AGENDA #4o
to: Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager
from: Ray Kisiah, Parks and Recreation Director
subject: Establishment of a Cemeteries Advisory Board
date: June 9, 2008
The purpose of this report is to present information on the establishment of a Town Cemeteries Advisory Board, and to develop a strategy to determine the best course of action to adequately operate and maintain the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery in the form of two recommendations including:
Adoption of the attached ordinance would amend Chapter 6 of the Town’s Code of Ordinances to create a Cemeteries Advisory Board for the purpose of providing citizen input into the operation and maintenance of the Town’s four cemeteries.
Adoption of the attached resolution would authorize the Town Manager to initiate the process of soliciting membership of the Cemeteries Advisory Board according to the criteria set forth in the ordinance.
This report is presented in response to a petition received by the Council on November 11, 2007, from Mr. Steven Moore requesting establishment of a Chapel Hill Cemetery Advisory Board. Following a staff response to Mr. Moore’s petition on January 28, 2008, (Attachment 1) the Council referred the item back to staff for additional information.
The Town currently owns, operates and maintains four (4) cemeteries which are:
For many years the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery was owned, operated, and maintained by the University of North Carolina. On February 22, 1989, the Old Cemetery was deeded to the Town by the State of North Carolina at which time the Town assumed responsibility for administrative and maintenance operations. Because of the relationship of the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery to the University, as part of this report we recommend that staff be directed to consult with UNC to determine the best course of action to adequately operate and maintain the Old Cemetery. We further recommend that the staff present its findings in a follow-up report to the Council by September 22, 2008
If the Council chooses to create a permanent standing Cemeteries Advisory Board, we refer to the Council Procedure Manual section on Committees and recommend that the new board “act in an advisory capacity that the Council may be fully informed when creating ordinances, policies, and procedures for the Town.”
Purpose – We propose that the purpose of the Cemeteries Advisory Board (CAB) be to provide citizen input to the Council on policies for the operation and maintenance of the Town’s four cemeteries as well as any cemeteries that may be added in the future.
We continue to recommend that the Town’s Historic District Commission maintain its role of providing courtesy reviews of proposed physical improvements to the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery.
Number and type of Members – We recommend that the CAB be made up of at least five and not more than seven members. We further recommend that one member be appointed by the Historic District Commission to act as a liaison for issues involving the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery, which is on the National Register of Historic Places. Additionally we recommend that other members appointed by the Council represent the following areas of interest:
When considering membership within the interest areas listed above, we recommend that the new board be consistent with previous Council policy that 60 percent of appointed members be citizens of Chapel Hill. We recommend that a quorum of members be half of the total membership plus one.
Length of term - To be consistent with other similar advisory boards and to provide cohesive discussion at quarterly meetings, we recommend that members serve staggered three-year terms and that members be appointed/reappointed for no more than two consecutive three-year terms. As on other boards and commissions, we recommend that vacancies be filled for the unexpired term only.
Administration – We recommend that the Cemeteries Advisory Board receive staff support from the Parks and Recreation Department with assistance from other Town Departments as needed.
We recommend that the Town Council enact the following Ordinance creating a permanent Cemeteries Advisory Board and adopt the attached Resolution directing the Town Manager to initiate the process of establishing membership. As proposed the Ordinance establishes an Advisory Board of five (5) members with one (1) at large member. If the Council wishes to establish a board with seven (7) or more members we believe it would be reasonable to adjust the Ordinance language to increase the number of at large members.
We recommend that the Town Council direct staff to consult with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to determine the best course of action to adequately operate and maintain the Old Chapel Hill Cemetery and to bring back to the Council a report on these findings by September 22, 2008.