Evergreen Cemetery Board Meeting

Village of South Amherst Cemetery Board Meeting 4/13/2022 Rosemary Leshinski called the meeting to order at 6:00pm Board Members present: Rosemary Leshinski, Marilyn Makruski, Andrew Johnson Village Council Liaison: Scott Jones Visitors: Mayor Leshinski, Emil Ruth of GoGreen Landscaping,461 E. Lorain St., Oberlin, OH Agenda Rosemary Leshinski asked if there were any additions to the agenda. Paula Knodel asked to add discussion of cemetery camera to new business. Andrew Johnson moved to accept the agenda with the addition. Marilyn Makruski seconded. The roll was called in favor. Visitors Emil Ruth came prepared to discuss solving the drainage issues. See Old Business section. Meeting Minutes Andrew Johnson moved to accept the minutes from the March 9, 2022 meeting. Marylin Makruski seconded. The roll was called in favor. Reporting – Financial and Other UAN Financial Reports for March 31, 2022 were presented for review. Ref. Exhibit A. Paula Knodel presented the current list of burials and lot sales for 2022. Ref Exhibit B. Marilyn Makruski moved to accept the presentation of these reports. Andrew Johnson seconded. The roll was called in favor. 2023 Cemetery Appropriations/Budget – is to be finalized and given to the Fiscal Officer prior to April 28th. Rosemary motioned to have a special meeting on Tuesday, April 19th at 6pm to work on and finalize this. Andrew Johnson seconded. The roll was called in favor. Open Work Items – Paula reviewed her current list. She will be working with Alexandra Sabine next week to train her as backup on the clerk’s position. Paula on vacation 4/28 through 5/8/22. Use of Perpetual Funds - The Board asked Paula Knodel to research what legally can be expended from the Perpetual Fund balances. Research of prior ordinances (some codified) resulted in confusion on this issue. The Law Director is still looking into the matter for us. Old Business Cemetery Software Research – Andrew Johnson reviewed software options and reported on findings. UAN Cemetery Software does not cost us anything because the village uses the UAN system for financial reporting. Although it does not have a few of the functions we prefer, he believes it is the best software for use given it has not cost to install. Marylin Makruski moved to install and use UAN Cemetery Software. Andrew seconded. The roll was called in favor. Page | 1 of 3 NSF Check –The Law Director’s office sent a follow-up letter on 2/4/2022 to the Michael Healy requesting that the funds be paid for the funeral of Phyllis Healy. Paula Knodel had conversations with Phyllis Healy’s niece, Emily Casper, who informed that funds would be settling from the estate of Wilma Mayfield to Michael Healy. She estimated the settlement date to be in March 2022 and that there should be funds to cover the NSF check at that time. Noting has been received as of now. May want to consider small claims court if funds do not come through. New Contractor - No progress has been made to find a new contractor to engrave Memorial Garden bricks. Research will continue for this. Use of Village Truck – Per Mayor Leshinski and Michelle Henke, if you are on the village payroll then you can use the truck. You coordinate the use with the mayor. Cemetery Drainage Problems - Emil Ruth of GoGreen Landscaping presented proposal to fix the drainage issues in Sections B and L. He will be providing maps by next week to go with it. From there more bids will be solicited and a decision made. The board wants to ask Council to provide funds for this infrastructure item. Scott Jones suggested asking Council members to take a tour of the cemetery to get a firsthand look at what needs to be done. Cemetery Road Repairs – The dirt roads at the cemetery have no more gravel on them and are full of potholes. Need a Scope of Work prepared to get bids for correcting this. Emil Ruth volunteered to give us a quote. Cemetery Open Work Orders Reviewed – The Board received copies of the Spring Footer Installment listing and a listing of all the miscellaneous work orders that need completed. A meeting has subsequently been set for May 3rd at 10am at the cemetery with the Brummer family to discuss their special footer requirements. Emil Ruth explained he would be doing some extra work for the David Lowe family on the footer ordered for his lot. He would be providing this as favor to the family without charge. Planting Trees in Section L – This item has been tabled until the drainage issues in Section L have been resolved. Wreaths Across America – Mayor Leshinski received a phone call from Kathleen Kennedy. Andrew Johnson said he would follow up with her on it. It was decided at the prior meeting that the program didn’t look like a good fit for us. New Business Pioneer Cemetery Update – Rosemary Leshinski prepared a Scope of Work and pricing on the work needing done at Pioneer Cemetery. Ref. Exhibit C. The 2022 Budget includes $4,000 for repairs there. This more than covers the $1,475 being requested. Andrew Johnson moved to approve this expenditure. Rosemary Leshinski seconded. The roll was called in favor. Sign Installation – The Evergreen Cemetery main entrance sign has been down since last year. It has been repainted and is at the Village garage waiting to be installed. The cement footers have been poured. Scott Jones and Mayor Leshinski are working on getting he brackets made that will hold the sign in place. Handheld Computer – There is a need for a handheld device that can read Excel to be used on cemetery grounds. This will enable reference to our current maps when doing work and/or selling lots to clients. Mayor Leshinski produced an LG GPad 5 from his office that was not in use at by the village. Andrew Johnson agreed that this is what is needed. Paula Knodel took charge of the devise for set-up. Page | 2 of 3 Camera for Cemetery - It was previously discussed that the Board may want at least one camera to monitor the activity at Evergreen Cemetery. Andrew Johnson and Scott Jones suggested that it would be best to use a camera that activates only when it picks up movement. Andrew is going to investigate options and report back to the Board. Evergreen Cemetery Main Entrance – The main entrance is the only entrance to the cemetery grounds. The road begins at a downhill incline that is listing to the east towards woods and water. The road needs improved and possibly a guard rail installed. There is no alternate entrance for walkers. They must use the roadway. Need to look at a possible walking trail entrance behind the church through the trees into Section L. Signs should be posted to avoid significant liability by the Village if a walker is injured. This item was tabled until the next meeting. Board Letter – Paula Knodel asked if the Board would like to write a letter to be included in the lot purchase packets. It was decided that Paula would start the letter and let the Board complete it. Legal Disclosure on Payment Plans – The current payment plan contract for installment sales of lots does not include language on what happens if the person should die prior to completing payments. The Village Law Director has been asked for input. There is an older gentleman (80+ years) wanting to purchase four lots for his family. Wants this issue resolved prior to signing contract. Columbarium – The Mayor passed out information at the last meeting. This item has been tabled until the next Board meeting. Andrew Johnson moved to adjourn. Marylin Makruski seconded. The roll was called with all in favor Respectfully Submitted Paula S Knodel, Cemetery Clerk Page | 3 of 3