DRAFT
Minutes
of the Bethany Cemetery Commission
Regular
Meeting on December 15, 2014
A regular meeting of the Bethany Cemetery Commission was held in the
Selectmen’s Meeting Room of the Bethany Town Hall on Monday, December 15, 2014. In attendance were: Will Brinton ~ Chairman, Carol
Goldberg, Mary Ehrler and Kris
Sullivan. Steven Thornquist arrived
after the meeting had started. There are
two vacancies on the Commission.
The meeting was called to order at 7:50 p.m. by the Chairman.
Approval of Minutes
The draft minutes of the Commission’s regular meeting held on November
17, 2014 were read.
Action on those minutes was then taken as follows:
- It was moved by Goldberg and seconded by Erhler
to approve the minutes of the November 17, 2014 regular meeting of the
Commission as submitted .
In favor: Brinton,
Sullivan, Goldberg and Ehrler.
Abstain: Thornquist
Unanimous approval.
Carrington Cemetery ~ Ground
Penetrating Radar Survey Update
The Chairman reported that the Board of Selectmen had
approved the Commission’s recommendation to engage the firm of GeoModel Inc. to
conduct a ground penetrating radar survey of the Carrington Cemetery on Rainbow
Road.
After that approval was given, the firm had been
contacted and the survey completed in one day.
Currently, the Town engineering firm of Nafis and Young are in the
process of completing the GIS mapping of the radar survey markings. That survey should be completed prior to the
Commission’s next regular meeting by which time a composite map of the cemetery
plots, actual burial sites and monuments should be available for the
Commission’s review, discussion and appropriate action.
Carrington Cemetery ~
Hedge/Fence Discussion with Selectmen
The Chairman reported that he had discussed with the
Board of Selectmen the Commission’s recommendation that the Town Road Crew remove some of the hedge (+
10 feet) on the western side of the east entrance to the cemetery (the entrance
closest to Carrington Road (Route 69), and relocation of the “Carrington Cemetery” stone to where the hedges are removed for better
visibility of that stone, and to prevent vehicles from making too wide a turn
into the cemetery and hitting any of the older gravestones in that area.
Before taking
any action, the members of the Board of Selectmen determined that they
wanted to do a site visit to view the site line issue. In discussion, Commission members noted that
if the date of the Selectmen’s site visit was known, that they could attend to
answer any questions the Selectmen might have.
Carrington Cemetery ~ Records
Research
The Chairman reported that he had distributed the
draft “receipt” that the Commission had reviewed and proposed for use for the purchase
of a cemetery plots to the Board of Selectmen.
At that time he was told that
receipts had been being issued for the sale of plots.
A request will be made for copies of those receipts so
that a list of plots sold can be generated and used in conjunction with the
site plan being prepared by Nafis and Young with the goal of having deeds issued for those plot sales which have not had deeds
issued.
In a separate but related issue, the Chairman reported
that when meeting with the Board of Selectmen he had been told that there was a
fund balance of + $21000.00 in the Carrington Cemetary (sic) Fund
Account with the Connecticut State Treasurer’s Office. That balance was not what the Commission
members believed the fund balance should be based on the 08/29/14 Fund statement which showed a
balance of $26,008.39 and the only known expense since that time of $2000 for repairs
of the Sperry Cemetery stones.
Goldberg volunteered to request copies of the
statements for the Carrington Cemetary (sic) Fund Account from July 1, 2012
forward so that the actual fund balance can be determined
New Members – Revise
Ordinance to Make Alternates
The Chairman reported that he had heard that there was
going to be a special town meeting in January.
Commission members discussed the need to have a request made to the
Board of Selectmen to have the Cemetery Commission Ordinance revised to have
five full members and two alternates.
This would alleviate the need to have a quorum of four Commission
members to conduct business and would allow any new appointees to the
Commission to be named as alternates.
Bylaws and Lot Fees
Goldberg reported that she has begun work on bylaws,
which can either be “simple” or “detailed”.
She also reported on her research
on fees charged for cemetery plots and grave openings by other towns of
comparable size and/or population to the Bethany. Based on discussion she will draft a proposed
fee schedule and preliminary by-laws for review at the January Commission
meeting, which will include:
- Cost of standard casket sized plots to be
$800 (up from $400)
- Note: It was the consensus
that this size plot could be used for either burial of a single casket,
or single casket with cremation urn or two cremation urns.
- Cost of smaller plots for use for a single
cremation urn to be $400.
- No more than one headstone per individual
plot
- Headstones to be uniformly situated on
plots so as to accommodate mowing and maneuvering of machinery for opening
and closing graves.
Goldberg will contact local funeral homes to obtain the
cost of opening graves. It was noted
that opening graves on weekends or holidays should cost more.
Adjournment
There being no
further business to come before the Commission, it was moved by Sullivan and
seconded by Thornquist to adjourn the meeting at 9:51 p.m.
Unanimous approval.
Respectfully Submitted,
