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HomeMy Public PortalAbout11-12-2015 Minutes HCC Regular Meeting Minutes Hillsborough Cemetery Committee Thursday, November 12, 2015 9:00 a.m., Town Barn Present: Chair Ken Ostrand, Evelyn Poole-Kober, Jane Gaede, Archivist Bartow Culp, David McCullough Absent: Vice Chair Ashley DeSena, Lisa Williams Staff: Ken Hines, Jamie Johnson Item 1: Call meeting to order, and confirm presence of a quorum Chair Ostrand called the meeting to order at 9:06 a.m. He called the roll and confirmed the presence of a quorum. Ms. Poole-Kober indicated she needed to exit the meeting at 10:30 a.m. Item 2: Consideration of changes, additions or adjustments to the agenda There were no changes. Chair Ostrand approved the agenda. Item 3: Approval of minutes from August 31, 2015 meeting Motion: Archivist Culp made a motion to approve the minutes from the August 31, 2015 meeting. Second: Mr. McCullough seconded the motion. Vote: Unanimous Item 4: Stream Restoration [K. Hines] Kudzu is growing in the eastern portion of the New Town Cemetery in the stream area. Mr. Hines is coordinating with Town of Hillsborough Stormwater Program Manager Terry Hackett on this project. They will work with the State to try allocate grant money. The State rerouted the stream in the past. The stream area is not aesthetically pleasing because of the overgrowth of the kudzu. Plants and volunteer trees will need to be thinned out of the area because it is a harboring place for rats, mice and snakes. Once the State determines the proper course of action, Mr. Hines will notify the committee of any volunteer work days. Item 5: FY17 Budget [K. Hines] The fiscal year 2017 budget includes repairs to the rock wall and Ground Penetrating Radar work in the Old Town Cemetery. Mr. Hines spoke with a stone mason regarding the rock wall repairs and his estimate to repair the collapsed portion, steps, and area near the stump is $2,100. The stone mason will not be able to take on this project for the town so Mr. Hines will seek another contractor. 2 Ms. Poole-Kober suggested using some funds to purchase shrubs or small trees after removal of the deteriorated cedar trees in the Margaret Lane Cemetery. The New Town Cemetery trees need pruning to eliminate safety hazards. Item 6: Discussion of Old Town Cemetery (OTC) update: repair and vandalism [K. Hines; K.Ostrand] Mr. Hines reported that Dean Ruedrich has been working on OTC stone repairs for about a month with about two weeks of good work days due to weather. Over Halloween weekend, an obelisk was pushed off its base and broke a foot stone. The repair will cost $1,200. Archivist Culp asked if the town has an insurance policy to cover the repair. Mr. Hines will inquire and determine the deductible amount. Chair Ostrand indicated that most of the work in the OTC is done and should be fully completed by the end of the month. Other stones in the cemetery need work that weren’t included in the original quote. Some of the repaired stones are discolored and will need to be cleaned with the D-2 solution. Photos should be taken to document the repair work. Item: 7: Update on MLC and other signage [D. McCullough] The signage project is still in the editing phase and a final document should be available for review any day now. Item 8: Walking OTC Brochure: status report [A. DeSena] Chair Ostrand reported that Vice Chair DeSena hasn’t progressed very far with the project due to Catherine Wright’s limited availability. Mr. Hines will speak with Ms. Wright to determine the parameters that the brochure needs to meet so Vice Chair DeSena may move forward with the project. Item 9: Steward Reports: MLC, OTC, NTC. [All] Ms. Poole-Kober reported the Margaret Lane Cemetery leaves have been collected weekly by the town crew. She witnessed a lady placing white artificial flowers in the cemetery possibly for All Saints’ Day. The cedars need to be removed and replaced with shrubs or other small trees. The weeping cherry is also in bad shape and needs to be removed and replaced. Archivist Culp reported that the eroded bank needs work. Ms. Poole-Kober offered Vinca minor plants from her yard that could be transplanted onto the bank. Volunteers can transplant the plants now or when it warms up in the spring. Chair Ostrand mentioned the issues with the trees and the outside rock wall of the New Town Cemetery. There was an article about the churches plans in the newspaper recently. There is nothing new to report in the New Town Cemetery. Public Works has the pieces from the broken angel monument discussed at the August meeting. Item 10: Subcommittee reports, especially NTC [L. Williams] Ms. Williams was not present at this meeting. The New Town Cemetery needs lots of work and will be the next big project for the committee. Item 11: Discussion: Commemorative markers in cemeteries [B. Culp] Archivist Culp requested information regarding regulations of commemorative markers in town cemeteries. The New Town Cemetery has requirements that nothing be placed on the ground during mowing and weeding season. Public Works staff goes through the New Town Cemetery twice a year and 3 cleans out all decorative items placed on the ground and puts them in a pile for families to collect within a reasonable amount of time. The Old Town Cemetery and the Margaret Lane Cemetery do not have the same regulations. There are several graves, especially of notable people, with artificial flowers in the Old Town Cemetery. The flowers have not presented an issue with maintenance. Ms. Poole-Kober indicated she didn’t think any additional rules are needed at this time. Item 12: Recommendation to extend the membership terms for two HCC members Vice Chair DeSena and Ms. Gaede’s one year terms will be coming to an end soon. Vice Chair DeSena’s term ends 12/31/2015 and Ms. Gaede’s term ends 2/8/2016. Motion: Archivist Culp made a motion to recommend the town board extend Vice Chair DeSena and Ms. Gaede’s 1 year term to a full 3 year term at the end of their current terms. Second: Ms. Poole-Kober seconded the motion. Vote: Unanimous Item 13: One year Cemetery Committee progress report; discussion. Future goals. Review of committee, subcommittee assignments. [All] This year the committee has accomplished many goals. Accomplishments include cleaning and repair of stones in the Old Town Cemetery, making the National Register Study List, and studying the signatures on the OTC stones. Mr. McCullough worked with a team to develop signage for the Margaret Lane Cemetery. The committee members and volunteers cleaned and trimmed trees in the Margaret Lane Cemetery. The committee members reviewed and had a discussion about a committee and subcommittee assignments list. One of the items under Margaret Lane Cemetery was: possible living, commemorative memorial forest. Ms. Poole-Kober indicated that a memorial forest was not needed in the existing cemetery. Trees that have been removed or will be removed need to be replaced but not necessarily in the same exact location. In the past, Mr. Hines met with two people, of Native American descent, who had relatives in the cemetery and they said it needed to stay open because that is how it would have been done. Mr. McCullough asked if the committee would focus its efforts primarily on the historic section or the whole New Town Cemetery. Mr. Hines said just the historic section. Lots of foot markers are tilted in the New Town Cemetery and will need to be adjusted so the mowers will not cause any additional damages. Chair Ostrand asked members if there were any issues or changes requested for their assignments. Ms. Poole-Kober said there were no issues with her assignments. Mr. McCullough said he is OK with his assignments. Ms. Gaede would prefer an Old Town Cemetery focus. She wouldn’t mind being an assistant on the Ground Penetrating Radar project, assisting with the tombstone survey and editing for the signage project. Ms. Poole-Kober exited the meeting at 10:30 a.m. Item 14: Cemetery Preservation Conference [K. Ostrand] Chair Ostrand would like the committee to host a preservation conference in August or September 2016. The conference would focus on teaching preservation tips for public, private, church, and small family cemeteries. Something like, “What can amateurs do to help keep cemeteries alive?” The conference would draw people from within the state and would last one half to one whole day. Archivist 4 Culp suggested gauging interest level before moving forward. Kaylor Robinson may be able to help as she does a lot of work with family cemeteries. Chair Ostrand will organize some details and report back to the committee in January. Item 15: Set next meeting date [All] Chair Ostrand suggested Thursday, January 21, 2016, Friday, January 22, 2016, and Friday, January 29, 2016 as potential next meeting dates. Members stated they would check their calendars by next Tuesday and determine if there were any conflicts. Item 16: Adjourn Motion: Mr. McCullough made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:40 a.m. Second: Archivist Culp seconded the motion. Vote: Unanimous Submitted by: Jamie Johnson, November 13, 2015