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CEMETERY COMMISSION 2015/01/21 MinutesLAKE FOREST CEMETERY COMMISSION MEETING LAKE FOREST CEMETERY GATEHOUSE WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015 5:00 P.M. MEETING MINUTES I. ROLL CALL, CALL TO ORDER: Chairman Colin Silvester called the meeting of the Lake Forest Cemetery Commission to order at 5:00 p.m. at the Lake Forest Cemetery Gatehouse. The following members were present: Chairman Colin Silvester; Commissioners Dennis O’Brien and John Dick; City Staff Chuck Myers, Superintendent of Parks and Forestry; and Phil Alderks, Cemetery Sexton. II. APPROVAL OF THE OCTOBER 22, 2014 MINUTES: Commissioner O’Brien motioned to approve the October 22, 2014 Minutes which was seconded by Commissioner Dick. Chairman Silvester then forwarded apologies from Commissioner Schuetz and Looby for their absence but stated that since there were 2 Commissioners and himself present that there was a quorum and the Commission was able to do business. The Commission then unanimously approved the minutes. III. FOURTH QUARTER INVESTMENT REPORT: Tony Hoban from William Blair presented the fourth quarter investment to the Cemetery Commission. Hoban passed out a handout for discussion and a look back over 2014. He said overall the US market was up 13%, International growth was negative and Global equities were up 2%. He said performance in the context of 2014 showed that the lowest quality companies were the ones that performed the best. He further stated that Wm Blair’s philosophy is to invest in ‘quality’ companies which is one reason we’re lagging in the short term on returns. Following more discussion on the general market, Hoban moved to review the portfolio. Hoban said that there was not much change in asset distribution. He began by reviewing the large cap stock portion of the investment and possible indexing of the large cap stocks. Chairman Silvester asked where we were in terms of indexing the large caps. Commissioner O’Brien said that the Commission had discussed the issue, but as yet it had not been voted on to which Sexton Alderks agreed. Chairman Silvester then asked what the Commission needs to do in order to execute the directive to move the large cap stocks into an indexed fund. Commissioner Dick asked for a one page analysis/synopsis of the pros and cons of moving large caps to indexed funds as he wasn’t convinced it was a prudent move. Chairman Silvester stated that while he’d like to get this done now, he will work on a one page comparison and asked Commissioner O’Brien if he would 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 Robert R. Kiely, Jr., at (847) 234-2600 promptly to allow the City to make reasonable accommodations for those persons. help with the memorandum. Commissioner O’Brien stated he would be willing to help out on the memo for presentation at the next meeting. Tony Hoban wrapped up the portfolio review with no further questions. Note: Chairman Silvester changed the order of the meeting agenda in order to facilitate Ms. Beattie since she was already present at the Cemetery Gatehouse. IV. BEATTIE FAMILY MONUMENT REQUEST FOR APPROVAL: Ms. Phyllis Beattie was introduced to the Cemetery Commission to present the Beattie family’s request for approval of their family’s memorial design. Ms. Beattie explained that her mother had started the process of designing a memorials, but she is now in hospice and can no longer do this so she has now taken the lead. Ms. Beattie shared with the Commission that the family was requesting a variance on the size of the individual grave markers for their lot. She said that it was more about the shape rather than the size of the markers for aesthetic reasons. The ‘squareness’ of the markers was necessary to match the ‘squareness’ of the monument. Commissioner Dick asked if it was the depth or the width of the marker that the family was requesting the variance on. Ms. Beattie said that it was the ‘depth’. They were requesting that the markers be 18” in ‘depth’ instead of the 12” requirement in the rules. Sexton Alderks said that if the Commission were just looking at the request on an individual basis, there probably wouldn’t be much of a problem with what the Beattie family was proposing. The problem is that the Commission can’t just look at requests for variances individually. Variances need to be looked at based on fairness to past, present and future families. The past families who have been denied, present families who are neighbors to the Beattie lot, and future families who will make other requests for variance. Alderks also said that it is important that Commissioners are consistent in the enforcement of the rules and regulations from a liability standpoint to the Cemetery. Alderks said that overall, he was not in favor of the variance. Following discussion by the Commissioners, Commissioner O’Brien motioned to approve the variance to the marker size which was seconded by Commissioner Dick. The motion then passed unanimously. V. APPROVAL OF REVENUE/EXPENSE REPORT: Sexton Phil Alderks presented the Revnue/Expense Report. Alderks explained that 67% of the year has lapsed at this time. Revenues were as expected and expenses were on the low end, but other than that things were pretty normal for this time of year. VI. APPROVAL OF TARGET NUMBER FOR FY2016 BUDGET: Sexton Phil Alderks presented the updated Revenue Projection sheets for FY 2016. Alderks stated that Commissioner O’Brien had reworked the previous forms to reflect the Commission’s discussion at the October meeting. Commissioner Dick said that the sheets were still confusing and were difficult to look at for real trends. He wondered if there was a way to get the information in graphic form. Alderks stated that this is something that we can look into for next year’s budget if someone can come up with an example of how they would like the information presented. Commissioner O’Brien went on to explain how he had updated the revenue projection spreadsheet based on recommendations from the Commissioners at the last meeting. O’Brien said that he agreed with Commissioners comments at the last meeting that appreciation should not be budgeted as revenue so he moved that and net gains/losses out of the revenue portion of budgeting. He also explained that investment earnings in the projection are now driven using the Consumer Price Index of 1.7% based off of last year’s actuals. Following further discussion of the updated Revenue Projections Sheets the Commission moved into discussion of the FY2016 Budget. VII. APPROVAL OF FY2016 BUDGET: Sexton Alderks presented the proposed FY2016 Budget for discussion based on revenue projections. Following a brief discussion on the FY 2016 Budget, Chairman Silvester requested a motion for approval of the FY2016 Budget. Commissioner O’Brien motioned to approve the FY 2016 Budget based on the Conservative Revenue Projection which was seconded by Commissioner Dick. This passed unanimously. Note: Commissioner Dick passed out 2 articles from American Cemetery and Cremation magazine, CANA: Cremation is still on fire and Marketing Your Cremation Property to Cremation Families. At this time, Commissioner Dick had to leave for another commitment. The meeting continued with the remaining attendees. VIII. CEMETERY UPDATES – RAVINE DESIGN: Superintendent Myers reported to the Commission that work is progressing on the Ravine Design Project. Myers stated that tree removals should start soon and construction could begin as early as late summer. Myers also said that Conservation Design Forum is about 75% complete with design and we will be meeting with them for a design review soon. Myers stated that we’ve applied for a DNR grant opportunity called the Illinois Coastal Management Grant. Myers said we should know whether or not we’ve made the first cut for the grant sometime in March. Myers also said that the Cemetery is looking to begin a maintenance plan for the South Ravine that was restored in 2003-2004. Sexton Phil Alderks said that he has already met with 3 native restoration contractors about the work and developing a maintenance plan and is waiting for quotes. Note: Superintendent Myers had to leave the meeting at this time for another commitment. The meeting continued with the remaining attendees. IX. OTHER MATTERS: No other matters. X. CITIZENS’ OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS CEMETERY COMMISSION: No citizen comments were made during this meeting. XI. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at 6:50 pm.