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, September 17, 2020 The Cemetery Trustee Board meeting was held in the O’Neil Hall at the Fitchburg Senior Center, 14 Wallace Avenue, Fitchburg. An internet link and phone number were also provided for those who wished to participate remotely via the GoToMeeting platform. Call to Order: Chair Judith A. Perla called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m. Trustee Members Present: Judith A. Perla, Diane R. Ouellette, Andrew Hawthorne and Andrienne G. Clark Others Present: Nicolas H. Bosonetto - DPW Commissioner Remote Participants: Jaquelyn R. Poirier – Cemetery Superintendent, Gary Withington – DPW Street Superintendent Public Forum: No one wished to speak, either in person or remotely. Approval of Meeting Minutes: A motion was made by Andrew Hawthorne and seconded by Andrienne Clark, to approve the minutes from the board meeting held on February 20, 2020. 4 in favor, 0 opposed - Motion passed. Minutes approved. Staff Reports: Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the board has not met since February. The trustees were provided with both an interim and current report and discussed various items on both. See below: Cemetery Department Report 6/9/2020- Progress report given by Jaquelyn Poirier Forest Hill Routine maintenance of grounds, grass cutting, trimming, trash, watering, keeping graves to specifications - Equipment maintenance - Picked up downed limbs - Organized garage - Removed stumps - Raised numbers in sections R & O - Cleaned and reset granite in parking area - Installed new ropes and flag pole with help from Fitchburg Fire - Catch basin cleaning - New curb installed in section P - Loam and seeded winter graves  - Put trash barrels out for the season - Thatched and fertilized - Planted spring flowers - Turned on water for season – made minor repairs - Memorial Day flags placed with the help of Patricia Chabot, Diane and Leo Ouellette – Due to COVID 19 unable to use volunteers this year - Continuing to clean and disinfect vehicles and facilities - Installed Veteran markers Catch basin before Catch basin after New curb installed in section P Installed new mulch bed in infant grave area INTERMENTS 13 INURNMENTS 5 UP RIGHTED MONUMENTS 6 UNCOVERED FLAT MONUMENTS 5 MONUMENT FOUNDATION MARKING 30 CATCH BASIN REPAIR 4 FILLED SINK HOLES 0 Page 2 of 8  TRIMMED TREES 0 TRIMMED SHRUBS 0 MEETINGS WITH FAMILIES 54 PAYMENTS - INVOICED/PROCESSED 52 FAMILY GENEALOGY 67 Laurel Hill Routine maintenance Trimmed trees Fence installed Laurel Hill fence before Laurel Hill fence after Trustee Diane Ouellette and volunteer Patricia Chabot Placing flags at Laurel Hill South Street/West Street & Dean Hill & Hartwell Routine maintenance Cemetery Staff - 3 full-time workers Page 3 of 8 - Light Duty - 1 LMEO – 1 1/2 days a week - 6/8/2020 (back to 5 days a week in cemetery) - 1 Superintendent - No summer help due to COVID 19 Administration Routine administration tasks - Software meeting with CompuTemps –working on cleaning the data for migration - Columbaria area –Engineering will continue to monitor wells - estimated 800 minimum graves. - FY21 Budget - in process - Meeting with Veteran services commissioner - Meeting with personnel – prioritizing summer work schedule - Worked on departmental planning COVID 19 - Meeting with Funeral providers – COVID 19 – new protocols, rights to lot, oversized grave issues, permitting issues - Mausoleum – fixing leaks – scheduled for June - Assisted to Leominster and St. Joseph’s cemetery departments - Meetings with vault companies - Working on expansion Forest Hill - Attended webinar on cemetery preparedness COVID 19 - Reviewed forms working with HR - Attended Lorman webinars - Working on payment arrangements with families due to COVID 19 - Working with Troop # 41 for a summer service project Memorial Day – Remembering all our Veterans Many thanks to the cemetery crew for all their hard work! Page 4 of 8 Cemetery Department Report 9/17/2020- Progress report given by Jaquelyn Poirier Last report 6.9.2020 Forest Hill Routine maintenance of grounds, grass cutting, trimming, trash, watering, keeping graves to specifications - Equipment maintenance - Picked up downed limbs - Organized garage - Loam and seeded graves - Continuing to clean and disinfect vehicles and facilities - Installed Veteran markers with foundations - Installation of new bricks columbaria area - Sprayed weeds - Fixed broken water faucet - Picked up Memorial Day Flags - Painted doors on garage INTERMENTS 21 INURNMENTS 21 UP RIGHTED MONUMENTS 3 UNCOVERED FLAT MONUMENTS 17 MONUMENT FOUNDATION 32 MARKING/PHOTOS CATCH BASIN REPAIR/CLEAN FILLED SINK HOLES 4 TRIMMED TREES 22 TRIMMED SHRUBS 5 PHONE/OUTSIDE MEETINGS WITH FAMILIES 106 PAYMENTS - INVOICED/PROCESSED 71 FAMILY GENEALOGY 70 Laurel Hill Routine maintenance Trimmed trees Sprayed weeds Storm cleanup of branches South Street/West Street & Dean Hill & Hartwell Routine maintenance Storm cleanup of branches Cemetery Staff - 4 full-time workers – (1 Light Duty) - 1 Superintendent Administration Routine administration tasks - Lot transfer issues Page 5 of 8 - Cemetery Software – Plot Box gave a demonstration with Trustee committee- unable to give a notice to proceed due to lack of funding. When funding is available for project RFP process will have to start over again. - Software meetings with CompuTemps –working on cleaning the data for migration - Columbaria area –Engineering will continue to monitor wells - estimated 800 minimum graves. Engineering will work on design over the winter. $ 175,000 funded for project for roads, retaining wall, landscaping, water and fencing - Meeting with personnel – prioritizing fall work schedule - Mausoleum – Mason grinded out old mortar joints to make flat flush joints in front and back of mausoleum – repointed and sealed - completed in June – no leaking to date - Attended Lorman webinars - Working on payment arrangements with families due to COVID 19 - Coordinated with local funeral providers with COVID 19 new policies - adhering to State guidelines - Phone meeting with Attorney – monument issues - Worked on end of fiscal/beginning of fiscal year paperwork - Coordinated with Washington on Veteran issues to get markers for two Civil War Veterans - Worked with funeral director and family dis-interment of baby from 1974 - Coordinated with HR and BOH Nurse COVID 19 personnel issues - Meeting with Historian – Medal of Honor recipient Orlando Boss – Laurel Hill - Meetings with Eagle Scout – sign project Forest Hill - Submitted compensated absences for cemetery and parks - Coggshall schedule - Helped Shirley cemetery department with rules and pricing issues - Working on replacing sleeves for lot pages - Working on replacing trespassing sign at Laurel Hill Cemetery - Re-evaluating the tree management list for removal - Worked with DPW Business Manager on FY21 Budget Accounts Receivable for Cemetery Department FY20 MONTH OPEN LAND PERP REV TOTAL July $3,875.00 $1,925.00 $2,640.00 $595.00 $9,035.00 August $3,200.00 $3,195.00 $3,400.00 $620.00 $10,415.00 September $5,850.00 $3,340.00 $2,890.00 $440.00 $12,520.00 October $4,670.00 $1,000.00 $1,470.00 $551.50 $7,691.50 November $5,075.00 $3,745.00 $6,362.00 $95.00 $15,277.00 December $3,235.00 $1,700.00 $2,226.00 $410.00 $7,571.00 January $2,920.00 $3,180.00 $3,650.00 $1,122.50 $10,872.50 February $1,177.00 $300.00 $410.00 $300.00 $2,187.00 March $3,075.00 $2,730.00 $1,480.00 $415.00 $7,700.00 April $2,150.00 $500.00 $350.00 $100.00 $3,100.00 May $3,725.00 $415.00 $2,700.00 $267.17 $7,107.17 June $6,850.00 $3,665.00 $4,370.00 $1,517.07 $16,402.07 Page 6 of 8  TOTALS $45,802.00 $25,695.00 $31,948.00 $6,433.24 $109,878.24 New bricks installed columbaria area Repointing repairs to mausoleum Old Business: Software Update: The Trustee software committee viewed a demonstration of the Plot Box software via Zoom in July. The bid price was much higher than the funds encumbered with the IT Department, and due to Covid- 19 budget cuts, the project could not be fully funded at this time. When funds become available, the RFP process will be started over again. DPW Commissioner Bosonetto informed the Trustees that the IT Department plans to use the encumbered funds to clean up and start the migration of cemetery data to a modern format. Discussion included questions about this plan since Superintendent Poirier is currently working on this with CompuTemps. Diane Ouellette expressed concerns about how the data from the Laurel Hill Inventory Project will be handled. This nearly 14 year volunteer project is on track to be completed late in 2021. The Inventory Committee would like more specifics about what will be done with their data files. The Trustees would also like more details on the IT Department’s plans. Commissioner Bosonetto will reach out to IT Manager Trevor Bonilla for more information. License of Burial: Trustees reviewed the draft of the new form. Columbarium area & Finance Committee Orders # 105-20 and # 106-20: Trustees discussed the funding for the expansion behind the Columbarium area at Forest Hill. The funds from these orders have been appropriated and are encumbered for the expansion of that area. Engineering will continue to monitor the wells. The $175,000 will cover roads, retaining wall, landscaping, water and fencing for this project. Engineering will work on design over the winter. It is estimated that this area could provide a minimum of 800 graves. Section P could Page 7 of 8 also provide additional graves by removing large underground boulders. Status of the planned future expansion of the Electric Avenue site was also discussed. 2020 Cemetery projected projects: Due to Covid-19, many of the projects originally planned for 2020 have been placed on hold. Those completed included the new Laurel Hill fencing and the repairs on the Forest Hill mausoleum. New Business: There was no new business to discuss. Events: The next meeting will be held on Thursday, October 15, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. in the O’Neil Hall at the Fitchburg Senior Center, 14 Wallace Avenue. Adjournment: A motion was made by Diane Ouellette and seconded by Andrew Hawthorne to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed, 4 in favor, 0 opposed and the meeting was adjourned at 10:22 a.m. Meeting Schedule 2020: October 15, 2020 November 19, 2020 Respectfully submitted, Diane R. Ouellette Clerk, Trustees of Public Burial Grounds Distribution: Cemetery Trustees Mary de Alderete, City Clerk Jaquelyn R. Poirier, Cemetery Superintendent Susan A. Davis, Director of Human Resources Nicolas H. Bosonetto, Commissioner of Public Works Bernard J. Schultz, Ward 1 Councilor Gary Withington, Superintendent of Streets Amy L. Green, Councilor-At-Large Honorable Mayor Stephen L. DiNatale Tricia Chabot A.J. Tourigny, Mayor’s Chief of Staff Peggy Page Page 8 of 8