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CEMETERY COMMISSION 2014/10/22 MinutesLAKE FOREST CEMETERY COMMISSION MEETING LAKE FOREST CEMETERY GATEHOUSE WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 22, 20145:00 P.M. MEETING MINUTES ROLL CALL, CALL TO ORDER:Chairman Colin Silvester called the meeting of the Lake Forest Cemetery Commission at 5:00 p.m. at the Lake Forest Cemetery Gatehouse. The following members were present: Chairman Colin Silvester; CommissionersAmy Schuetz, Dennis O’Brien, Patrick Looby and John Dick; Staff Bob Kiely, Secretary-Treasurer;Elizabeth Holleb, Director of Finance; Mary Van Arsdale, Director of Parks and Recreation; Chuck Myers, Superintendent of Parks and Forestry;and Phil Alderks, Cemetery Sexton. APPROVAL OF THE JULY 16, 2014 MINUTES:Commissioner Schuetz motioned to approve the July 16, 2014 Minutes which was seconded by Commissioner Dick. Chairman Silvester then opened the minutes for discussion.Commissioner Schuetz pointed out that her name was omitted as attending from the minutes. Sexton Alderks stated that he would make that change to the minutes. Commissioner Dick said that his suggestion to possibly solicit naming rights to the ravine as an opportunity to raise funds for the Cemetery was also omitted. Alderks said that not all discussion is included in the minutes especially if there is no action connected to the item. The Commission unanimously approved the minutes with the correction of Commissioner Schuetz inclusion as being present at the July 16th meeting. APPROVAL OF SALES REPORT: SextonPhil Alderks presented the Sales Report which he reiterated was now in a new format that shows all revenues and expenses for a more complete financial picture rather than just lot and niche sales. Alderks explained that 42% of the year has lapsed at this time. Chairman Silvester asked what the Interest line item is and why it is so large. City Finance Director Elizabeth Holleb explained that the Interest budget line is a combination of the Interest and Net Gain/Loss line items in the Y-T-D column. CEMETERY COMMISSION FINANCE SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT:Commissioner O’Brien reported to the Cemetery Commissionregarding the Finance Sub-Committee’s recommendation for the RFP for the Cemetery’s Investment Advisor. O’Brien said that on September 26th the Sub-Committee interviewed 3 firms following review of all the proposals submitted to the Commission. Those firms were, William Blair and Company, PFM, and Northern Trust. City Finance Director, Elizabeth Holleb stated that currently Chicago Trust is the Custodian of the Trust and that over the 12 month period ending July 2014 this service cost the Cemetery $9,127.00. Holleb said that this fee could be if the Commission elected to have William Blair provide custodial services. Holleb also said that in consultation with Tony Hoban, that he estimated that an additional savings of approximately $8,550.00 could be saved if the Commission decided to index the US large cap portion of the portfolio. The recommendation from the Sub-Committee would be 1) to retain William Blair and Company as the Cemetery’s Investment Advisor. 2) Consider William Blair for the custodial services of the fund rather than Chicago Trust because William Blair does not charge any fees for custodial services on money that they manage. Following discussion by the Commission the following motions were put forth. Motion 1 by Commissioner O’Brien: Motion to continue with William Blair and Company as the Cemetery’s Investment Manager for a period of time not to exceed 5 years. This motion was seconded by Commissioner Dick and passed unanimously. Motion 2 by Commissioner O’Brien: Motion to move the custodial services of the Trust from Chicago Trust to William Blair no later than November 30, 2014. This motion was seconded by Commissioner Looby and passed unanimously. A third motion was put forth following the Cemetery Updates regarding the invoicing for William Blair’s fees which are currently deducted directly from the Trust Fund. Commissioner O’Brien at the direction of Chairman Silvester motioned that all future charges by William Blair be invoiced to the Cemetery rather than deducted directly from the Trust account. Commissioner Schuetz seconded the motion which passed unanimously. Superintendent Myers will contact William Blair regarding the decision to retain their services and the above motions and will notify PFM of the Commission’s decision and thank them for their participation. Chairman Silvester requested that he be the one to contact Northern Trust regarding the Commission’s decision. THIRDQuarter Investment Report:Chairman Silvester asked, since Tony Hoban was not attending the meeting due to the discussion on the investment advisor RFP, if any Commissioners had questions about the third quarter investment report from William Blair. Silvester said that it was a fairly flat quarter and October was probably taking some of our gains back, but otherwise pretty normal. There were no questions from the Commissioners. CEMETERY UPDATES – RAVINE DESIGN: Superintendent Myers updated the Commission on the Ravine Design Project. Myers stated that the surveying is complete and is necessary for the permitting. He said that we still need to speak with Conservation Design Forum about the phasing of the project which will take into account how we are going to pay for the work, the time it takes to get the permitting, how the work falls into the seasons, and also possible grant opportunities. Staff will work with CDF to put together a timeline to share with the Commission at the January meeting. Myers said that we’ve recently found out about a new grant opportunity called the Illinois Coastal Management Grant which has added a new category of habitat restoration that the Cemetery will be applying for. Commssioner Dick asked that once the timeline was completed, that it be made available digitally. Myers said that he would see to that once it is complete. CONSIDERATION OF FEES AND CHARGES FOR FY2016: Sexton Alderks presented the proposed FY2016 Cemetery Fees to the Cemetery Commission. Alderks stated that the increase in fees was based on an early estimate of the increase in operating expenses and rounding to allow for simpler pricing sheets. Alderks said that for some of the Cemetery offerings there was no request for a price increase as these offerings were at their upper limit based on demand. Commissioner Dick asked if there was any inventory report for what is available and in what price levels different space offerings were selling. Sexton Alderks stated that at this time there is no inventory report available but the Cemetery does track how many spaces are sold and in what price levels for budgeting purposes. He said that inventory would have to be hand counted but the Cemetery is working to computerize their records and that once that project is complete it would be easier to report on space inventory. Commissioner Dick also asked about competing interment offerings and there prices. Alderks stated that the Cemetery is unique in that the other Cemetery’s in town are sold out of space and that there are any other offerings that are really close by. Commissioner Dick asked about the churches in town who offer columbarium space and that we survey the churches to see what their pricing is and perhaps see how we are competing against them. He asked if perhaps the local funeral home would be able to help us determine how many families are choosing the columbarium spaces in the churches over the Memorial Gardens. Sexton Alderks will follow up on this for the January meeting. Chairman Silvester then requested a motion for approval of the FY2016 Fees which was motioned by Commissioner Looby and seconded by Commissioner O’Brien. This passed unanimously. Note: Commissioner O’Brien, Secretary-Treasurer Kiely, Finance Director Holleb, and Director of Parks and Recreation Van Arsdale had to leave the meeting at this time for other commitments. The meeting continued with the remaining attendees. FY2016 CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT BUDGET: Superintendent Myers presented the CIP (Capital Improvement Program) to the Commission for approval. Myers explained that while there are a number of items in the 5 year CIP, some of the items that are farther out are merely placeholders such as the small garden columbarium in FY 2020. All CIP line items are evaluated each year and some items may be pushed out if necessary. Myers focused on the FY 2016 column and said that there would be $200,000 to continue to move forward with ravine work and $50,000 for Landscape and Hardscape Improvements within the Cemetery. Following discussion, Commissioner Dick motioned to approve the FY2016 CIP budget as presented. Commissioner Looby seconded the motion which passed unanimously. APPROVAL OF TARGET NUMBER FOR FY2016 BUDGET: Sexton Phil Alderks presented the Revenue Projections for FY 2016.Alderks stated that the projections were based on past sales data and multipliers for Investment return and inflation that are supplied by Tony Hoban our investment manager. Alderks said that numbers for FY2014 and earlier are actuals and FY2015 is the budgeted number unless YTD numbers are greater than budgeted. Commissioner Dick asked if there was a record of actuals verses budgeted amounts for past years. Sexton Alderks stated that the information exists, but it is spread out among various earlier spreadsheets and not in a form easilyretrievable. Chairman Silvester questioned the budgeting of net appreciations and discussion ensued around net appreciations and also the investment earnings amounts. Alderks said that this spreadsheet dates back more than 15 years to a former City Finance Director and Alderks is unsure how the different figures relate. Chairman Silvester stated that he had no confidence in the spreadsheet at this time to set a Target Number. Sexton Alderks is to work with Commissioner O’Brien to revisit the spreadsheet in order to update it to present at the next Commission meeting. SHEPPARD FAMILY MONUMENT REQUEST FOR APPROVAL: Mr. Don Sheppard was introduced to the Cemetery Commission to present his request for approval of the Sheppard Family monument. Mr. Sheppard explained that his wife had passed recently passed away and his family was working with Gast Monuments to create a design to honor his wife. Mr. Sheppard referred to the drawing of the monument that was included in the Commission packet. Mr. Sheppard gave some background to the monument design and said that they were aiming for something unique in the design for their lot. Sexton Alderks referred the Commission to the dimensions of the monument and said that the main reason he brought the design to the Commission was due to the height of the monument. Alderks stated that the height of 6 feet is larger than ‘normal’, but there are other monuments in the area of similar height. Alderks also said that the Sheppard lot is located in the back of the section, so the additional height would not be obstructing other family lots behind the Sheppard lot. Following some discussion, Commissioner Dick motioned to approve the monument which was seconded by Commissioner Looby. The motion then passed unanimously. MEMORIAL GARDENS SPIRE DISCUSSION: Sexton Alderks shared with the Commission the original design for the Spire which was to be the focal point of the Memorial Gardens columbarium. Alderks said that he was bringing the idea to the Commission since none of the current members were on the Commission at the time the Memorial Gardens was built. Alderks reviewed the artist’s rendering of the Spire and the plan for the Memorial Gardens stating that the Spire and 400 niches were pulled from the project due to budget concerns. Alderks further stated that while the Spire itself was put on hold, the foundation for the structure was poured for future installation of the Spire. Alderks said that the thought by the Commission at that time was that a donor could be solicited for the Spire at a future date. Chairman Silvester requested that staff work on an updated price for the construction of Spire to bring back to the Commission. Commissioner Looby brought up the soliciting of donors for the Spire and also referred to Commissioner Dick’s idea regarding soliciting donors for naming of the ravine. Superintendent Myers asked if soliciting donors for the Spire is something the Commission would like to pursue and Secretary/Treasurer Bob Kiely said that he would speak to the Mayor about the idea for his input. Commissioner Dick asked that this question be framed generically with the idea of also raising monies for the ravine as a Commission. OTHER MATTERS:Chairman Silvester stated that he would be working on the annual Cemetery Donation letter which raises around $10,000 to $12,000 annually for the Cemetery. Commissioner Dick wondered if this letter could be sent to all residents and the costs. Sexton Alderks will research the costs for the next meeting. Commisisoner Dick also stated the he is receiving the International Cemetery Cremation and Funeral Home magazine and suggested all Commissioners receive it. Sexton Alderks will also check on the costs for the Cemetery to do this for the Commissioners and report at the next meeting. CITIZENS’ OPPORTUNITY TO ADDRESS CEMETERY COMMISSION: No citizen comments were made during this meeting. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting adjourned at7:00 pm.