Trustees of Public Burial Grounds

FITCHBURG CITY CLERK Jun 12 2023 8:11 am City of Fitchburg, Massachusetts TRUSTEES OF PUBLIC BURIAL GROUNDS 115 Mt. Elam Road Fitchburg, MA 01420 Office: 978-345-9578 FAX: 978-345-9686 www.fitchburgma.gov CEMETERY TRUSTEE BOARD MEETING MINUTES Thursday, May 18, 2023 The Cemetery Trustee Board meeting was held in the West Meeting Room, 1st Floor at City Hall, 718 Main Street. An online link and phone number were provided for those who wished to participate remotely. CALL TO ORDER: Chair Perla called the meeting to order at 9:00 am. Trustees Present: J. Perla, A. Hawthorne, M. Sciabarrasi, G. Mirijanian. Others Present: Russell Karlstad Director of Facilities for Fitchburg. Present Remotely: J. Poirier, Cemetery Superintendent Public Forum: No one was present, either in person or remotely, wishing to speak. #1. Review and Approval of Meeting Minutes: A. Hawthorne made a motion to approve the meeting minutes of April 16, 2023… Michelle Sciabarrasi seconded. All in favor to approve minutes. Motion passed. #2.Cemetery Department Report 5/18/2023 - Progress report given by Jaquelyn Poirier Forest Hill Routine maintenance of grounds - Cleaned graves to comply with specifications - Pick up down limbs from all cemeteries - Maintenance – lawn mowers, equipment, backhoe and trucks - Continued spring clean up - Fertilized and seeded Memorial Gardens - Put barrels out for season - Mulched flower beds - Planted spring flowers - Installed Veteran flag holders, markers and memorial guards from the winter  INTERMENTS 4 INURNMENTS 5 UP RIGHTED MONUMENTS UNCOVERED FLAT MONUMENTS MONUMENT FOUNDATION MARKING/PHOTOS 12 CATCH BASIN REPAIR/CLEAN FILLED SINK HOLES 11 TRIMMED TREES Many TRIMMED SHRUBS PHONE/OUTSIDE MEETINGS WITH FAMILIES 54 PAYMENTS - INVOICED/PROCESSED 35 FAMILY GENEALOGY 40 Laurel Hill, South Street, West Street & Dean Hill & Hartwell Clean-up downed limbs Cemetery Staff - 4 Full-Time Workers - 1 Superintendent - (5) Summer help positions Administration Routine administration tasks - Cemetery Software – weekly meetings with CompuTemps - Met with Funeral Director – dis-interment issue - Veteran flag holders for Memorial Day – Installation (192) for sections D, E, F & 6 A - Scheduled water turn on for season with water department - Ordered new 200 gallon water tank with trailer for department - Coordinating with school tours - Hiring temporary labor for summer - Tree management (4) trees removed this year – edits to list - Working on Memorial Day preparations - Laurel Hill Fencing – issued notice to proceed – Met with Builtwell Fence at Laurel Hill - Request for Podium – Memorial Gardens - Meeting with Engineering – Memorial Gardens – edits on graves – final layout before area is available for sales. Working on numbering graves and scheduling paving of area engineering also working on how we track available graves - Columbarium expansion – Engineering has surveyed to get accurate existing conditions of topographic layout – With this information it will help with size and shape of new Columbarium unit - Ordered new trash receptacles for Memorial Gardens Some discussion on some of the items in the Superintendent’s report are below: Memorial Day Flag placement will be provided by the Monty Tech ROTC and the football team along with the Fitchburg High School ROTC and the Boy Scouts on Thursday. Laurel Hill Fencing project has been sent to purchasing and legal department. Builtwell Fencing Co. can now be given notice to proceed with the project. This project was slightly over priced and the remaining cost will be taken out of the cemetery budget. A request to purchase a podium, trees and a bench for the new Memorial Garden area by a private family was discussed. Trustees had a few questions and comments about this purchase. Superintendent Poirier will provide answers for our next meeting. Motion was made to accept the Superintendent’s report by A. Hawthrone…G. Mirijanian second the motion… All in favor…motion passed. #3. Russell Karlstad Director of Facilities informed the Trustees there was a site walk of the Mausoleum being held on April 18, 2023 at 10 AM for the Operator Project Manager( OPM) to view the Mausoleum. This is the first step in the renovation of the Mausoleum. Only one bidder came to the site walk. Trustees were provided with the revised Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) Services Fee Proposal from ANSER ADVISORY for the Forest Hill Abbey (aka The Mausoleum) at the Forest Hill Cemetery. ANSER ADVISORY is the OPM for historic cemetery expansion and performed capital needs assessment on all cemetery buildings for Newton Cemetery Corporation currently. Also, they are working with the Fitchburg Public Schools Capital Projects in Fitchburg MA. Trustees have until next meeting to email their questions or concerns to the Chair who will forward them to Russell Karlstad for clarification. At the next June meeting a vote will be taken to approve this proposal and move this project forward. #4. Mulch for Military project…The Trustees had many questions on the project and there was much discussion. A motion was made to allow or disallow the placement of Memorial Guards in the Fitchburg Cemeteries. A vote was taken and the Trustees voted to reject the placement of the Memorial Guards project in the Fitchburg Cemeteries. We offer a product that is sturdier and has preformed much better over many years. An email was sent to the Mulch for Military project informing them of the Trustees vote. Also, Trustees asked that they work with the Superintendent to remove the guards that were placed without permission from the Trustees. #5,6,&7. Rules & Regulations, Price List, Sale of Lots and payment schedule & time frame are still being worked on over the summer by Superintendent Poirier at which time the Trustees will have some clarification on this matter. Events: The next regular meeting will be held on Thursday, June 22,2023 at 9 AM in the West Meeting Room at City Hall, 718 Main Street, Fitchburg, MA 01420. Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 10:30 AM. Minutes of this and all other meetings can be view on the City of Fitchburg website under http://www.ci.fitchburg.ma.us Government - Meetings and Agendas - Trustees of Public Burial Grounds Respectfully submitted, Judith A. Perla Chair/Clerk, Trustees of Public Burial Grounds