Cemetery Board

Minutes of Meeting February 19, 2013 The Advisory Cemetery Board of Roswell convened its meeting on Tuesday, February 19, 2013 at 4:00 P.M. in the offices at South Park Cemetery. Special guests in attendance were Mrs. Stacye Hunter, Assistant City Manager, Mrs. Barbara Patterson, City Attorney, Mrs. Pansy Moffitt and Mrs. Margarita Campos. Mrs. Jeanne Corn-Best, City Council Liaison was absent. Ms. Chance noted there was a quorum and the open meetings resolution had been complied with. Ms. Morrison was asked to call the roll. Ms. Myrline Chance, Mr. Jake Trujillo, Mr. George Stapp and Mrs. Rita Kane-Doerhoefer were present. Mrs. Joanne Rose arrived at 4:10 P.M. Mrs. Terry Mitzel was absent. The approval of the agenda for this meeting was discussed. Ms. Chance stated that item #3 (approval of minutes) could not be done as the minutes from the January meeting were not available. A short discussion of why was held and Mrs. Doerhoefer made a motion to amend the agenda to leave item 3 (approval of minutes) for the March meeting. Mr. Trujillo seconded the motion. Everyone voted in favor. Mr. Trujillo then made a motion to approve the amended agenda. Mr. Stapp seconded the motion Everyone voted in favor. Under Public Participation on Agenda Items, Mrs. Campos asked why the closure of the east gate. She was not happy that the gate was closed since her family members are all buried on the east side. Mr. Kirk stated it was being closed for safety - one being there are no deceleration lanes on Southeast Main. The traffic trying to come into the cemetery going north were actually stopping in the traffic lanes which could be very dangerous. Going south however, you could pull off the traffic lanes and come into the cemetery. It would take lots of money and DOT to change the lane configuration. Second - the cemetery road was being used as a thru street from South Main to Southeast Main and vice versa. The road is not able to handle all this traffic. Third - the police department wanted a more controlled environment - ( one entrance in and out ). It made it easier for them to capture people who should not be in the cemetery. There was a lot of discussion over the last several months on this matter before it even went to the Buildings and Lands committee of the City Council. After doing a study of the traffic coming and going in the cemetery and discussion with road experts, the Buildings & Lands committee voted to close the gate. Mrs. Campos stated she still was not happy, but, she could understand better why the decision was made. Under the Sexton’s Report, Mr. Kirk reported there were 39 funerals in January and 15 so far in February. That makes a total of 54 internments so far this year. The next item was the new blocks on the west side. The grounds supervisor, Mr. Ruben Esquivel, has established where the corner markers are and has placed flags at each one. The crew will begin placing the concrete numbers in the first run of blocks (the ones just west of Blocks 61, 62, 63, and 64). We will open only the ones west of 63 and 64 at this time. The block west of 62 will become the new baby land. Mr. Kirk also stated he was working on the landscape design for these blocks. He advised the Board, he had spoken with Mr. Ken Smith, from the Parks Department, and they have agreed to provide trees from the tree nursery. A list of the kinds of trees we want were provided to Mr. Smith. There are some we will have to obtain from other sources. Under Old Business, the item Removal of Chains at the Masonic Circle was discussed. Mr. Kirk advised the Board the amount of traffic had definitely decreased since the closure of the east gate and he felt that the chains at the Circle should be kept in place. The road is not wide enough for cars to go thru the Circle at the same time. He felt if the chains were taken down people would begin driving over graves to get thru the Circle. Lengthy discussion was held and Mrs. Doerhoefer made a motion to keep the chains in place and only open them for funerals. Mr. Trujillo seconded the motion. Everyone voted in favor. Under New Business, Mrs. Doerhoefer advised the Board she was having a discussion with the Roswell Little Theater to do more cemetery tours. It was being discussed of doing the same tour as the one held in 2012 in the fall, but, also doing a totally different tour in the spring. To be able to use the City buses, however, we can not charge for the tours. She did state, however, she has not had any recent communication with them. The discussion will continue though. Ms. Chance advised the Board, the next scheduled meeting date would be March 19, 2013 at 4 P.M. There being no further business to come before the Board, Mr. Stapp made a motion to adjourn. Mrs. Rose seconded the motion. The Board adjourned at 4:48 P.M. Respectfully submitted, R. Myrline Chance President 2