Trustees of Public Burial Grounds

FITCHBURG CITY CLERK May 17 2024 10:21 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 THURSDAY April 18, 2024 The Trustees Board meeting was held in the West Meeting Room, 1st Floor at City Hall, 718 Main Street. Any person who wishs 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. Hawthorn. Absent was M. Sciabarrasi. We have a quorum. Others Present: Nick Erickson, DPW Commissioner, Jaquelyn Poirier, Cemetery Superintendent and Petros Davos, Project Manage,r ANSER Advisory for Forest Hill Abbey (Mausoleum) project. Present Remotely : No one was present remotely. Public Forum: No one was present, either in person or remotely, wishing to speak. #1. Updated on Forest Hill Abbey (Mausoleum) Project: Petros gave an update to Trustees on the project. Roughly around one million and a half dollars ($1,500, 000) for the roof project and maybe an additional seventy five thousand ($75,000) for hazmat materials. We will have an more substantial dollar figure after all the documents are finished and presented to the Trustees. This project will be done in phases with phase one being the repair of the roof. Phase two would include the interior. DPW Commissioner Erickson had indicated to the Trustees he is to put this project on hold because of funding restraints. DPW Erickson was told by the mayor’s office “FY25 Budget is level funded and all projects are put on hold”. Chair Perla asked what happened to six to eight million dollars in free cash? She was informed that the money has been appropriated to unexpected expenses. This project is about a month behind schedule and now it is in serious trouble without more funding. The Trustees are making a public plead for help with this project. Please donate what you can to the Forest Hill Abbey Restoration and Repair Fund. Any and all contributions are excepted. Chair Perla has emailed the solicitor with a question about the Trustees dues to ask for funding for this project and there has been no answer to this question. Letters to the mayor and state representatives has be written and will be sent to them asking for help with additional funding. See attachments below. #2. Memorial Day Preparations: Superintendent Poirier has contacted the Fitchburg High School ROTC, Troop #41 Boy Scouts and Football Team to help place flags on the veterans graves for Memorial Day. #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. Chair Perla indicated that she had tried to reach out to some of the names on the listing but had no luck. Apparently funding for cemeteries does not fit into any of the criteria for most of these funding sources. We discussed grant writers to help us out but unfortunately this too cost money. Trustees have talked about reaching out to FATV and their programming shows so that we may be able to help spread the word on the severity of the Abbey and the funding needed to the viewing public along with newspaper advertising. #4. Rules Form Verbiage & Stone Monument: A motion to approve the new verbiage for the cemetery Rules & Regulations was made by A. Hawthorne and seconded by G. Mirijanian and were in favor. Motion passed. Trustees inquired about the out of dimensions of the stone monument from last meeting and Superintendent Poirier has not heard back from the monument company yet. #5. Drafted Letters to the City & State Representatives: Letters have been drafted and will be reviewed before sending them out to the appropriate parties. #6: Approval of March 21, 2024 Meeting Minutes: Motion to approve the minutes was made by A. Hawthorne and seconded by G. Mirijanian. All were in favor. The motion passed. #7. Superintendent’s Report: Cemetery Department Report 4/18/2024 - 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 - Continued spring cleaning on grounds - Trimmed trees at South Street Cemetery - Temporary fix – fence Forest Hill Cemetery - Fixed hoses for spigots - Repaired wood tripping hazard on bike path  - Filled large wash out at Laurel Hill - Spring clean at Dean Hill, South, West and Laurel Hill Cemeteries - Organized tomb INTERMENTS 1 INURNMENTS 2 UP RIGHTED MONUMENTS UNCOVERED FLAT MONUMENTS MONUMENT FOUNDATION MARKING/PHOTOS 10 CATCH BASIN REPAIR/CLEAN FILLED SINK HOLES TRIMMED TREES TRIMMED SHRUBS PHONE/OUTSIDE MEETINGS WITH FAMILIES 30 PAYMENTS - INVOICED/PROCESSED 26 FAMILY GENEALOGY 13 Cemetery Staff - 3 Full-Time Workers – 1 Co-op Monty Tech Student - 1 Superintendent LMEO candidate did not accept job, posted position again Administration Routine administration tasks Cemetery Software Working on lot maps General Working with Engineering – water issues –section Q & Columbarium area Need approval for cost – perpetual care - expenses Filed paperwork fence accident – 3/27/2024 Planning for Memorial Day 180 Adopt a Veteran flag holders – will be placed before Memorial Day in another section  Meeting with Lunenburg Trustee – Cemetery Information Working on quotes for down spouts in Mausoleum 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 Forest Hill Fence Damage 3.27.2024 Before the Superintendent’s report was approved there was discussion on continued water and drainage issues in section Q and in the Columbarium area in the Forest Hill Cemetery. Superintendent Poirier ask for a funding appropriation not to exceed $60,000 from the cemetery perpetual care account. Commissioner Erickson indicated the work would be done in house by the DPW & engineering department to keep the cost down and he may be able to pay for this project from his storm water account. A motion was made by G. Mirijanian and seconded by A. Hawthorne. All in favor. Motion passed. Motion to approve the Superintendent’s report made by Trustee Mirijanian and 2nd by Trustee Hawthorne. All in favor. Motion passed. #8. Abbey Downspouts Replaced: Yes the downspouts will be replaced to help with water run off from the roof of the Abbey. #9. Social Media/FATV Programming Shows, etc.: Discussion on this topic was robust and Trustee Mirijanian was tasked with gathering information. Announcements: An email invitation was sent to Ward 1 Councilor Bernard Schultz to attend this meeting. However, Councilor Schultz was unable to attend but he may be able to attend our June meeting. An invitation will be extended again at that time. Events: The next meeting will be held on Thursday May 16, 2024 @ 9 am in the West Meeting Room 1st Floor at City Hall ,718 Main Street Fitchburg, MA 01420 Adjournment: Meeting adjourned at 11:16 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