Girdwood Cemetery Committee

Girdwood Cemetery Committee

March 8, 2017

Minutes Draft

What: Regular Monthly Meeting Girdwood Cemetery Committee

Where: Girdwood Community Center, 250 Egloff Drive

Date: March 8, 2017

Time: 1:00 pm

Call to order, Tommy O’Malley, Chair

Introduction of Guests
Agenda Approved for March 8, 2017 Meeting

Minutes Approved from January 23, 2017 Meeting

Old Business:

1.  Discuss how to proceed with next steps

Hiring engineering firm to determine:
Permitting, Preliminary Plans (parking, trails, burial sites), Construction Cost estimate

Kyle is talking to CRW now about other projects as well as this one.

Cemetery project will likely be above $50,000, which means that it will go through purchasing RFP process. If that happens, they’ll put out an RFQ (Request for Quote).

Goal is to create a document and plans that could be bid on for construction.

Permitting:

Specific Permitting required is not currently known. Corps of Engineers permit for groundwater and excavation of land, building permits, Right of Way Permits, etc.

Tommy to ask Rob Jones, Director of Anchorage Cemetery, for info on what permits may be required.

Health and Human services will maintain cemetery records, GPS, etc.

Preliminary Plans: Time to begin thinking about how this will look.

Some elements are: parking, columbarium, structures/pavilion,

Tommy envisions more rustic style, un-mowed site.

Consider Rules and Procedures: Fencing, Handling of Religion, Headstones, Columbarium only

Heather Hall recommends that Cemetery Committee research cemeteries in other Alaskan coastal communities.

Construction Cost Estimate:

Will create a good base for construction bidding.

2.  Update on discussion with GTC on assisting with trail routes in the cemetery

Tommy asked Cemetery Committee to be involved in determining trails through the cemetery parcel. Kyle says that this role more likely once things have moved along. Cemetery Committee should have an idea of how they want the flow to work through the site. Trails might be better to help work on how to route main trail up California Creek.

3.  Discuss funding of cemetery construction

Tommy thinks that long term funding of $20,000 per year from property taxes should more than cover paying MOA for their management of the cemetery and maintenance.

Girdwood Cemetery Committee is a sub-committee to the Girdwood Board of Supervisors

Agendas and minutes are available on line: http://www.muni.org/gbos

Possible bonding for cemetery construction. Recommend that this is bundled with other projects to get through bonding process as Anchorage Area as a whole will vote on this as the responsibility to service the debt falls citywide. If bonding next municipal election, need to be ready with bond info in January. Tommy to talk to Office of Management and Budget.

Seek Grant opportunities.

Rasmuson Foundation

American Legion, VFW, Veteran’s Associations may help with funding.

Kyle to research how Anchorage Cemetery is funded.

Foraker Group

New Business

Name for the Cemetery

Public Comment:

None

Other Business:

None

Next Cemetery Committee Meeting scheduled for April 5, 2017 at 1PM.

Adjourn 1:50PM