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In conversations with Mr. Barnes and others, staff learned that there were t~vo parties who had expressed interest in acquiring the property in the past. An Odd Fellow from Ohio submitted a deposit more than a year ago for 510,000 toward acyuiring the Cemetery. However, the offer was withdrawn after this party became familiar with the State regulations that would apply to the purchase. In addition, a Pleasanton resident has reportedly expressed interest in the site but would prefer the City to acquire it and so is neither publicly nor actively pursuing the purchase at this time. Cemetery Capacity in the Tri-Valley Area The Pleasanton Pioneer Cemetery's interests include continuing plot sales at the Cemetery in part because it believes that the Tri-Valley area lacks local cemetery capacity. However, if true, the problem may be remedied as a result of activities underway outside of Pleasanton, including two serious proposals to develop new large cemeteries in the East Bay. A 58.7-acre cemetery located north of Pleasanton in Tassajara Valley has been proposed and is pending with Contra Costa County. The second proposal is a 40-acre cemetery included as part of a 110-acre project in north Livermore called the Vineyard Memorial Cemetery. The Vineyard Memorial Cemetery project is progressing through the local agency approval process. CITY OWNERSHIP Under current ownership and without a substantial financial investment in the site, the Cemetery appearance is unlikely to improve and infrastructure will continue to deteriorate. Assuming new ownership and/or revenues will not address this situation, the Council could choose to acquire the Cemetery. Staff has identified three possible avenues for City ownership as follows: ^ Ownership Alternative #1: The City owns the Cemetery but leases its operations to a private cemetery operator. While this alternative has many possible scenarios, the most practical assumes the City would make required capital improvements to the site and market it to a private operator. With these improvements and the elimination of the need for the State required pre-funded endowment, the City may be able to attract an operator responsible for all aspects of cemetery operations including expanding capacity. ^ Ownership Alternative #2: City owns and maintains the Cemetery grounds and partners with the Catholic Funeral & Cemetery Services (CFCs) for funeral, burial and cremation services. Approximately 200 grave and/or cremation plots have been sold and are unfilled. Most of these 200 sales were just for the plot and did not include services with some exceptionsZ. Acquisition would require the City to honor the commitments to the buyers' families and we would need assistance with meeting these commitments as well as complying with recordkeeping and other requirements. ' As estimated $I 1,000 in "pre-need" sales have betn made where the purchaser paid for plot and services in advance. SR 06:203 Page 6