget projections - Working on database corrections and updating - Spoke with IT and Commissioner Lenny Laakso with regard to computer and phone issues - Sales - graves, veterans’ foundations, veterans’ flag holder, brick, cremated remains table rental, columbarium - Genealogical searches - Met with Trustees on cemetery veterans maps and updating database - Met with Trustee and Eagle Scout candidate Michael Bourque on project with markers - Met with families about Rules & Regulations after removing prohibited items from graves - Adopt A Veteran program – Advertised in Sentinel & Enterprise for 5 days – Great response! - Columbarium Expansion- Bid awarded to Hardy Doric Inc. for the price of $ 18, 860.00 Foundations are installed – units should be here next month - Water sample for the columbaria area –identified high ground water, no a water leak - Modify frost remover – weld extensions on edges –scheduled with DPW for this week - Attending DPW managers meeting - Expansion section D 200 aluminum number markers are on site Met with Engineering Gary Bevilacqua questioned max slope, pin area after loam and seed Gary Bevilacqua has map for DPW to follow when re-grading area – more land and trees to be cleared - Assisting Leominster Cemetery Department - Processed temporary summer help for cemetery and parks - Prepared for spring and Memorial Day – ordered new flags, coordinated with AMVETS, Veterans Office, Trustees - Coordinated with Trustees – 5th Grade Memorial School Tour - Attended Graduation for Student in Transition Trustees requested to have metal roof on old office building painted Trustees requested help with stone down at Laurel Hill on Central Street – They will coordinate with Jaquelyn Poirier to have cemetery personnel help. Free Grounds – Trustees requested that fill be used to fill in where old stumps were before new numbers are put in Old Business: Mausoleum Roof Update –Bid advertised – pre-bid meeting with (3) vendors on 6/17/15 on site with Steve Svolis – Bids are due by end of June – Trustees requested to have detailed list of expenses and where funding was coming from when bid is awarded Columbaria Expansion - Foundations are poured – installation expected in a few weeks. Trustees requested to be notified of date of installation Memorial Day – Went well, cemetery looked good – not many complaints of flags missed on graves Cemetery Mapping – Joe and Donna Coco are updating maps from Memorial Day, Working on lettered sections then a on-grounds walk through with maps will be scheduled Adopt -A-Veteran – New program off to a good start, many veterans have been adopted Perpetual Care Expendable Interest – Trustee given totals of accounts. Rosa Brown more information on criteria for disbursement of funds researched by Diane Ouellette for individual grave at Laurel Hill. Trustees want a breakdown of beginning FY total and interest added – also showing 20% put aside each year without spending. Section D Expansion – More clearing needs to happen to get the proper grade of slope for the graves – Engineering has map for Gary Withington to follow –staying within the 100 ft of the wetlands restriction – Gary Withington will schedule when time allows. Web site – Internet update – Jaquelyn Poirier spoke with Lenny Laakso and IT with the major computer issues. Computer slowing down, not able to stay connected to the VPN server – ticket into IT last year. Keeping log of dates and times and issues for IT to be able to trouble shoot. New Business: Lawn Mower – After a lengthy discussion the Trustees agreed to pay half of the mower as a gift to the Cemetery. They are not in favor of making this a habit to purchase equipment and supplement the budget with perpetual care expendable funding. A motion was made by Donna Coco, and seconded by Joe Coco to expend as a gift $3000.00 from Perpetual Care Expendable account # 80430 – 545400 for half of the purchase price of a new Gravely Prostance 52 mower model # 994112. 4 in favor, 0 opposed - Motion passed. July 4th – Laurel Hill – Trustees requested that cemetery be locked down again this year. Trustees also requested Gary Withington to place barriers. Meeting schedule 2015: September 17, 2015 November 19, 2015 Events: Next meeting scheduled for September 17, 2015 at 9:00 am – at Cemetery Office A motion made at 10:33 pm by Joe Coco, and seconded by Donna Coco to adjourn the meeting. 4 in favor, 0 opposed - Motion passed. Respectfully submitted, Jaquelyn R. Poirier Distribution: Cemetery Trustees Honorable Mayor Lisa A. Wong Nate LaRose City Clerk Ward 1 Councilor Amy Green Lenny Laakso, DPW Gary Withington, DPW Tricia Chabot Diane & Leo Ouellette Peggy Page Joy Contois