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Councilmember Sullivan said it seems like the revenue stream will be finite and at some point in <br />time, unless maintenance fees are raised on existing plots it will come from the General Fund. <br />Mr. Wolfe agreed, stating no maintenance amount has been built into the direction, but it is <br />clearly an option to use funds for that purpose until it is gone. <br />Councilmember Sullivan referred to the staff report from September 5, 2006; Attachment 1, <br />page 9, Maintenance Cost Estimates. Pioneer is roughly $23,500 and at this time the City <br />thought landscaping was $75,000 annually. He questioned if this number was still current. City <br />Manager Fialho said no, over the last three years the City has expended about $180,000 or <br />$59,000 per year to maintain and upgrade the cemetery. Mr. Wolfe said a good portion of that <br />went toward significant upgrades and he felt the annual cost was more like $35,000. <br />Councilmember Sullivan referred to page 10 and 11, Expansion Option, and he said this seems <br />like a much bigger project as it talks about CEQA, soils, compacting and grading, creating a <br />master plan using a standard process and consultant to assess feasibility. City Manager Fialho <br />said when this first came to the Council three years ago, there was discussion about a bigger <br />project that would involve construction of monuments, 1400 additional plots, and it may have <br />triggered a CEQA review. But in this process, staff is taking some virgin land to accommodate <br />200 plots which does not trigger CEQA review. He agreed staff has learned a little bit more <br />about the cemetery business, which was initially approved by the Council. <br />Mayor Hosterman invited public comment. <br />Bob Phillips voiced interest in the cemetery, felt this is their place to rest all of his family who <br />lives in the area. He was opposed to staff's preference over plots being sold to existing <br />residents, felt the only maintenance was mowing of lawns and irrigation, and he recommended <br />that headstones be without cups, noting that they get damaged. <br />Howard Neely thanked Jim Wolfe and said as a member of the Ad Hoc Committee, he was <br />appreciative of what staff has done. He said the expansion is wonderful, he has purchased <br />grave sites for his family, supported the proposal for irrigation, supported the vaulted format and <br />12 month proposal, felt there was much more opportunity to expand and he believed citizens <br />should be afforded preference. <br />Public comment was closed. <br />Vice Mayor Cook-Kallio asked for input on providing preference to spouses first and possibly <br />their children. Councilmember Thorne suggested looking at what sales are at the end of 6 <br />months to see how they are going rather than putting guidelines in place the Council might need <br />to change later. <br />Vice-Mayor Cook-Kallio questioned when sales would begin. Mr. Wolfe said it would start in <br />March, depending on weather conditions. He would work with CFCS to advertise but felt there <br />was already a lot of interest. <br />Councilmember Sullivan believed the City is in for along-term fiscal issue. He thinks there is a <br />time when we need to say it is great building big projects, but we should take a time out on <br />these kinds of projects and look at our future fiscal planning, CIP, and the budget, noting that <br />the City has other capital projects, maintenance and he felt the Council should prioritize them. <br />So, his initial reaction is to hold off until March. He felt it would be good for the community, but if <br />City Council Minutes Page 12 of 15 December 16, 2008 <br />