Minneopa Cemetery

Historic Minneopa Cemetery

Since 1855

Oldest Continuously Operating Cemetery in Blue Earth County

Board Minutes for October 22, 2012

Doug Johnson called the meeting to order at 10:15, after everyone found the new location of the bank.

Present were: Dean Otto, Doug Johnson, Archie Kendall, Ruth Otto, Phyllis Granaas, Gordon Herbst, and Barbara Jackowell

John Rush submitted a letter requesting that he be removed from the board due to illness. Sally & John Peterson have also resigned.

The Minutes of the last meeting were read and approved.

Dean Otto gave the financial report with income and expenses through the end of September of 2012. Expenses were down as due to this summer’s drought. Little grass cutting was needed. However, we had fewer burials so income was also down. Dean thinks that by the end of the year the cemetery will be close to break even for the year.

He found that it was easier to take money from a CD than to raise our line of credit. One CD was reduced to $6,200.00 in order to produce the extra cash needed for the cemetery in case of cash flow difficulties.

The cemetery currently has $134,288.70 in the Perpetual Care Fund. Although the principal cannot be touched, we can use the interest from these funds. The TCF certificate of deposit is the best one as it was taken out for five years and has high interest. That CD is expiring in November. Taxes have been filed. Non-Profit organizations with over $250,000.00 are required to file.

The annual board checks were handed out to the members.

The discussion changed to how we can promote income for the cemetery. Dean mentioned that we could invest in the market. It is now inexpensive to buy stock online through firms such as E-Trade or Scot Trade. We should be able to find some better investments than the CDs. It was decided that the Finance Committee should meet after the election to discuss investments. Possibly we would talk with an investment advisor such as Joe Michaletz of Michaletz Financial Services.

The CD’s were inspected by Archie Kendall & Dean Otto at the lunch hour and found to be accurate.

Dale’s report was given by Dean Otto as Dale could not attend the meeting. He had burials to attend. Burials have been down this year. We have had $5,335.00 in burial income for about 10 burials and 5 cremations. The bills are handled by Dean. Lawn care for 2012 was paid for in 2011 in order to receive a 10% discount.

OLD BUSINESS: A discussion of bylaws was made. A copy of Lakewood’s bylaws was obtained and compared to ours. Everyone received a copy of the first draft of the bylaws. Burials of pets are specifically excluded. This will be a policy; not part of the bylaws. The bylaws were read and discussed. The cemetery board is down to 9 with the recent resignations. At least 3 more people were needed to increase the board to its former level.

What would happen to the money if the cemetery were dissolved was a topic. The money would most likely pass to a government body such as the State of Minnesota or Blue Earth County. Years ago the railroad made a cut through the cemetery area. The money for the land, $7,000.00, was taken by South Bend Township. Voting on the new bylaws is tabled until our spring meeting. That way we can all read them and think about whether any other topics should be added. Ruth suggested we might like to leave some of the funnier items from the old bylaws in the new one.

Dean had an update on the website. The financials through 2010 will be added to it: also will the new Bylaws when approved. The man who does the work on the website charges us $75.00 per hour which is reasonable for computer work.

Ruth asked about Monuments and Costs. Dale will be asked to clarify the costs other cemeteries charge for putting up monuments.

NEW BUSINESS: 3 members have resigned this meeting and one last meeting. Sally & John Peterson have moved to Rapid City, SD. Sally had 1 year left and John had 2 years. John Rush also resigned. Replacement people were discussed and Archie Kendall and Dean Otto contacted a few during lunch. Ruth Otto indicated that she would also like to retire if enough new members could be located.

A tentative date of May 14, 2013, was set for the Spring Meeting. Dean stated that the date is an approximate one and the members will be contacted by phone closer to the time. The meeting was adjourned and the group went to the “4” Restaurant for lunch.

The meeting was reconvened at the cemetery after lunch.

The officers were reelected. Doug Johnson will continue as the President; Dean will remain on as Treasurer; Barbara will stay as Secretary; Dale will remain Superintendent of the grounds; and Archie Kendall will be the Vice President. It was motioned and passed that the board members be accepted as presented. The vote was unanimous.

No members of the public came to this session and it was adjourned by 1:25.

Three new members have been located. Dennis Owens, Lynn Seppman, and Peggy Seppmann join us at the next meeting.