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Home My Public Portal About20160224 - Cemetery Commission - Meeting Minutes CEMETERY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES February 24, 2016 PRESENT: Thomas Pratt, Claire Wright The meeting was called to order at 5:30 PM. Minutes from the meetings of May 1, 2015 and June 22, 2015 were approved. 2016 Town Meeting Article – The board discussed the need to gain DPW access to the new cemetery parcel on Claflin Ave. for maintenance. Ms. Wright said the DPW director feels 2 mowings during the season would be adequate to keep the growth under control until the town needs to develop the land. She reported checking with J. D. Marquedant Surveying as to whether lot marking pins had been installed to mark the land belonging to the 1 acre house lot, but Mr. Marquedant said no boundary markers were installed on the new lot. She said the existing cross road at Mt. Auburn would be a logical connection point for a new roadway into the Claflin parcel, as it is directly opposite the existing road and would cross the unused area where the recently demolished utility shed once stood. She reported obtaining an estimate from Wm. Deiana of $2,500 to remove a section of the stone wall and to use the stones to create returns at either side of the new opening. Ms. Wright moved to place an article on the 2016 Town Meeting warrant to transfer $2,500 from the Sale of Lots Fund for removal and relocation of a section of stone wall at Mt. Auburn Cemetery to provide a cemetery roadway opening for access to the Claflin St. cemetery parcel. Mr. Pratt seconded the motion. It passed unanimously. Bills & Digital Records Update- The board approved a bill from King Information Systems for the final portion of the cemetery records digitization project. Ms. Wright reported that a disc containing the cemetery records has been turned over to the town’s Information Technology director, Josh Grossetti. She said the material needs to be put onto the town website for public access. She said a meeting will be arranged with the IT director, a King Info. Systems representative, the DPW, and a Cemetery Commission representative to review and sign off on the completed project. Cemetery Funds- Ms. Wright stated that a review of the past 8 yrs. of town Annual Reports, as presented to Town Meeting, has raised many questions about the reporting of the Cemetery Commission funds – Perpetual Care, Sale of Lots, and Non-expendable Perpetual Care. She said the Accounting Dept. has reported Perpetual Care as overspent, which is not consistent with the Cemetery Commission’s records of withdrawals from that fund. She said the Accounting Dept. has sent a lengthy response to questions about the apparent discrepancies. She said the reply did answer some of the questions, but other questions still remain. The board reviewed some of the documents. In at least one case, a Town Meeting authorized transfer was not withdrawn until almost a year later, and therefore the balance available, as reported to the Cemetery Commission, may have included already-encumbered funds, which were not actually available to be spent. This might explain how a fund could be overspent, if the balance the Commission thought they were working with included encumbered funds not yet transferred. The board concurred that more frequent reporting on the funds is needed, as well as closer tracking of transfers. Ms. Wright said she will document the outstanding questions for the Accounting Dept. and request a meeting with them to address the discrepancies. The meeting was adjourned at 6:15 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Claire Wright Secretary Approved:__________