Trustees of Public Burial Grounds

FITCHBURG CITY CLERK Apr 25 2024 10:08 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 TRUSTEES OF PUBLIC BURIAL GROUNDS BOARD MEETING MINUTES MARCH 21, 2024 The Trustees Board meeting was held in the West Meeting Room, 1st Floor at City Hall, 718 Main Street. Persons who wish to participate remotely in the Public Forum portion of the meeting may request a remote attendance link by contacting the City Clerk at cityclerk@fitchburgma.gov by 12:00 PM (noon) on the day prior to the scheduled meeting. CALL TO ORDER: Chair Perla called the meeting to order at 9:04 am. Trustees Present: J. Perla, G. Mirijanian, A. Hawthorne and M. Sciabarrasi. Others Present: Nick Erickson, DPW Commissioner, Jaquelyn Poirier, Cemetery Superintendent, Mayor Squailia. Remotely Present: Petros Davos of ANSER ADVISORY, the OPM on the Forest Hill Abbey Project Public Forum: No one was present, either in person or remotely, wishing to speak. #1. Crematorium & Expansion of Forest Hill Cemetery: Andrew Hawthorne, Trustee, gave an overview of his findings with regards to building a crematorium with the expansion of the Forest Hill Cemetery to present to the Mayor. Trustee Hawthorne indicated that cremations are on the rise and it would be an advantage for the City to consider this moving forward. Trustee Hawthorne provided the Mayor and Trustees with some figures and percentages on the issue. He also, informed the board and Mayor the nearest crematorium is in Worcester. He also felt this would be a plus for the City as a revenue stream. Mayor asked if Trustee Hawthorne would be will to update the information and he agreed to do this. There was much discussion on the expansion of Forest Hill Cemetery as the Trustees have been talking and discussing this issue for the past seven (7) years or more. The current cemetery is running out of in ground burial space and something has to be done. The current cemetery has installed a new section and it is filling up fast. The cemetery is working on the Columbarium area as well and is in the process of adding additional structures. #2. Update on the Forest Hill Abbey (Mausoleum): Petros Davos OPM on this project gave an overview of where we are at this point and informed the Mayor and Trustees the Spencer Group is preparing the schematic designs for the Abbey for presentation. The Trustees are looking for funding for the next phase of this project which will include the Construction Documents ($131,250), the Bidding Administration/Bid Phase ($18,750) and the Construction Administration ($150,000) roughly. These are soft numbers until we get the updates from the Spencer Group. The City has already spent roughly $175,000 to date to get us to this point. The roof is the main problem and the roof is what is causing all the damage to the building. Suggestions on phasing out the project have been made. Start with the roof and tackle the other issues going forward. Right now the Trustees are asking for the funding for this next phase from free cash or another source of revenue to complete the above mention work that will get us to June 2024. #3. Foundations List: At our last meeting the Trustees were sent a list of Foundations that we might be able to obtain some funding from for the Abbey project. Chair Perla ask the Trustees to look over the list and see if they could contract some of the names on the list. Trustees would come to the next meeting with their findings. There was discussion on trying to reactive the “Friends of Fitchburg Historical Cemeteries” group. If anyone from the public would like to start a “Friends Group” please reach out to the Trustee. #4. Drafts Documents: Supt. Poirier handed out to the Trustees the Red Folder with the new documents. This packet is given to each family that comes to make arrangements for burial of a loved one. #5. Approval of February 15th Meeting Minutes: Motion to approve the minutes was made and seconded and all were in favor. The motion passed. #6. Superintendent’s Report: Cemetery Department Report 3/21/2024 - Progress report given by Jaquelyn Poirier Forest Hill Routine maintenance of grounds - Cleaned graves to comply with specifications - Picked up trash in Forest Hill & Bike Path - Lawn mower/ Trimmer maintenance - Backhoe shifter repair – help from DPW - Installed new wipers and greased backhoe - Started spring cleaning on grounds - Cleaned file room at DPW - Inspection Stickers – T-26 & Pickup - Replaced trailer stairs to break room  INTERMENTS 9 INURNMENTS 3 UP RIGHTED MONUMENTS UNCOVERED FLAT MONUMENTS MONUMENT FOUNDATION 7 MARKING/PHOTOS CATCH BASIN REPAIR/CLEAN FILLED SINK HOLES TRIMMED TREES TRIMMED SHRUBS PHONE/OUTSIDE MEETINGS WITH 43 FAMILIES PAYMENTS - INVOICED/PROCESSED 30 FAMILY GENEALOGY 26 Cemetery Staff - 3 Full-Time Workers – 1 Co-op Monty Tech Student - 1 Superintendent Administration Routine administration tasks Cemetery Software Meeting with CompuTemps – data Attended Coast – information work flow software General Working with Engineering – water issues –section Q & Columbarium area Interviewed LMEO candidates – made offer to candidate Meeting with Monument dealer – process of new consent form Set up new time clock Updated clothing inventory Attended meeting for FMLA & progressive discipline Collections Memorial Gardens Waiting on paving Engineering also working on how we track available graves (maps) – CAD Mausoleum Mausoleum – see packet information Columbarium Working on draft specifications for new 72 niche unit Request for monumentation 24” x 18” Before the Superintendent’s report was approved there was discussion on the stone pictured above. A request was made to the Trustees to approve the stone which is out of the specifications according to our rules & regulations. There was a back and forth discussion and finally a motion was made by Trustee Hawthorne to approve the stone with the condition that the stone be trimmed to meet the required specifications which are two feet by one foot (2 'x 1'). Trustee Mirijanian 2nd the motion; all in favor; the motion passed with the condition. Motion to approve the Superintendent’s report made by Trustee Mirijanian and 2nd by Trustee Hawthorne. All in favor. Motion passed. Announcements: FATV & Meeting Rooms: Chair Perla read an email from FATV Executive Director Nathan Glenny explaining the reasons for not holding our meetings in the Legislative Building. The email stated that “with smaller committee meetings that can fit in the West Meeting Room, it is helpful for FATV to use the system we have in place. Meetings which happen after 4:30 pm should be the ones which look towards meeting within the Legislative Building. It would require additional resources from FATV, beyond what we provided for your first recent recording of PBG”. If for any reason we knew there would be many people from the public in attendance we would be provide the space in the Legislative building for that meeting. Email Correspondence: Chair Perla advised the Trustees that all emails from Trustees should CC the chair. Also, email correspondence to each other could violate the open meeting laws. If you have a topic or item you wish to discuss or bring before the Trustees please email the Chair by Friday before the 3rd Thursday which is when the meeting takes place. This will give ample time to place the item on the agenda and get the agenda file within the 48 hour window. Approved Reappointment: Congratulations was extended to Michelle Sciabarrasi on her reappointment to the Trustees of Public Burial Grounds for another 3 years. The Trustees of Public Burial Grounds does have one available Trustee seat as we have a five (5) member board. If any one from the public would like to join our board, please email the mayor@fitchburgma.gov and let the office know you have an interest in joining and they will let you know what the procedure is. Events: The next meeting will be held on Thursday April 18, 2024 @ 9 am in the West Meeting Room 1st Floor at City Hall ,718 Main Street Fitchburg, MA 01420 Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 11:18 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 Agenda - Trustees of Public Burial Grounds Respectfully submitted, Judith A Perla Chair/Clerk Trustees of Public Burial Grounds Here is the link for the meeting on Video on Demand:https://videoplayer.telvue.com/player/yycCAZPb0NN3zj2o5qio- YFMNC43NjCG/media/863169?fullscreen=false