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CEMETERY COMMISSION 2021/07/28 Minutes CEMETERY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES LAKE FOREST CEMTERY GATEHOUSE WEDNESDAY, JULY 28, 2021, 5:00 P.M. COMMISSIONERS PRESENT STAFF PRESENT John Anderson, Chairman Chuck Myers, Superintendent of Parks and Forestry Robert Thornburgh Phil Alderks, Cemetery Sexton Rommy Lopat Lowell Dixon OTHERS PRESENT Robert Wayne Tony Hoban, William Blair I. ROLL CALL, CALL TO ORDER Chairman Anderson called the meeting to order at 5:02 pm. II. WELCOME OF NEW COMMISSION MEMBERS LOWELL DIXON AND ROBERT WAYNE Chairman Anderson welcomed new Commission members Lowell Dixon and Robert Wayne to the Cemetery Commission. III. APPROVAL OF APRIL 28, 2021 MINUTES Chairman Anderson presented the April 28, 2021 Cemetery Commission minutes for approval. Following discussion by the Commission, a change was requested under item II. Approval of February 3, 2021 Minutes in paragraph two. It was requested to remove the bold lettering and change “record only the items that may…” to “record the formal items that may…”. Commissioner Lopat motioned to accept the minutes as amended. Seconded by Commissioner Thornburgh and passed unanimously. IV. APPROVAL OF JUNE 24, 2021 MEMORIAL GARDEN SUBCOMMITTEE MINUTES Chairman Anderson presented the June 24, 2021 Cemetery Commission minutes for approval. Anderson reviewed the minutes. Commissioner Lopat requested the following additions to the bullet points of the minutes.  Discussed means of improving light and attractiveness of the Alcove, including pruning overhead maple trees.  Discussed adding benches to the Hydrangea Spire Garden along the low niche wall and cleaning the benches throughout. Commissioner Lopat motioned to accept the minutes as amended. Seconded by Commissioner Thornburgh and passed unanimously. V. APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 3, 2021 REVISION OF MINUTES Chairman Anderson presented the February 3, 2021 Cemetery Commission minutes for approval. Commission Lopat noted that Craig Bergmann’s name is spelled Bergmann, not Bergman. Commissioner Lopat motioned to accept the minutes with the correct spelling of Bergmann. Seconded by Commissioner Thornburgh and passed unanimously. VI. SECOND QUARTER INVESTMENT REPORT Tony Hoban from William Blair shared an Economic and Market Overview handout with the Commission. Hoban said that we had experienced a very strong quarter but with a certain amount of volatility as the economy starts to awaken from the pandemic. Hoban reviewed the market overview before sharing the Cemetery Investment Report. For the quarter, the Combined Accounts gained more than $736,729 which is a 6% increase. Hoban discussed performance as compared to the benchmarks along with significant purchases and sales before reviewing fees and charges with the Commission for the new members. Hoban stated that William Blair charges 72 basis points on the “managed assets” ($7.5M) which works out to 44 basis points when one considers the ‘total assets” of about $12.5M. Hoban further stated that they do not charge on cash or William Blair mutual funds. If outside (non-Blair) mutual funds are included in the portfolio, they are charged a 50 basis point fee, and individually managed stocks start at 100 basis points for the first $5M. Overall, Hoban stated that this is significantly lower than their “typical” fee schedules which the Commissioners agreed. Following Hoban’s report, Commissioner Dixon motioned for Hoban to continue with the current investment strategy which was seconded by Commissioner Thornburgh and passed unanimously. VII. APPROVAL OF TRANSFER FROM THE COMMISSION CARE FUND TO THE COMMISSION FUND Sexton Alderks shared with the Commission the need to approve a transfer of funds from the Commission Care Fund to the Commission Fund. Alderks stated this is a paper transfer of funds from dedicated trust funds the Cemetery has for specific lots to the general Cemetery account to pay for special care or services given to those lots. Alderks said this transfer has not taken place for a number of years. Currently the total to be transferred is $222,845.44. Alderks said the last transfer of these yearly charges took place in 2016. Commissioner Dixon motioned to transfer the $222,845.44 from the Commission Care Fund to the Commission Fund for charges for special care and services for those lots with trust funds from 2016 until April 30, 2021. Motioned seconded by Commissioner Thornburgh. The motion then passed unanimously. VIII. CHAIRMAN’S COMMENTS No Chairman comments were made at this meeting IX. REVENUE/EXPENSE REPORT Sexton Alderks presented the Revenue-Expense Report. Alderks said while sales were somewhat lagging, service charges were up do to Covid restrictions loosening and families holding services in June but sales had lagged for the first couple months of the quarter. Alderks said that the Cemetery normally averages 1.5 services a week, but during June they were conducting 3 to 4 services a week. Alderks also reported that there $94,000.00 in lot and niche sales outstanding for the month of July which helps sales figures for the quarter. Commissioner Thornburgh asked again if we could take the Net Gain/Loss on Investments out of the Report. Chairman Anderson and Alderks will work to review and re-format the Revenue-Expense sheet for next meeting. X. CEMETERY UPDATES A. Ravine Sawyer Project Update Superintendent Myers updated the Commission on the Sawyer ravine repair. Myers said that RES (Resource Environmental Solutions, LLC) had completed its work on the Sawyer Project within budget and to the approval of our consulting engineer, Ted Gray from Living Waters, LLC. Myers stated that overall we are happy with the results and that this stabilizes the most concerning area of the main ravine. Myers said we are still waiting to hear whether or not we will be receiving the 319 Grant that was applied for, but that currently the Sawyer Project was the area we were most concerned about. Myers also stated some fairly encouraging news that the City has decided to include the Cemetery’s ravine system in its oversight of other City ravines. In this way, rather than competing with itself (the Cemetery) for grant dollars the City will prioritize those areas that are most in need of help and solicit grant monies based on need for all the City owned ravines. B. Memorial Garden Phase II Update Superintendent Myers stated that he had spoken with Finance Director Elizabeth Holleb regarding financing for the Memorial Garden Phase II. Holleb said she would be open to speaking again with the bank. Myers thought that costs possibly could decrease since the Spire was being tabled, but added the replacement of all of the bluestone might offset the savings. Myers said that Holleb asked that when we had a better cost estimate for the project, to come back to her. Chairman Anderson asked how we get a better estimate to take back to Director Holleb. Myers said that he would arrange a walkthrough with Sexton Alderks, Craig Bergmann and some of Bergmann’s staff mid-August to review the project and get a proposal for construction documents. Myers said this would give us a better cost estimate and getting construction documents and costs would be the next step in the process. XI. WHITE FAMILY MONUMENT REQUEST FOR APPROVAL Sexton Alderks presented the Commission a memorial for approval from the family of Miles White. Alderks stated that while we already have a number of similar memorials in concept within the Cemetery, this particular memorial is unique as it relates to the materials chosen. Other memorials use the concept of an angel being part of the piece, but they are carved out of the granite the compromises the memorial. The White family’s memorial has the granite concept for the ‘die’ with the Family name engraved, but the angel is a bronze sculpture with its wing wrapped around the memorial. Following discussion by the Commission, a motion was made by Commissioner Dixon to give approval for the memorial as presented. Second: Commissioner Wayne. Passed unanimously. XII. NIEMAN FAMILY MONUMENT REQUEST FOR APPROVAL Sexton Alderks reviewed the Nieman Family monument with the Commission for approval. Alderks shared the monument itself fell within the Cemetery’s Rules and Regulations, but the design was very unique and outside of what the Commission had authorized the Sexton to approve. Alderks said that while the memorial was unique, it was not without precedent citing the ‘Cross and the Hatchet’ memorial for the Philip and Annabel Lee McNulty in Section C. Following discussion, a motion was made to give preliminary approval for the memorial concept with final approval contingent on the family first presenting a model of the memorial to the Commission for review. Motion: Commissioner Thornburgh. Second Commissioner Lopat. Passed unanimously. IX. OTHER MATTERS Commissioner Lopat wanted the record to reflect that in past minutes she had brought up the idea of cleaning all the memorials in the Cemetery and that was yet to be addressed. She would like to discuss how we could be accomplished in the future. She also suggested the idea of the Commission publishing a book of photos of the Cemetery and shared an example of one she had created using pictures she had taken. Chairman Anderson took the book with him to review and pass around to other members now that COVID restrictions are loosening. X. CITIZENS’ OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS CEMETERY COMMISSION There were no citizen’s present. XI. NEXT MEETING: WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2021, 5:00 PM Chairman Anderson reminded the Commission of the next Commission meeting on Wednesday, October 27, 2021 at 5 PM. XII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 7:10 PM. The City of Lake Forest is subject to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Individuals with disabilities who plan to attend this meeting and who require certain accommodations in order to allow them to observe and/or participate in this meeting, or who have questions regarding the accessibility of the meeting or the facilities, are required to contact City Manager Jason Wicha, at (847) 234-2600 promptly to allow the City to make reasonable accommodations for those persons.