Cemetery Commission

CITY OF SALEM MASSACHUSETTS CEMETERY COMMISSION 98 WASHINGTON STREET - MAILING ADDRESS BOARD MEMBERS: PATRICIA DONAHUE SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS 01970 BETH GERARD KIMBERLEY DRISCOLL TEL. (978)745-0195 ANTHONY O’DONNELL MAYOR FAX (978) 741-7041 CEMETERY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES APRIL 6, 2020 A meeting of the Cemetery Commission was held on April 6, 2020 at 5:30 p.m., via ZOOM, an online video conference call system. 1. Roll Call Present on call were: Acting Chair Beth Gerard, Members: Patricia Donahue and Anthony O’Donnell; Tree Warden Robert LeBlanc and Joanne Roomey, Commission Clerk. 2. Approve Minutes: Patricia Donahue made the motion to approve the March 4, 2020 minutes. Seconded by Anthony O’Donnell. AIF, the motion carried. 3. Robert LeBlanc - Cemetery Work Report • Interment Activities within the cemetery in the past two months are as follows: ▪ Full burials: 2 ▪ Cremations: 1 • Staff is working at a 50% strength model. Daily work continues but prioritized as to essential needs first, then regular work. The office, equipment and work bays are being sterilized daily by the staff and weekly by assigned personnel for the City. Workers are limited to social distancing and therefore utilizing one vehicle per person. • Jim Cleary, who had worked for the City for (20) plus years retired on the first of March and a new staff member was added. • The Cemetery Master Plan bids have been received and there were four (4) companies that bid on the RFP. Patti Kelleher, Ray Jodoin and Mr. LeBlanc read through all the submittals and ranked the vendors for consideration to contract with the City. Before the final award is sent out, the funding needs to set in place and there will be a discussion with the Board as soon as Mr. LeBlanc can get the most recent balances on the Trust Funds for the cemeteries. Mr. LeBlanc will present to the Board the financials and ask for a vote to request the funding for the Master Plan at the next schedule meeting.  • The Dickson Chapel windows are a project that has been identified by the Friends of Greenlawn that they would like to fund raise for. Mr. LeBlanc has received a bid from Serpentino Stained Glass to repair the glass on each window that is in poor shape individually. The work proposed would only be for the glass and the feeling is that wood frames that hold the glass may also need to be restored. The vendor that Serpentino suggested has repeatedly told us that he would come to Salem and look at the woodwork and give a cost for his services. Unfortunately, that has not happened, and Mr. LeBlanc has reached out to a local craftsman that looked at the work last week and will get back to him with a proposal. He has also suggested that there is a company in Peabody that does similar work on stained glass and they may have a better price. Mr. LeBlanc is investigating more options on the window repairs for the Friends of Greenlawn. • Additionally, the basement in the Dickson Capel needs electrical repairs. Last month, the oil burner stopped working and when the repairman came to check the furnace, there were no lights in the basement. • For the past ten (10) years the two ponds at the Greenlawn Cemetery have been undergoing a weed management program. The program requires an RDA (Request for Determination) from the Salem Conservation Commission. The RDA permit will be valid for three (3) years and the last one was issued in 2017. On April 21 st, there will be a meeting with the aquatic pond management program for Greenlawn Cemetery on the Agenda at Con-Com. The City has used, with great success, a company named Solitude Lake Inc., from Shrewsbury and they will be the company that will be contracted to perform all the necessary treatments and monitoring of the ponds to continue the health of these important features of the cemetery. • The Street Department came to Greenlawn two weeks ago and performed some badly needed pothole repairs on the roadways. This will be an on-going maintenance project and Mr. LeBlanc will get the asphalt crew to do daily work as much as he can get the cemetery on the schedule. He has also contacted a company to get an estimate on crack sealing and larger asphalt section repairs. This operation should be part of a larger discussion with the Board in the next couple of months so a plan can be put into place to address the continued deterioration of the pavement throughout the cemetery and how to fund it. • Prior to the 50% staffing directive, the cemetery crews have gotten a good jump on the spring clean-up at Greenlawn. Mr. LeBlanc will continue to schedule work through the month of April with the hopes that the mulch beds and cemetery lots will be in good condition before grass cutting season begins. 4. Vote to establish an Arboretum at Greenlawn Cemetery and name it the “F. Carroll Sargent Arboretum at Greenlawn” Patricia Donahue made the motion to recommend naming the tree collection the F. Carroll Sargent Arboretum at Greenlawn Cemetery in honor of the late cemetery commissioner and horticulturist from the early 20th century. Seconded by Anthony O’Donnell. AIF, the motion carried. Note: the “F” stands for Frederick. 5. Vote to approve the installation of a cemetery marker at the Howard St. Cemetery, as proposed by Mr. Prince on March 4, 2020. Mr. O’Donnell made a motion to approve the installation of a burial marker at Howard Street Cemetery in accordance with the presentation that was given by Mr. Prince at the March 4, 2020 meeting. Seconded by Patricia Donahue. AIF, the motion carried. 6. Discussion on Covid-19 update and burial services at Greenlawn. Since our last meeting, the world has changed and the Nation, our State and our City has responded to this deadly threat of the Corona Virus. Last week, a letter was posted on the Cemetery’s website and a letter was sent to all the surrounding funeral directors that a new policy was needed for internments at the cemetery. The need to have a control on the possibilities of increased burials and the demand for order, while doing so, will help the cemetery staff provide the needed services. The staff is preparing with additional equipment and training to handle a worst-case scenario. An additional lowering device was ordered, all staff are being trained on grave site mark out and heavy equipment operators have been identified if the manpower is limited. 7. New Business: Christine Lutts, president of Friends of Greenlawn, was recognized and announced that the May 2nd lecture at the Dickson Chapel had been cancelled. She would follow-up with the Board about the Jim Treadwell bench dedication in June. 8. Next Meeting Date: TBD 9. Adjournment: Ms. Donahue made a motion to adjourn. Seconded by Mr. O’Donnell. The motion carried. The meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Joanne M. Roomey Commission Clerk