Minutes of Cemetery Board Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Attendees:
Rick, Ron, Pat, Anthony, Ruth, Joanne, Elaine
Called to order at 6:30 by Richard Rennard. New board members Pat Donahue and Anthony O’Donnell introduced. Election of officers – Ruth nominated Joanne, seconded by Elaine for chairperson, unanimously approved. Joanne nominated Elaine for secretary, Ruth seconded, unanimously approved. Joanne asked Pat to give a brief overview of Friends of Greenlawn organization. Pat shared some history of the organization.
Pat wondered if there was a regular day to day maintenance plan for Greenlawn. Ron responded that at this time of year much of the labor is spent on cutting and trimming.
Pat asked about mud near the pond due to people parking on the grass. Attempts have been made to prevent this, a sign may be posted. It’s not really something that can be monitored regularly.
Ruth asked about excessive “decorations” on graves. Rick and Ron gave some examples of how and when they have cleaned up the cemetery. It is a sensitive issue as this is part of some peoples’ grieving process. Pat asked about posting notices in the paper. The expense of posting notices is a consideration. Ron will look into using Salem Patch and other free media sites to notify folks of clean up along with tags placed on stones.
Discussion regarding how much space is left in Greenlawn. Both Rich and Ron responded that there was enough space for at least 20 years. This doesn’t take into account the lesser space needed for cremations. We may consider an area dedicated to cremations in the future.
Elaine asked Ron to do a survey of rates so that we can review at the next meeting.
Discussion regarding girl scouts cleaning veteran’s stones. This is a good thing. We may need to look into liability, if any, city is exposed to when allowing volunteers into the cemetery.
Set September 18 at 6:30 for the next meeting considering vacations, etc.
Adjourned 7:19.
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