Cemetery Commission

CITY OF SALEM MASSACHUSETTS BETH GERARD, CHAIR CEMETERY COMMISSION 98 WASHINGTON STREET - MAILING ADDRESS BOARD MEMBERS KATE HANSON SALEM, MASSACHUSETTS 01970 ROBERT MCCARTHY ANTHONY O’DONNELL TEL. (978)745-0195 JACOB ST. LOUIS ACTING MAYOR FAX (978) 741-7041 MINUTES OF THE CEMETERY COMMISSION FEBRUARY 15, 2023 A meeting of the Salem Cemetery Commission was held on February 15, 2023, at 6:00 p.m., via ZOOM, an online video conference call system. Present on call were Chair Beth Gerard; Members: Kate Hanson and Jacob St. Louis; Raymond Jodoin, Director of Operations. Anthony O’Donnell was absent from this meeting. 1. Approve Cemetery Commission Meeting Minutes for November 16, 2022 Held over until next meeting for review from the commission. 2. Raymond Jodoin, Director of Operations, Department of Public Services • Interment Activities within the cemetery since the last meeting in November o 4 cremations, 3 full burials, and the sale of 2 boxes o Deferred maintenance is ongoing and getting ready for fall clean ups. o Elizabeth from Charter Street Cemetery gave a breakdown of operations at the cemetery and stated that the online ticketing system performed well, and she is overall very happy with the overall performance of the Charter Street Cemetery. 3. Nominations and Vote – Chairperson for Cemetery Commission (currently held by Beth GERARD) Mr. Hanson made a motion to nominate Jacob St Louis. Seconded by Ms. Gerard. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion carried unanimously. 4. Nominations for Cemetery Commission vacancies (Pat Donahue) Asked for any interested party to submit resume to rjodoin@salem.com for the mayor’s review. 5. Install new Headstone and accessory marker at Howard Street Cemetery. • Beth Gerard will forward letter to Rachel Meyer for state historical submittal. 1  6. Install new head stone at Charter Street Cemetery (Capt. John Crowninshield and wife Anstiss Crowninshield) Christina Bailey descendant of the Crowninshield spoke and submitted a letter of support, see below: Attention Salem Cemetery Commission: January 14, 2023 Greetings, my name is Christina Myers, and I am joined with my mother and aunt in writing this to you. We are descendants of Captain John Crowninshield and his wife Anstiss Crowninshield. If fact John Crowninshield is my seventh Great uncle, his brother Richard being my seventh Great Grandfather. Recently, we were presented with the proposal to repair their tombstones and would not only greatly appreciate the gesture but would be deeply honored to have them considered for restoration. At this time, please take this letter as consent for the project to go forward. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, The descendants of the Crowninshields Christina Marie Myers Carol Chaderjian Bailey Gail Marie McArdle Ms. Gerard made a motion to write a letter of support for this project and will wait for the applicant to submit this project for a notice to proceed once all the conditions are met. Seconded by Ms. Hanson. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion carried unanimously. 7. Discussion regarding the Article III – Green Lawn Cemetery Code of Ordinances Section 16-108 Removal of Items After Reasonable Time Has Elapsed And Schedule of Clean Ups with Frequency of Them. • Decision was made to preform two cleanups per year. The first one would be two weeks prior to Memorial Day and second one after Labor Day. • The Commission was concerned about additional cleanup as needed Mr. Jodoin stated that was still in the purview of the cemetery to remove unwanted items at their discretion. Ray will draft a letter to Megan Scott to push this forward to the city council. • February wreath removal for cemetery staff annual 2  8. Discussion regarding acceptable proof of residency for burial in Greenlawn cemetery. ACCEPTABLE FORMS: • Driver license • Utility bill / Mortgage • Census • Rental agreement • Driver’s license 9. Scheduling out commission meeting dates voting on every other month meeting. In person (unless remote is an option) • March 15, 2023 • April 19, 2023 • June 21, 2023 • September 20, 2023 • November 15, 2023 This item was held over until the next meeting to check if there is availability for the conference room and for the schedules of the commissioners. 10. 15-Minute Comment from the Public Christine Lutts: Hello Ray, I wanted to reach out to say the CC is discussing mee�ng every other month on the same night as Pa� runs the Historical Commission mee�ngs. Since Pa� is the contact for the CC to the planning department and cemeteries this is not and should not be acceptable. I have men�oned it more than once and will men�on it again tonight if given the chance. I wanted to reach out to let you both know and hope that something can be done before they make all their mee�ng dates. Thank you for any help here. Best, Chris�ne Beth Gerard responded that they would discuss and see if there is any room to move the commission meeting to accommodate Patti Kelleher’s schedule. Meeting room and Cemetery Commission members will take precedence in scheduling meeting day and time, but every attempt will be made to accommodate as many people as possible. 3 Christine: does not understand why we can’t reschedule the meeting time. Christine states I believe Patti is an integral part of this commission, being the main person that runs the cemetery commission and is the main connection to the city cemetery commission. Beth Gerard stated I thought Ray Jodoin was the staff person from the city for the cemetery commission. Lous stake holder stated. 1) master plan has plans for scatter garden, what the timeline, is there going to be wall with plaques on it and what is the policies to purchase and to obtain one as a Salem resident. Cemetery Commission responded by stating we are in planning phases for this project. We are 2year away from start co work there is still a lot of work with the commission, stake holders, and city councilor to have this plan go forward. Lous expressed if it was going to be limited to resident’s ray responded that would need to be discussed. Christine Lutts Application for the open seat on the commission Christine was surprised that they needed to submit an application office and resume to the mayor’s office apply for the seat. Friends of Greenlawn has been fundraising for 11 years for free for Greenlawn, they were shut out from the chapel for over a year, at no time did the commission ever support us for our fundraising nor congratulation us on our endeavors for our hard work and I would hope with the new year comes a new committee to support friends of green lawns efforts restoration for the chapel we have not ben able to fund raise for a year yet we pledged 10 k to support the restoration of the stain glass windows I will tell you tonight the 10k is withheld from being supported to the stain glass window restoration due to the efforts o the city of Salem by the cemetery commission du to the lack of support and use for the Dickson chapel. Beth responded: Application for the commission goes to the mayor’s office as these seats are appointed by the mayor as we all did before. Beth is encouraging people to see if the commission is a good fit for themselves then they should submit a letter of intent and resume to the mayor’s office for consideration. I shocked as we have thanked the friends group many times for their many accomplishments. as for the chapel we have allowed groups to view the chapel. If this is not enough, then it not enough. It is what it is and if you are going to withhold a 10k check and hold it over our heads because your feelings are hurt you should not be leading a group. I’m just done! Stated Beth this is ridiculous we help, we support, we encourage if it not enough you have to move on, I’m muting you. 4 11. New Business • Kelly resident policy Criteria for Proof of residency for Purchase and Burial o Valid MA License or MA ID o Paycheck stub o Mortgage/ Rental agreement o Current utility Bill o Census • Kelly has an issue with letter from DTA is not an acceptable for of residency. • Crowninshield letters review next meeting. • Schedule needs to be reviewed. o Schedule for cemetery commission • Stick with two cleanings and ask ward six councilor to review language on storage meetings. • March meeting in person 3-15-2023 at 6:00 p.m. 12. Adjournment: Ms. Hanson made a motion to adjourn. Seconded by Mr. St. Louis. A roll call vote was taken, and the motion carried unanimously. The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m. Know your rights under the Open Meeting Law M.G.L. c. 30A §18-25 and City Ordinance Sections 2- 2028 through 2-2033 5