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After the City Council approved the Master Plan and provided funding for the Priority 1 Tasks, staff submitted an additional funding request for the site improvements (Veteran's Memorial Project) in the FY 2015/2016 CIP budget. The Veterans Memorial was determined as having the highest priority and therefore was selected as the first improvement project for the Cemetery. At its November 3, 2015 meeting, the City Council approved the Veterans Memorial design and that project is in progress. DISCUSSION Cemetery Operations. As part of the Master Plan Priority 1 Tasks, staff carefully evaluated the Cemetery Operators Contract. The following outlines staffs conclusions and recommendations on ongoing cemetery operations. Cemetery Operators Contract. Staff reviewed options on how to best proceed with the management and sales at the cemetery when the contract with CFCS expires in June 2016. Four options were considered: 1) provide all cemetery services "in-house"; 2) contract out all cemetery services; 3) contract out Burial Services and provide Cemetery Management and Sales and Burial Coordination "in-house"; 4) contract out Cemetery Management and Sales and Burial Coordination and the City provide Burial Services "in-house". Staff conducted phone surveys with other cities who have cemeteries and a conducted a site visit to the City of Benicia, who provides all cemetery services "in-house". After collecting information and reviewing the four options it was determined that continuing to contract with an outside vendor was the best solution for the operation of the Cemetery. In addition, a portion of the Community Services Manager's salary and a part-time temporary position has been allocated to manage contracts and support Master Plan Implementation efforts. An RFP process was initiated in October 2015 and resulted in one proposal that presented a 45% cost increase from what the City was compensating the current vendor. Finding service providers has presented some challenges as there are few local vendors that provide these services and the sales and internments at the cemetery are at a low volume, 20 and 25 per year respectively. Staff did not select a vendor at that time and decided to re-evaluate the current contract structure to see how the City might best attract and retain a vendor that meets its needs. After evaluation, it was determined that the cemetery operations would be divided into two service contracts: Management, Sales, and Burial Coordination and Burial Services. Staff from the Community Services and Finance Departments along with the City Attorney's Office evaluated the current contract structure. The contract allowed the CFCS, to collect all funds from sales of plots and retain a 15% administrative fee and send the remainder of funds to the City. The contractor also retained the prepaid burial fees collected with the plot sale and held those funds in a trust account. The Cemetery Enterprise account did not show the expenses related to the contract as the City received only the revenue from sales after CFCS had deducted their expenses. This Page 4 of 10