Trustees of Trust Funds & Cemetery Trustees / September 10, 2007

Present: Mary Blank, Lucille Gorges, Gerry Plotts, Roxanne MacConnell, Patty Little.

On motion by Lucille, voted unanimously to accept the minutes from the July 2, 2007 meeting. Mary noted that neither the Trustees of Trust Funds or the Cemetery Trustees had meet in August.

Trustees of Trust Funds

SAU Audit:

Mary noted that she had responded to the SAU 29 audit request by furnishing information on the interest earned on the School Overbudget Fund and the capital reserve School Renovation and Reconstruction Fund from July 1, 2006 to June 30, 2007. The report also identified withdrawals, deposits as well as the ending balance.

Reimbursement of String Trimmer Proceeds to Common Trust:

Mary noted she had deposited $245.69 into the Common Trust to reflect the sale of the string trimmer that was sold to Vermont Hillside. $3.69 would have been earned if the $242.00 had remained in the account and this sum, donated by the Trustees, was deposited proportionate into the Common Trust..

Investment Policy:

Mary reported that with the passage of HB 226, the Trustees are required to annually adopt an investment policy. The investment policy is filed with the Attorney General’s Office. Patty noted that the Trustees had previously adopted an investment policy in August of 2001. Mary stated she would review the 2001 policy with Citizen’s Bank and would seek the assistance of Bev Tilley in drafting a policy that reflected what the current investment practice was.

Budget Workshop:

Mary noted that there was a budget workshop on preparing warrant articles scheduled for September 25. She noted that the Trustees of Trust Funds don’t have a budget to absorb expenses. Patty stated that she believed participation in the budget workshop would be an appropriate expense to come from the operating budget because of the number of warrant articles that the Trustees present to the annual meeting. On motion by Roxanne voted unanimously to authorize the expenditure of $35.00 as a registration fee for the budget and finance workshop to be held in September and sponsored by the Local Government Center.

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Cemetery Trustees

Village Cemetery Survey:

Mary reported that Ed Goodrich has been unable to perform any of the field work associated with the Village Cemetery survey. His assistant has had medical issues, which has prevented him for accompanying Mr. Goodrich on the field work. Mr. Goodrich has done extensive research on all of Marlow’s cemetery deeds to share with the Trustees. It is anticipated that the field work will commence in the very near future.

Village Cemetery:

Mary noted that research is still needed to determine whether lot 314 was available for purchase. Originally a James White had purchased the lot, but a notation was written on the town’s records indicating “returned to the town”. Patty indicated that she would research the death to determine the burial location.

Mary noted that three cemetery deeds had been recently provided (Linda Trudelle (for Rene Venne), Scott and Leaugeay Taylor and Sally and Leroy Mosher, Jr. A letter accompanied the deeds indicating that they would be replaced with new deeds with further language.

Mary continued that she had been approached by a Marlow resident who indicated that there were a number of people in town who had an interest in the cemetery and that they were concerned about the amount of weeds that had grown up in the landscaped area. The Trustees indicated they had no objection to any volunteer efforts in the cemeteries.

Routine Monitoring of all Cemeteries:

Mary indicated that she believed it would be a good idea to have each of the cemeteries monitored on a regular schedule (ideally once a month) so that condition issues could be addressed promptly. Lucille and Roxanne agreed to monitor the Village Cemetery. Patty agreed to monitor the Old Settler’s Cemetery. Roxanne agreed to monitor the West Yard Cemetery.

Early Settler’s Cemetery:

Patty updated the Trustees on the plan for installing a chain link fence between the granite posts at the Old Settlers Cemetery. 175 feet of chain is needed. The Sargent Road Trust and the George Reed Trust could both be funding sources for the chain. There is currently a balance of $8300.00 between the two funds. Patty offered to research the exact trust that funded the granite posts. She added that in 2005 she had obtained a quote for 3/8 inch links at $740.00. Mary offered to obtain a revised quote. It was decided to talk about this project at the next meeting. Tony Davis would be asked to do the work.

Cemetery Deed vs. Right to Inter:

Mary suggested that the Trustees determine whether they want to continue issuing a cemetery deed or start issuing a right to inter document. She noted that the Attorney General’s Office prefers a right to inter because it does not represent ownership in the land and it can not be sold or transferred to anyone else. The Town of Mount Vernon uses a right to inter and also requests identification of the probable interments that will occur in the plot. Patty indicated that using a right to inter would be a significant change for Marlow residents and she expected the Trustees would hear objection to the concept from Marlow residents. On motion by Roxanne, voted unanimously to continue the practice of issuing a cemetery deed, updated with the appropriate RSAs.

Roxanne commented that she liked the idea of asking a plot owner to identify what family members are intended for burial. This identification would not be binding, but it could relieve the Trustees and the Sexton from answering questions from remaining family members. Perhaps this is information that could be gathered when a cemetery deed is sold. Roxanne stated she would speak with the Sexton. In the meantime, Roxanne offered to send the interment form to James Tapley who recently buried cremation ashes in lot 325 (Hauver) without the benefit of the Sexton’s involvement. Roxanne indicated that Mr. Talpley could indicate where on lot 325 the ashes were buried.

Location of Headstones:

Mary noted there is still an issue of the placement of the headstones for the Marcotte and Briggs plots. Mr. Marcotte believes that the Briggs’ stone is in the wrong place. Mary inquired whether there was a standard in terms of whether the headstones should be facing east or west of the grave plot. Patty responded that headstones should be located at the head of the decedent and the wording of the monument should face the approaching roadway. It was suggested that placement of the headstone should be coordinated with the Sexton so that two adjacent graves would not have their headstones back to back. Roxanne inquired whether the Trustees could require monument markers for the plots. It was suggested that changes to the cemetery regulations would require adoption at an annual meeting. Mary and Gerry offered to go out to the Village Cemetery and view the alignment of other headstones in that area.

Repair of Monuments:

Mary indicated that she hadn’t heard back from D&M Monument regarding their proposal to repair broken headstones in the Village Cemetery. This project would be funded from the recent McCourt Trust to repair cemetery monuments. The proposal calls for a $2000 deposit, $2000 in the spring of 2008 and the final $2000 at the end of the project. D&M Monument will provide a map designating the stones that need work.

Marlow Capital Improvements:

Mary stated that the Capital Improvement Committee has requested that all boards identify future capital projects. The Cemetery Trustees are being asked to comment on any capital projects that they envision. Mary indicated that the Trustees will discuss this issue at the October meeting.

Appointment - Cemetery Trustee:

On motion by Mary, voted unanimously to appoint Patty Little as the 5th cemetery trustees. Patty will need to take the oath before the Selectmen.

NH Cemetery Association:

Mary noted that the fall meeting of the New Hampshire Cemetery Association would be October 10th^. Both Mary and Gerry expressed an interest in attending. On motion by Patty, voted unanimously to authorize the registration fee(s) from the operating expenses.

Next meeting was scheduled for October 1.

Submitted,
Patricia A. Little
Secretary