Title
Planning and Building Department seeking Board direction related to the Cemetery Advisory Committee Formation Resolution 128-2002.
FUNDING: General Fund.
Body
DISCUSSION / BACKGROUND
The Cemetery Advisory Committee (Committee) approved bylaws which contain provisions that conflict with Resolution 128-2002 (Attachment A), the formation resolution for the Committee, which is outdated. To resolve these conflicts, to allow bylaws to be established for the Committee, and to bring current the information in the resolution, staff are requesting direction from the Board on updating the formation resolution.
Recommendations suggested by Committee members for updating Resolution 128-2002:
• Remove the requirement for Committee members recommended by Board members to be residents in the Board member’s district. While residency is preferred, some district positions have been difficult to fill from within the district, while at the same time there are potential willing candidates from other districts. The choice would still remain with the specific Board member as to a recommendation to fill a position.
• Update the designated Committee membership to include a member of a veterans’ organization. Veterans have a demonstrated interest in and passion for maintaining, preserving, recognizing, and celebrating veterans’ graves, and should have a voice on the Committee.
• Update the term of members appointed by the Board from two years to four years. This would make the appointments of Committee members consistent with the terms of Board members, and would provide for more stability on the Committee, as well as provide for more efficiency and less workload for both Cemetery Administration staff and Board Clerk’s Office staff in processing reappointments every two years.
Staff recommendations for updating Resolution 128-2002:
• Remove the County Coroner as a member of the Committee, as input from the Coroner is no longer needed on a regular basis. Removing the requirement for the Coroner to be on the Committee does not preclude the Coroner or the Sheriff’s Office from providing input to the Committee, if needed. The Coroner’s staff support this recommendation.
• Remove the Cemetery Director as a voting member of the Committee, as staff feel it is a potential conflict for a staff member to be a voting member of a committee that is formed to provide advice to the Board which sets policy for staff to implement.
• Remove Committee goals which have been completed or are no longer needed due to other changes in the Board’s intentions regarding cemeteries (see additional documentation below).
The Committee was formed in 2002 with specific goals; the initial assignments, in priority order, were to:
1) Review the proposed update to the County Cemeteries Ordinance and:
a) No later than July 16, 2002, recommend that the Board of Supervisors adopt specified provisions, if any, of the proposed ordinance update that are acceptable to the Committee;
b) No later than September 24, 2002, recommend any additional revisions to the County Cemeteries Ordinance.
The Committee completed its recommendations: see Attachment B, Report to the Board in October 2003, Committee minutes for 11/19/2003 with recommended maintenance plan.
Although the Committee completed its recommendations, the County Cemeteries Ordinance was not updated. The County Cemeteries Ordinance has been discussed at a multitude of Committee meetings through the years and Ad Hoc subcommittees have been set up to work on the Cemeteries Ordinance. From those efforts, the County received a wide variety of feedback and recommendations for the Cemeteries Ordinance. Taking all of that feedback into consideration, Cemetery Administration staff are finalizing recommended updates to the Cemeteries Ordinance and plan to present the first reading of the revised Cemeteries Ordinance at the September 19, 2023 Board meeting or later.
2) Research and report to the Board of Supervisors on the status of Native American burial sites within the County, including recommendations as to their documentation and preservation. Completed; see Attachment B.
3) Develop and recommend to the Board of Supervisors a County-wide, prioritized cemetery maintenance and restoration plan. Completed; see Attachment B.
4) Research and identify potential funding sources for specific cemetery projects (e.g., grants, private endowments, legislative initiatives, fundraising drives, volunteer efforts, etc.). Ongoing.
5) Coordinate the compilation and recording in written form of information, records, and historical data relating to County cemeteries. Completed. The Committee gathered much historical information over multiple years. This information was provided to Cemetery Administration and is contained in hard-copy and electronic files located within Cemetery Administration. Committee members and others continue to share information with Cemetery Administration.
6) Develop recommendations regarding the designation of cemeteries, if any, as Pioneer Memorial Parks. Not Completed.
7) Develop recommendations for a website and written materials providing information on historical cemeteries within the County. Completed. Committee members provided documentation and photographs which have been incorporated into the Cemetery Administration webpage on the County’s website.
8) Research legal titles of cemeteries to determine their public or private status, and for possible legal recognition of privately owned cemeteries. Completed; see Attachment C.
Goal 6 is incomplete and staff recommend that the goal be removed from the Resolution. This goal was assigned when suggested changes to the Cemetery Ordinance included the designation of Pioneer Memorial Parks for perpetual care of the cemeteries as parks by the County. However, this definition of Pioneer Memorial Parks was contrary to the designation of Pioneer Memorial Parks in California Health and Safety Code (CHAPTER 7. Abandonment [8825 - 8829]) which allows the removal of all cemetery markers and hardscape to preserve the area of a cemetery for recreational use, not as a cemetery. The Board has made it clear to staff in recent years that there is no desire to establish the category of Pioneer Memorial Parks within El Dorado County in either format.
Goal 4 is to research potential funding sources. There are few options for ongoing funding for cemeteries, other than using tax dollars, fundraising for donations, or seeking the designation of cemeteries as historical monuments, which could assist with seeking grants and donations. However, the granting of historical monument status is extremely rare for cemeteries, and, though historic, El Dorado County cemeteries are unlikely to qualify for historical monument status.
Fee changes for cemetery services will be presented to the Board for consideration in coming months, and if approved, these fee changes will increase funding to support the maintenance of cemeteries. However, the formation of Save the Graves, Inc., a group which includes several members of the Committee, and which has a mission to provide direct funding for projects to restore, protect and celebrate El Dorado County cemeteries, provides a partial answer to this goal. Save the Graves has already raised more than $25,000 for projects in El Dorado County cemeteries. These projects are aimed at beautification and restoration of the cemeteries, however, and are not typically used for general maintenance.
Staff recommend including a goal for Committee members to perform site visits to County-managed cemeteries, particularly those that staff do not visit frequently, and report back to staff at Committee meetings, so that staff can resolve any issues, if needed.
Finally, staff recommend reducing the frequency of Committee meetings. Because the majority of items the Committee discusses are not action items, but informational only, and because preparing for and staffing meetings imposes a significant workload on staff, which could be directed toward completing other urgent and important tasks, staff recommend reducing the frequency of meetings from monthly to quarterly.
Current Cemeteries Division staff reviewed more than twenty years of historical documents contained in the electronic and hard-copy files maintained by the Cemeteries Division to compile the documentation provided above.
Upon receiving direction from the Board regarding the Committee’s formation resolution, and upon County Counsel’s approval, staff will bring a revised resolution (as applicable) and revised bylaws incorporating applicable changes from the revised resolution to the Board for approval at the earliest opportunity.
ALTERNATIVES
The Board could choose not to update or replace Resolution 128-2002.
The Board could choose to wind down activities of the Committee.
PRIOR BOARD ACTION
The Board adopted Resolution 128-2002 on June 4, 2002, forming the Cemetery Advisory Committee.
OTHER DEPARTMENT / AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
None
CAO RECOMMENDATION / COMMENTS
Provide direction as recommended.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Recommendations from staff to continue to seek out funding sources for cemeteries and reducing the frequency of committee meetings would likely reduce net county cost, however, the extent of any reduction is not known at this time.
CLERK OF THE BOARD FOLLOW UP ACTIONS
N/A
STRATEGIC PLAN COMPONENT
Good Governance
CONTACT
Chris Perry, Cemetery Director
Assistant Director, Planning and Building Department