[0:02] You are watching Access

[0:04] LaPorte County Channel 97. Next up is the

[0:09] Michigan City Board of Trustees meeting on October 8th. You

[0:11] can find more

[0:13] information about this

[0:15] meeting at

[0:16] www.accesslaportecounty.org.

[0:27] Elsa?

[0:27] Yes.

[0:28] So, let's begin.

[0:30] Announcement of the order of business for the meeting of the

[0:32] Cemetery Board of Trustees on

[0:33] Thursday, October 8,

[0:34] 2026, here at

[0:36] Swan Lake Memorial Gardens. We

[0:38] are holding a call to

[0:39] order, and that's what it is

[0:40] . We are going to

[0:41] hold a roll call

[0:42] vote. Vera

[0:43] Gaston.

[0:44] Present.

[0:45] Bernadette Dump Demkey.

[0:47] Present.

[0:48] Uh, Kat, and I do this all

[0:50] the time. Suggestions?

[0:53] Here's Kat. Right now.

[0:55] Kat Hodgins

[0:56] was also present. We have a

[0:57] quorum. We have three

[0:59] vacant positions.

[1:02] Please submit your applications

[1:03] . We have the next

[1:06] item on the

[1:06] agenda - the election of the vice

[1:08] president. We

[1:09] need this. Any

[1:11] candidates?

[1:15] I

[1:15] nominate Vera

[1:16] Gaston.

[1:17] And I nominate you,

[1:23] Kat Hodgins.

[1:28] Well, uh, we can

[1:29] vote. Uh,

[1:34] everyone for Vera. One. Are

[1:41] you voting too?

[1:43] Uh, I'm out of the

[1:44] voting pool, as you can see.

[1:46] And you?

[1:47] Yes.

[1:47] I thought you were supposed to

[1:48] vote.

[1:49] As president, you

[1:50] cannot show any

[1:53] personal allegiance to any party when

[1:54] voting.

[1:55] What?

[1:56] But we can get away with, uh

[1:58] , yeah, sorry. We

[2:00] make options "for

[2:02] cats", "for cats".

[2:04] I vote for cats

[2:06] .

[2:06] You have two "for cats". Is everyone in

[2:09] favor of Kotov becoming the

[2:10] new vice

[2:10] president?

[2:11] I am

[2:12] me.

[2:13] Perfectly. You are in favor.

[2:14] Hooray.

[2:15] Good.

[2:16] No. No, no, no. I already...

[2:18] she was...

[2:19] Yes, yes. I agree. I

[2:22] completely agree.

[2:25] Approval

[2:25] of the protocol. Everyone

[2:27] should have a copy of this

[2:28] in front of them.

[2:32] I vote that

[2:34] we adopt the minutes of

[2:35] our last

[2:36] meeting. This will be

[2:40] September 10, 2026.

[2:46] I will support it, but I was

[2:47] n't here. Is this

[2:48] legal? I

[2:49] mean, I read them. Did

[2:51] you have a copy in front of

[2:51] you?

[2:52] Yes, I read them too.

[2:53] Good. So,

[2:54] I support that it is

[2:55] legal.

[2:56] Good. This is one. All in favor of

[2:58] adopting the minutes

[2:59] as presented

[3:00] .

[3:02] I.

[3:02] Any objections?

[3:04] This is accepted. I'm

[3:05] going to go

[3:06] straight to the council report.

[3:07] Good. I think everything is

[3:09] fine. Do you have an

[3:10] agenda?

[3:10] You can start.

[3:12] I have a protocol.

[3:13] Good. Good. The

[3:14] copies I gave

[3:15] you before we

[3:16] started. And starting

[3:17] from the first page. This is a

[3:20] summary

[3:21] of the quarterly

[3:22] dividend information that

[3:23] was added. The account

[3:26] decreased by 2.05% per

[3:28] month and by 1.39% since

[3:30] the beginning of the year.

[3:33] Let's move on to the

[3:35] permanent maintenance fund account

[3:36] . This account

[3:39] has decreased by 1.39% per

[3:41] month and by 0.26% since

[3:43] the beginning of the year.

[3:46] Let's move on to the second

[3:47] page. Saving the

[3:50] expansion fund.

[3:52] The yield decreased

[3:55] by 1.67% per month and by

[3:57] 0.86% since the beginning of the year. And

[4:01] finally, as

[4:02] for the

[4:03] diversified

[4:04] commission fund,

[4:05] alternative

[4:06] investments fell

[4:08] by 0.42% for the month.

[4:09] Moon, sorry. Since

[4:11] the beginning of the year, it has grown

[4:14] by 1.22%. Moving on to the

[4:18] third page, we

[4:19] will provide more

[4:20] detail in some of the

[4:21] information provided. The

[4:25] money market

[4:26] is at 3.46%, up

[4:28] from

[4:29] last

[4:32] month's return of 3.56%. The overall

[4:34] total return of

[4:36] mutual funds

[4:37] is 3.68%, which is

[4:39] higher than

[4:40] last

[4:42] month's return of 3.42%. And the

[4:44] total return on

[4:46] the account is 3.67%

[4:48] , which is higher than

[4:49] last

[4:52] month's return of 3.46%.

[4:55] Moving on to

[4:56] page four, we'll

[4:57] look at the details

[4:59] regarding the overall

[5:00] bill for

[5:00] Small Lake maintenance

[5:01] . The total return of

[5:06] these funds is

[5:08] 3.52%, which is higher than

[5:10] last

[5:12] month's return of 3.30%. And the

[5:13] total return on

[5:16] the account is 3.58%

[5:18] , which is higher than

[5:19] last

[5:21] month's return of 3.43%.

[5:24] Moving on to the fifth

[5:26] page, let's look at the

[5:28] expansion fund account, the total

[5:30] return on mutual

[5:32] funds is 3.57%,

[5:33] which is higher than

[5:35] last

[5:36] month's return of 3.34%. And the

[5:37] total return

[5:39] on the account is

[5:42] 3.60%, which is higher than

[5:43] last

[5:45] month's return of 4.32%. And again

[5:50] , the balance of these

[5:51] commercial funds,

[5:53] mutual funds, and

[5:54] all of you is 3.63

[5:56] %, which is higher than

[5:58] last

[6:00] month's return of 3.37%. And the

[6:03] total return

[6:05] is 3.64%, which is

[6:07] higher than

[6:08] last

[6:10] month's return of 3.51%. And now with

[6:13] some of the highest

[6:15] yields around

[6:16] 3%. Large markets, uh,

[6:19] national and

[6:20] ultra-municipal

[6:21] bonds. Good.

[6:25] Uh, as

[6:25] mentioned in the

[6:26] financial reports, the

[6:27] market value

[6:29] is generally

[6:30] this big or

[6:31] small decline

[6:32] this year. Uh, it

[6:35] depends a lot on the

[6:37] interest rate environment.

[6:38] So, we have, uh, the Fed

[6:39] recently raised

[6:41] its

[6:43] Fed Funds Rate by 1/4%. Uh,

[6:45] inflation is not

[6:45] coming down to the level

[6:47] they are

[6:48] targeting. That's

[6:50] why they raised the

[6:51] Fed's interest rate,

[6:53] and it

[6:54] could potentially go up again by the

[6:55] end of the year. One of the

[6:58] main

[7:02] instruments

[7:02] influencing the market

[7:03] value of some of

[7:04] these funds

[7:05] held in the

[7:06] account is the 10-year

[7:07] Treasury

[7:07] bond. A few

[7:09] months ago, 10-year

[7:10] Treasury

[7:11] bonds were in the

[7:12] 4.4-and-a-

[7:12] half range.

[7:14] They recently reached a

[7:16] decade-high of around

[7:18] 5.3. So this

[7:20] increase in the 10-year

[7:21] Treasury

[7:22] note that you

[7:23] saw is a significant

[7:24] increase this

[7:25] year. In essence, this

[7:28] negatively affects the

[7:29] market value of

[7:30] existing bonds.

[7:33] Therefore, there is an inverse

[7:34] relationship between

[7:35] interest rates

[7:36] and

[7:37] bond prices. However,

[7:40] the income from the funds is still

[7:41] very good.

[7:42] You know, many of these

[7:43] funds pay

[7:44] returns in the mid-

[7:45] 3% range. I think there is

[7:46] one that

[7:47] pays about a 4%

[7:48] yield. So, you

[7:49] get a good

[7:50] return from these funds,

[7:52] but the market value of the

[7:53] investment has

[7:54] declined a bit this year,

[7:55] and that goes for the

[7:56] entire

[7:57] bond market. Um, you know,

[7:58] Matt Barry mentioned

[8:00] a few accounts

[8:01] where bonds were

[8:02] down

[8:04] about 1% year-to-date, then down

[8:05] 1.6%, then in that

[8:07] range. Um, the

[8:08] overall market, the

[8:09] aggregate bond index is

[8:12] down about

[8:13] 2.8% year to date. So, um, you know,

[8:15] the accounts that you

[8:16] have investments in are

[8:17] weathering the storm

[8:18] a little better than the

[8:19] general

[8:20] bond index. So that's

[8:22] good. Um, plus, as I

[8:23] mentioned, you know, the

[8:25] income you

[8:26] get from these

[8:27] investments is still

[8:28] very healthy. Um, as far as the

[8:32] overall

[8:33] economy is concerned, it's

[8:36] still very healthy by most measures.

[8:38] Um, corporate

[8:40] profits are at

[8:42] record levels right now.

[8:43] They are in the

[8:45] 30% range by

[8:46] 2026, which is very good

[8:48] for the US stock market

[8:49] . Um, the

[8:50] unemployment rate is

[8:52] about 4.2. It grew a little

[8:54] last month.

[8:57] Um, there's a slight dip,

[8:58] but the weekly

[9:01] jobless claims, um, have

[9:02] n't accelerated in any way

[9:03] . It's

[9:06] been around

[9:08] 200,000 for a few months now, and that's very

[9:09] timely, um, data

[9:10] that we're looking at in the

[9:12] files. This is a good

[9:14] sign. Um, credit

[9:16] spreads, um, in terms of

[9:17] the state of corporations that

[9:18] can borrow

[9:20] money, are still very

[9:21] limited, um, which is

[9:22] good. Um, it's been like that

[9:24] all year,

[9:26] basically. So we don't

[9:27] see any panic

[9:29] about

[9:29] investors, you know, not

[9:31] wanting to lend

[9:32] money to corporations.

[9:34] Um, and you know, as we

[9:35] mentioned,

[9:36] corporate profits

[9:37] and the labor market are also

[9:38] pretty healthy. So,

[9:41] um, we're now

[9:42] a little

[9:43] over 1%, I

[9:44] think, from the highs of the

[9:45] S&P 500, so the stock

[9:47] market has really been

[9:48] resilient during the

[9:49] ongoing conflict

[9:50] in Iran. As you know,

[9:52] oil prices here

[9:53] exceed

[9:54] $70 per barrel.

[9:55] Um, as you mentioned,

[9:56] accelerating

[9:57] interest rates.

[9:58] But, even with all of this in mind

[9:59] , the

[10:00] stock market

[10:01] has indeed continued to

[10:02] struggle, driven by

[10:03] corporate

[10:04] profits. And

[10:05] the growth of

[10:05] corporate

[10:06] profits. So, um, we

[10:07] definitely don't expect it to

[10:09] last on these

[10:10] bubbles. Hmm, we

[10:12] expect a

[10:13] slowdown in

[10:14] 2027, hmm, but we

[10:16] don't expect any

[10:18] recession at all. Hmm, and we've

[10:19] talked about this

[10:20] before, you know, when

[10:22] corporate

[10:23] earnings growth is positive,

[10:24] we haven't seen a recession

[10:25] in this country. Hmm, so,

[10:26] um, that's a good sign

[10:27] that, you know, we

[10:28] can weather the storm

[10:30] if there's

[10:31] some kind of

[10:32] mid-cycle slowdown, as they

[10:33] call it, in

[10:35] 2027. Good. So yeah, that's pretty much where

[10:36] we

[10:37] are.

[10:41] Look at

[10:42] any comments.

[10:43] Any questions or

[10:45] comments?

[10:47] Thank you. I propose

[10:52] to adopt the financial

[10:54] report.

[10:55] I support.

[10:56] Perfectly. We can

[10:57] vote to

[10:58] accept the

[10:58] financial report

[10:59] on behalf of all our

[11:00] friends at Horizon. All "for

[11:02] "?

[11:02] Yes.

[11:02] No objections,

[11:03] accepted. Thank you very much.

[11:05] Thank you for

[11:06] voting "yes". Happy

[11:09] New Year. We have a

[11:15] guest today.

[11:16] You know, the

[11:17] registration office. You have a word

[11:19] . How can we

[11:20] help you?

[11:21] Thank you. Well, I have

[11:22] something to

[11:23] show and

[11:24] tell. Um, and when

[11:26] I come in and notice

[11:27] these big fences

[11:28] around

[11:29] the lawnmower, is that

[11:30] temporary or

[11:31] permanent?

[11:33] This is temporary.

[11:35] Good. Are the swans here?

[11:38] Yes, yes, they are

[11:39] there now.

[11:40] Okay, and I had to lift the

[11:42] , uh, bench in front.

[11:45] Yes, thank you. Em. Do you

[11:48] mind if I

[11:49] stand up?

[11:49] Of course.

[11:50] So, my mother

[11:51] is buried right there.

[11:53] Em. We buried her in

[11:55] 1972. I was 19

[11:57] years old. I just

[11:58] turned 74. Um.

[12:00] Women are not allowed

[12:00] to tell their age,

[12:01] but I refused to do

[12:02] that. Yes, I still do it

[12:03] . I'm just

[12:05] glad to be alive,

[12:06] okay? So, uh, this is a

[12:08] photo of my

[12:09] mother. She died

[12:11] at the age of 51. Thank you very much. Uh

[12:14] , she, uh. You know,

[12:16] everyone smoked back then. And at the

[12:19] old

[12:19] St. Anthony's Hospital,

[12:20] nuns would bring in

[12:22] boxes of cigarettes

[12:23] after breast cancer surgery

[12:24] . I

[12:25] remember

[12:26] thinking as a child,

[12:28] "Get out of here!"

[12:29] But that's what made her perfect.

[12:32] The doctor gave her 2 weeks to

[12:34] live, and she walked for 10

[12:35] years. I just want to

[12:38] show you her

[12:39] picture. She was

[12:40] very helpful to

[12:41] our community. She,

[12:43] along with four

[12:44] other women,

[12:45] founded what

[12:46] is now the Westmont Art Center

[12:47] . There were

[12:50] all women

[12:50] doing summer

[12:51] theater, and then they

[12:52] moved it to another

[12:54] location on A Street, and

[12:55] then Westmont

[12:56] bought it again and started it

[12:57] . So I'm very proud of

[12:59] her help to this

[13:00] community. If you don't

[13:02] mind, I can

[13:03] show you this

[13:04] photo.

[13:05] Donald, could you

[13:06] take this, if you don't

[13:07] mind, little one?

[13:08] We can.

[13:09] Okay, thank you.

[13:10] Yes, and when...When

[13:11] they held her

[13:12] funeral, people loved

[13:14] my mother. I

[13:15] could never understand her as a

[13:16] child. They

[13:17] just came and

[13:18] talked

[13:19] to her all the time, asking her for

[13:20] advice. She was

[13:21] classically beautiful.

[13:22] My brother, who is

[13:23] older than me and is

[13:24] now also in

[13:24] heaven, he looked like

[13:25] her. I was

[13:26] more like

[13:27] my dad, who

[13:28] I'll talk about in a minute

[13:29] . So, um...

[13:30] Anyway, I

[13:31] made a living doing

[13:32] radio and

[13:33] television, so

[13:34] if you can

[13:34] tell me to

[13:35] shut up, if I'm

[13:36] late, I'll try to

[13:37] say it quickly. So

[13:38] my mother, um, she

[13:40] lived here for, um, 10 years,

[13:41] and we came here, I

[13:43] think they just

[13:44] made it your

[13:45] Michigan City. It

[13:47] was privately

[13:48] owned and then

[13:49] became part of

[13:50] Michigan City. Um, so for

[13:51] years I talked to

[13:53] my mom like this, and I went back and forth

[13:54] to New

[13:55] York when I was born

[13:56] , um, to go to

[13:58] graduate school, and the

[13:59] previous husband

[14:00] who was here for years,

[14:01] who was your, um,

[14:02] he was a

[14:04] Vietnam veteran,

[14:05] you know who I'm

[14:06] talking about, your

[14:07] principal. One day

[14:08] he came out with

[14:09] me and said, “Don,

[14:10] you’re talking to

[14:11] your mother’s feet.

[14:12] Her head is over there." So

[14:16] I had to

[14:17] learn a lot, but, uh

[14:18] , when she died,

[14:20] uh, she was at

[14:21] Our Tavern, and

[14:22] then we went down

[14:23] Franklin Street and all the way

[14:25] here to Notre

[14:26] Dame Parish, and people thought

[14:27] she was some kind of saint or

[14:29] something. There were 2,000

[14:32] cars there. Well, I

[14:35] mean, following

[14:36] my mother and me

[14:38] , uh, that always

[14:39] amazed me. She was

[14:42] very modest, you know

[14:43] . I don't know, there's

[14:44] something about it. I called

[14:46] her the local guru in

[14:47] our community. Uh, I'm

[14:50] trying to

[14:51] show you these

[14:52] photos first, and, uh, this

[14:54] was when she was, uh,

[14:56] 21 years old, living in New

[14:57] York. My father was

[14:59] her first, uh,

[15:00] sales manager

[15:02] at Barnes & Noble. Mr. Barnes and

[15:03] Mr. Noble were in my

[15:04] house in Long Beach, where

[15:06] I live among

[15:06] millionaires that

[15:08] I'm not one of, and, uh,

[15:09] they bought this

[15:10] house in 1961

[15:11] when, uh, Mr. Barnes and

[15:12] Mr. Noble asked

[15:13] my father

[15:14] to move to the

[15:14] midwest

[15:16] so he could

[15:17] hire all the

[15:17] salespeople.

[15:20] $13,000 and 66 cents,

[15:21] a handshake, a piece of

[15:23] paper, and I asked

[15:25] him if he was, uh, the

[15:26] local treasurer. What

[15:28] was that 66 cents?

[15:30] They said, "A nice

[15:32] tropical family."

[15:33] Donna, how much property tax do you pay here

[15:35] ?

[15:36] I can, if I can

[15:37] think of one, almost

[15:38] $5,000.

[15:39] Well, 66 cents was the

[15:40] property tax in 1961

[15:42] when your

[15:43] parents bought

[15:45] the house. So, that's

[15:46] how much it all

[15:47] changed. And I

[15:48] watched what

[15:49] you did here. I

[15:50] mean, it's

[15:51] amazing. And I give

[15:52] you all the credit. I

[15:53] try to watch

[15:54] your board of

[15:55] directors meetings whenever

[15:56] possible. But right now I'm

[15:58] just humbly

[15:59] asking you about the

[15:59] swans I've

[16:00] talked to for years.

[16:02] At least once a

[16:02] week I would walk

[16:03] by, wave to them

[16:04] and talk, and they would

[16:05] swim up and call out to

[16:07] me, "Hey, hey, hey." So

[16:08] I was very sad

[16:09] when they died.

[16:10] So thank you for

[16:11] sharing this. Um...

[16:13] This is my father, a

[16:14] veteran of

[16:15] World War II. He

[16:18] equipped

[16:19] the bombers.

[16:21] He swam across the ocean.

[16:24] He was an officer with 2,000

[16:25] men under a

[16:26] ship in waves

[16:27] that were like this and

[16:28] almost capsized the

[16:29] ship. They

[16:31] landed at the Cape of

[16:32] Good Hope in Africa

[16:34] and were almost

[16:34] shot down. They

[16:36] got on a train and

[16:37] went to India, and

[16:38] then climbed to the

[16:39] top of the Himalayas, where

[16:40] his whole group

[16:41] equipped the

[16:41] bombers

[16:43] that were to arrive,

[16:44] our American

[16:45] bombers and

[16:46] English

[16:47] bombers.

[16:48] He equipped them, and

[16:49] they flew to bomb the

[16:51] Nazis. And I'm

[16:52] part German, so

[16:54] you know...But that's what

[16:55] he did. And

[16:57] then he worked at

[16:58] Barnes&Noble all these years.

[17:00] He was in

[17:01] Los Angeles for a while, then he

[17:02] passed out, and I

[17:02] brought him back here.

[17:03] He died in 2012.

[17:06] He was my

[17:06] best friend because he

[17:07] took

[17:08] my mother's place after she died

[17:09] . This is a photo of him and me

[17:10] . I

[17:11] put it on

[17:12] my radio and

[17:13] TV show, which was broadcast in

[17:14] Chicago. This is my father.

[17:17] And this is an article they

[17:18] wrote in the Chicago Tribune

[17:20] when I had a

[17:21] talk show here called

[17:22] Talk of the Town in

[17:23] Michigan City. You

[17:25] may remember him

[17:27] on WBBM, and that's my dad,

[17:28] okay? So, the

[17:31] poor guy we

[17:32] filmed. It was a great

[17:33] steakhouse in Chicago, and

[17:35] he couldn't eat it

[17:36] . He had to get

[17:38] on a plane after filming.

[17:40] But you would

[17:41] like him. He loved

[17:42] Michigan City, and, uh, I'd

[17:44] like to bury

[17:45] him here. I cremated

[17:46] him according to his wishes

[17:48] . Uh, he's a veteran,

[17:49] so the veterans

[17:50] will pay for the

[17:52] plaque. But I was

[17:54] told it costs

[17:55] about $5,000 to

[17:56] dig up the place and

[17:58] put up a plaque, dusting it

[17:59] ,

[18:00] so that's one of the things

[18:01] I'd like to

[18:02] ask you about. You don't

[18:04] have to answer

[18:05] this right now, but

[18:06] maybe someone could

[18:07] contact me, because

[18:08] this is one of the things I

[18:09] need to do. Um, and he,

[18:12] uh, also received

[18:13] awards for his

[18:14] service in

[18:15] World War II, as did

[18:17] many of our people in

[18:18] Michigan City. Um, and

[18:21] finally, uh, I have

[18:23] pets. I

[18:26] tried to get married three times

[18:27] . The first

[18:28] person cheated on me

[18:29] before our wedding.

[18:31] The second was

[18:31] manic-

[18:32] depressive and attacked

[18:33] me before

[18:34] the wedding, and the third

[18:35] was an alcoholic,

[18:36] so I didn't get

[18:37] married. If you've

[18:39] ever seen the movie "

[18:40] Runaway Bride,"

[18:41] it's about me, because I

[18:42] went from here to

[18:42] Hollywood. I acted for

[18:44] years, and then I

[18:44] went back to New

[18:45] York

[18:46] University and

[18:47] did a movie.

[18:48] Sister Eileen was

[18:49] voted one of the

[18:50] top 10 films of

[18:51] the year, and then when I

[18:52] retired, I

[18:53] moved back to my

[18:54] beloved Michigan

[18:55] City. Okay, I love

[18:56] this city. So, I'm still

[18:57] working. I just got

[18:59] hired as an

[19:01] investigative reporter at the Hoosier

[19:02] Enquirer. You can call

[19:04] me Madam President.

[19:05] I'm the president of

[19:06] the board, okay? And I

[19:07] try to keep a

[19:08] sense of humor, but

[19:10] I have cats. And many

[19:12] of us, members of my

[19:14] tribe, feed cats

[19:15] throughout the forest. We

[19:18] castrate them in Freeze and are

[19:19] told to catch and

[19:20] release. So,

[19:23] we have a tribe that

[19:24] goes outside 365

[19:26] days a year. If it's

[19:27] a blizzard, we feed the

[19:29] cats. But you

[19:30] were going, I know, at the

[19:31] last meeting

[19:32] I was at, and I'm always

[19:33] wrong, so

[19:34] please tell me to

[19:35] shut up. I won't be

[19:36] offended. But you

[19:37] were going to set up a

[19:39] pet cemetery here. You

[19:40] thought about it. I didn't

[19:41] see it there. So,

[19:45] I'm asking someone to

[19:46] contact me about

[19:47] this, because I

[19:48] buried all of my

[19:49] animals, cats and dogs,

[19:51] in little

[19:52] doggy bags in the

[19:53] backyard. And all my friends

[19:57] asked me about

[19:58] this reasoning of yours. And

[20:01] I know there are

[20:02] pet cemeteries, I

[20:03] think, in Maryville

[20:05] and other places, but there are

[20:06] so many people who would

[20:07] contribute

[20:09] to Swan Creek and

[20:09] help you

[20:11] organize it. Because

[20:12] , you know, we love

[20:13] our animals. And what do you

[20:15] do with them? You know, it's

[20:17] so hard to

[20:18] let them go. They are

[20:19] your children. And in my

[20:21] case, that was definitely the

[20:22] case. I have three

[20:23] , uh, rescued

[20:24] cats right now, and they're all

[20:25] male, and

[20:27] they all sit together

[20:28] . They're like best

[20:29] friends, okay? You know,

[20:32] I just...And I feed them

[20:34] ...Please

[20:35] block this. You're

[20:37] really good at this

[20:38] , but, uh

[20:39] , there's a whole tribe of cats that

[20:41] we've been neutered, and

[20:42] Freeze helped us with

[20:43] that. Local

[20:44] veterinarians helped

[20:45] us. And then they

[20:46] said "catch and

[20:48] release" at one

[20:53] of the big, uh, places

[20:54] next to Wendy's in the woods.

[20:58] So we feed them.

[20:59] We have a group of people who

[21:01] feed them

[21:01] 24/7, er,

[21:02] at least once a day

[21:04] in all weathers.

[21:05] They are happy. They were

[21:07] neutered and

[21:08] released, but,

[21:09] you know,

[21:10] someone threw a beer

[21:11] can at one of them on the playground

[21:12] behind these, and one of

[21:14] them went to mess with the

[21:15] beer and cut off his

[21:16] tongue. And it actually

[21:18] killed the cat, and

[21:19] we had to put him to

[21:20] sleep. So we are very

[21:21] careful. But, you know,

[21:23] where do we hide the cat? What are

[21:24] we doing? Some people

[21:26] just throw them in the

[21:27] trash. This is

[21:28] terrible. So,

[21:29] anyway, thank you for

[21:31] listening to me. I

[21:33] would like to help

[21:34] you, by the way, in any way I can,

[21:36] because I have a good job right now

[21:37] , uh, I'm

[21:38] broadcasting from Fuji and Kwai.

[21:40] Write it down and

[21:41] check it. Uh, we're going to

[21:42] go all over the

[21:43] country under

[21:45] my leadership. Uh

[21:46] , I worked at WNIT for 13

[21:48] years. I have a

[21:49] radio show about Michigan

[21:51] that goes

[21:51] nationwide. I can

[21:52] help you in

[21:53] any way, uh,

[21:54] spread the word

[21:55] or help you

[21:56] find things, whatever you

[21:57] need to

[21:58] do. And, uh, I

[21:59] was listening to what you said

[22:00] about the green, uh,

[22:06] Islamic

[22:07] funeral garden.

[22:09] You know, this is a really

[22:10] great thing. Because

[22:12] true Islamists

[22:13] are Sharia, wonderful

[22:14] people. And, um, being a

[22:16] Catholic his whole

[22:17] life, Father Joel,

[22:18] if anyone knew him,

[22:19] he was a wonderful

[22:20] priest at

[22:22] St. Anne's Church and a

[22:23] lawyer. And it

[22:24] has united us all from

[22:25] all religions at different

[22:26] times. And I was in their

[22:28] mosque. They are just

[22:29] wonderful people. They

[22:30] get a short

[22:32] fate. So I'm

[22:33] done. I'll leave

[22:34] you alone, but

[22:35] please take care

[22:36] of these swans. I'll

[22:37] pass by and

[22:38] honk at them. They were

[22:39] yelling at me when

[22:41] I came here, and I

[22:42] just parked my

[22:43] car nearby and

[22:44] talked to them from

[22:45] my car. So

[22:47] I'm just, um, really

[22:48] sad that they're cats,

[22:50] but things

[22:51] happen, and, um,

[22:52] thanks for listening.

[22:54] You are very kind. I love the

[22:55] work you do

[22:57] for all the people who don't

[22:58] realize what it

[22:59] takes to

[22:59] keep this going. And I

[23:00] brought sandwiches

[23:02] and other things to your

[23:03] team at various times.

[23:04] Me, I tried

[23:05] to help when I could. I

[23:07] packed up my stuff in the yard and,

[23:09] you know, I...I've actually

[23:11] been coming here since

[23:13] 1972. So, uh, I'll

[23:15] come, you know, help in any

[23:16] way I can

[23:17] , and if you

[23:19] need my

[23:20] help,

[23:20] call me. You are

[23:21] all wonderful.

[23:23] Thank you very much. Thank you. You are

[23:24] wonderful. Thank you for

[23:25] filming this.

[23:26] Please. Donna, we're

[23:28] going to

[23:28] address the

[23:29] scattered area

[23:30] in the cemetery.

[23:31] Yes, yes, yes.

[23:32] We are going to

[23:33] move forward

[23:34] as quickly as possible, but

[23:35] it won't be fast.

[23:36] Well, I understand, and I'll tell

[23:38] you, there

[23:39] are a whole bunch of

[23:40] people in my tribe who will help

[23:41] you with that. If you

[23:42] need money for this

[23:43] or if you need

[23:44] any help,

[23:45] you know, I know you've got

[23:47] volunteers out here, right? It's

[23:48] like something happened to one of us

[23:50] or

[23:51] something. Is that right

[23:53] ?

[23:53] Hmm.

[23:54] Otherwise, I could

[23:55] find a lot of people to

[23:57] help you,

[23:58] but, um, there are definitely a bunch of

[23:59] animal lovers who

[24:01] can help you with this,

[24:02] okay? So,

[24:03] anyway, thank you for

[24:05] listening. Who will tell

[24:06] me to shut up?

[24:07] No one.

[24:10] Well, thank you and Andy,

[24:12] thank you for filming, and

[24:13] God bless you.

[24:15] Thank you. See you later.

[24:16] Thank you. And the bills

[24:21] presented for payment

[24:23] are the next item. Are there

[24:53] any

[24:54] problems here? No. Good.

[25:00] Maybe it's just how things

[25:02] turned out, to be

[25:03] honest...how things

[25:04] turned out.

[25:04] Yes, maybe that's how it

[25:06] turned out.

[25:06] Thank you.

[25:07] We received it the day we

[25:08] received it yesterday.

[25:09] Good.

[25:10] Oh, that was yesterday.

[25:12] Yes, of course.

[25:13] I was just

[25:14] curious. Thank you. First thing

[25:16] about Cintas?

[25:18] Uh, this is our

[25:20] uniform manufacturing company that

[25:21] supplies uniforms,

[25:22] carpets.

[25:23] So they wore the

[25:24] state uniform

[25:25] last month.

[25:27] We are going to

[25:27] leave them until

[25:28] mid-November,

[25:29] until

[25:30] our

[25:31] contract expires, and then

[25:32] it is

[25:32] renewed, because we

[25:33] are using that

[25:34] money to pay

[25:35] the exterminator for

[25:37] next year's pest control. And I

[25:38] will announce things.

[25:39] Good. Thank you. And Ricks

[25:42] Outdoor Power, which was...

[25:43] It's mostly our

[25:44] ... It was a bad

[25:45] month, a bad few

[25:46] months for our

[25:47] equipment, and a lot of

[25:48] our lawn mowers

[25:50] broke down, and at

[25:51] one point three of

[25:52] our four, uh,

[25:53] lawn mowers in

[25:54] Greenwood broke down

[25:55] , so we

[25:55] spent a lot of

[25:56] money fixing those

[25:57] lawn mowers.

[25:58] Repair of lawn mowers

[26:00] .

[26:00] Yes.

[26:00] Thank you. I propose to

[26:11] adopt the

[26:12] cemetery payment register.

[26:14] Is there a second offer?

[26:17] I support.

[26:18] Perfectly. We both

[26:19] accepted bills

[26:20] presented for payment

[26:22] . Everyone "in favor"?

[26:22] Yes.

[26:23] Without objection,

[26:24] the proposal was accepted.

[26:25] We also move on

[26:26] to the chief's report.

[26:28] Okay, let's start with

[26:29] the statistics for the

[26:30] past month.

[26:31] Last month was

[26:32] very slow, although it didn't

[26:33] seem like it

[26:35] was, considering all the

[26:36] renovations and

[26:37] staffing issues. We

[26:40] had three

[26:41] swan burials in Greenwood last month. Uh

[26:43] , not a single full one,

[26:44] not a single two-minute one,

[26:45] a total of three

[26:46] swan burials. In

[26:48] Swan Lake,

[26:49] we had seven burials

[26:51] , three complete burials,

[26:52] 10 in total, 13 in total.

[26:54] That's how we compare

[26:55] burial methods. Uh-huh.

[26:58] And then, here's how we

[27:00] compare year-over-

[27:01] year. One of the

[27:03] slowest

[27:04] months in a

[27:05] while, so...

[27:06] Okay.

[27:08] Uh, next, off the top of my

[27:09] head, obviously, uh,

[27:10] we discussed this

[27:11] before, the

[27:13] swan donation. Uh, we

[27:14] got our pair of

[27:15] new swans, and I'd

[27:17] like to thank,

[27:18] uh, Chris from

[27:19] Grant's Swan Farm. Uh, once again

[27:22] ,

[27:22] oh.

[27:23] He donated them, uh

[27:24] , for free to

[27:26] us. Originally, he was

[27:27] planning, uh, that he

[27:28] was going to give

[27:29] us a pair of swans, a

[27:30] male and a female, but

[27:31] his breeding didn't

[27:32] work out that way. So

[27:33] he ended up with, uh,

[27:34] extra males, so he

[27:35] assured me that they were brother swans

[27:36] , so

[27:37] he should say

[27:38] that we shouldn't

[27:39] have any

[27:39] territorial

[27:41] problems if one of

[27:42] them tries to

[27:42] chase the other away, like you would

[27:43] if you

[27:44] put two,

[27:45] uh, strangers together. So right

[27:46] now they're still, uh,

[27:48] young. That's why they have

[27:50] gray feathers, but

[27:51] eventually they will shed their

[27:52] gray feathers and become

[27:53] white swans. They

[27:54] seem quite

[27:55] happy.

[27:56] They were very

[27:57] timid at first, but, uh,

[27:58] they're getting back to

[27:59] normal. They are not so

[28:01] scared and we can

[28:02] feed them and so on. The

[28:03] reason we

[28:04] have the fence there is

[28:05] just so

[28:05] it lasts

[28:06] until they get

[28:07] acclimated to the

[28:08] environment here. It's

[28:09] pretty noisy on the highway, which

[28:10] might scare them

[28:11] at first, so we

[28:12] just didn't want to

[28:13] wander down the highway or

[28:15] wander into the woods with them

[28:16] where they'd get eaten by a coyote or

[28:17] something. It was

[28:18] nice to have the fence

[28:19] because we didn't have to

[28:20] worry about them on the

[28:21] weekends. Uh, I

[28:22] come every

[28:23] weekend and feed them. Uh

[28:25] , it's nice, no...

[28:27] nice to know that

[28:28] if I'm not here

[28:29] this weekend, they won't

[28:30] be killed by coyotes. Uh,

[28:36] then I thought of a

[28:37] green

[28:39] funeral card. Uh, Larry

[28:40] and Ted, who were behind the

[28:42] green

[28:43] burial movement, uh, they

[28:44] brought it up a few

[28:45] days ago, and they

[28:46] suggested, and I

[28:47] think it's a good

[28:49] idea that we have

[28:51] materials at the front desk for

[28:52] them to just

[28:53] inform

[28:54] the public that it's an

[28:55] option. This winter, we'll

[28:57] be working

[28:58] on our website again,

[29:00] which is linked to the

[29:01] city's website, and we'll

[29:02] try to put

[29:03] this information there

[29:04] so that more people

[29:05] know that green

[29:06] burial is now an

[29:08] option. Uh, so I

[29:09] appreciate their efforts, and

[29:11] I gave a copy of this to

[29:12] everyone. If you have

[29:13] any suggestions, you

[29:14] can add them to the

[29:15] plan.

[29:16] Very good.

[29:17] I have a question. Yes. At

[29:20] the bottom of the first

[29:21] page, it talks about

[29:22] using a

[29:23] perforated

[29:24] pentagonal

[29:24] vaulted

[29:25] dome, and I didn't think

[29:26] we would be able to

[29:27] get this

[29:28] concrete dome in a

[29:29] perforated

[29:34] design. You know,

[29:36] we remember

[29:38] talking about this.

[29:40] Yes.

[29:42] And that would be

[29:42] wrong.

[29:44] Right. We could

[29:45] change that.

[29:46] You know, when I was

[29:47] talking, I wrote

[29:48] Ted an

[29:49] email about it. I said I didn't

[29:50] understand because

[29:51] I thought we couldn't do

[29:53] it. So I would like to

[29:55] ask you

[29:56] .

[29:57] Uh, I'll have to

[29:58] talk to

[29:59] Scott, who

[30:00] oversees most of the

[30:01] storage here. I

[30:02] mean, we've

[30:03] talked about this

[30:04] before, not

[30:05] necessarily

[30:06] something pre-

[30:07] built like this

[30:08] , but something

[30:09] we could

[30:09] drill holes into

[30:11] later in a regular

[30:12] vault to see

[30:13] if it would work.

[30:14] You know, I wouldn't want

[30:15] it to be

[30:16] made public and then

[30:17] become

[30:17] unavailable. So you're

[30:19] going to

[30:19] talk to

[30:20] Scott to

[30:21] see if this is

[30:23] something, if it's available, if

[30:24] it's an option. If not,

[30:25] we will remove it from the

[30:27] plan.

[30:27] Thank you.

[30:29] And then, actually, Lauren

[30:30] and Chad were here a few

[30:32] weeks ago,

[30:32] looking at some of the

[30:34] areas in the

[30:35] green burial section, and

[30:36] they suggested

[30:37] maybe putting up a

[30:38] sign there that would

[30:39] just inform

[30:40] the public that this

[30:41] area is reserved

[30:43] for green burials,

[30:44] and just explain

[30:45] what green

[30:46] burials are. So, again

[30:47] , that's something we'll

[30:49] probably

[30:50] look into as well. Hmm, we'll

[30:52] probably coordinate

[30:53] the design with the new

[30:54] signs we've already

[30:56] installed here this

[30:57] year. So

[30:59] good. Thank you.

[31:00] Uh, the next item

[31:01] is the master plan

[31:02] or, excuse me,

[31:03] the memorandum of

[31:04] understanding for the

[31:05] Islamic

[31:06] burial garden. Uh, after the

[31:07] last meeting, I

[31:09] handed the document over to

[31:12] Amvrel Page, the

[31:13] city attorney.

[31:14] She proposed

[31:15] some minor

[31:16] legal changes to

[31:17] it. So, these changes

[31:18] were made. I

[31:20] gave the revised

[31:21] copy to, uh, Mr.

[31:22] Melland. Uh, he's

[31:24] submitted it to his board

[31:25] , and we're just waiting

[31:26] for the signatures, and

[31:27] then once it's

[31:28] signed, I'll

[31:29] present it to the

[31:30] board president so

[31:31] he can sign it

[31:32] and do it. Again

[31:34] , we plan to

[31:38] do this as

[31:39] soon as possible, and that

[31:39] brings us to the

[31:40] next point. Um

[31:42] , master

[31:43] planning, and, uh, I

[31:44] know at the last

[31:45] meeting I said I

[31:47] found two firms

[31:48] that specialize

[31:49] in cemetery planning and

[31:50] development. Um

[31:53] , I'm still coordinating

[31:55] the logistics of their

[31:56] presence here on Zoom.

[31:58] So, hopefully,

[31:59] at least by the

[32:00] next meeting,

[32:01] if not sooner, I

[32:02] would like to have something

[32:03] planned. If we

[32:04] can't do it

[32:06] in a meeting,

[32:06] schedule something in

[32:07] advance so that at least

[32:08] both of these firms can

[32:10] show up via Zoom and

[32:11] just explain what

[32:12] their services are, what they

[32:13] offer, and what

[32:15] price range we're

[32:16] looking at. Because, as a

[32:20] previous guest pointed out

[32:21] , there are not only

[32:22] Islamic or green

[32:23] burial grounds, there are also

[32:25] pet cemeteries,

[32:26] scattered gardens. It will be

[32:29] much easier

[32:30] to decide where we

[32:31] can place them,

[32:32] what our

[32:33] costs will be, if we

[32:34] know exactly where

[32:36] they can be placed

[32:37] on our property.

[32:38] We just don't want to

[32:39] throw away something that

[32:40] will ruin any

[32:41] future plans. Uh,

[32:43] because, as most of

[32:45] you have seen,

[32:45] the aerial photos of

[32:46] Swan

[32:48] Lake Cemetery are a really

[32:50] thoughtful design with

[32:52] circular gardens. And

[32:54] anything we add to that

[32:55] , we would like to

[32:56] keep it

[32:57] consistent.

[32:59] And I believe that

[33:00] Islamic burials

[33:01] should be a certain

[33:03] way. And that's why

[33:04] we can't

[33:06] just

[33:06] not

[33:06] place them at the

[33:07] center of what we

[33:08] already have, unfortunately. So, like

[33:10] we did with

[33:10] green burials

[33:12] , a

[33:12] little bit of special

[33:13] planning. Will

[33:14] this plan include

[33:15] any

[33:16] drainage issues that you

[33:17] should...Yes, it

[33:18] should include

[33:19] drainage. And then,

[33:20] depending on

[33:21] how big the

[33:22] garden is, we'll have to

[33:24] consider whether

[33:24] we need more

[33:26] roads, like

[33:27] asphalt paving,

[33:28] um, things like that–all of that is

[33:29] taken into account.

[33:31] Obviously, we want to

[33:32] start this as soon as possible

[33:33] because it will

[33:34] take

[33:36] some time to first

[33:36] find financing

[33:38] and then do the

[33:39] design and

[33:40] construction. This is a

[33:41] long process, so

[33:43] ...But, obviously, we have

[33:44] great aspirations.

[33:46] We have a lot of land here

[33:47] for development and

[33:48] a lot of new

[33:49] burial methods that could be

[33:51] used here,

[33:52] so we want to get

[33:52] started.

[33:53] Good. Uh

[33:55] , yes.

[33:56] I'll make a mark.

[33:57] A note that, uh,

[33:58] a lot of people don't

[33:59] know what a

[34:00] memorandum of

[34:01] understanding is. Er

[34:02] , a memorandum of

[34:03] understanding. Yes. Uh

[34:05] ,

[34:06] great. Uh, the

[34:08] next point

[34:09] I had was,

[34:10] uh, I said we

[34:11] purchased a new

[34:12] truck here

[34:13] earlier this year and

[34:15] the plan was to

[34:16] equip it with a

[34:17] snow blower. That's

[34:18] why we bought such a

[34:19] bigger truck. Uh

[34:21] , I waited until the end of the

[34:22] year to

[34:23] make sure

[34:24] we didn't have any

[34:25] unexpected, uh,

[34:26] expenses like the

[34:27] cost of the furnace. So

[34:28] hopefully we can get

[34:29] this done

[34:30] within the year so we

[34:31] can spend that

[34:32] money on what was

[34:33] planned, uh,

[34:34] snowplow. So,

[34:36] I received two price

[34:37] quotes, as

[34:38] required by city

[34:39] ordinance. The first one

[34:44] came from Rigg's Outdoor

[34:45] Power Equipment, and it's

[34:47] for a complete

[34:48] installation of, uh, the

[34:49] side of the truck, the

[34:51] dump, and that's going to be

[34:52] $8,730. And the second

[34:54] price quote

[34:55] was received from W.A.

[34:57] Jones Equipment, and it

[34:58] will cost

[35:00] $8,870. Uh, we

[35:05] have

[35:06] about $8,900 in the expansion fund right now in this article,

[35:07] so it's barely there,

[35:09] but, uh. So, I'm asking

[35:12] that we select

[35:13] the lowest and

[35:14] most responsible

[35:15] bidder or a

[35:16] price quote,

[35:18] let's say a price

[35:19] quote, or

[35:20] $8,730 for Rigg's Outdoor

[35:21] Power Equipment.

[35:24] Second. Ya.

[35:26] Oh, come on. I suggest

[35:29] accepting.

[35:30] I was going to ask this,

[35:32] but is

[35:32] the warranty the same for

[35:33] both?

[35:34] Uh, yes, these are different

[35:35] manufacturers. Rigg's will be the

[35:37] Western plow, and W.A. Jones-

[35:39] plow Boss. But, almost

[35:40] ... Are

[35:41] you dealing with

[35:42] Rigg's?

[35:42] Yes, quite a lot.

[35:44] Yes. Good.

[35:46] You have a good relationship.

[35:47] Yes.

[35:49] I propose to accept,

[35:51] uh, on the recommendation

[35:52] of the boss, we

[35:53] will accept a price

[35:54] quote from Rigg's

[35:56] Outdoor Power Equipment for a

[35:57] snow blower

[35:58] .

[36:00] I will support.

[36:01] Perfectly. We can

[36:03] vote.

[36:04] to

[36:04] approve the

[36:05] purchase of

[36:07] Rigg's Outdoor

[36:08] Power Equipment snow removal equipment for

[36:09] $8,730. Everyone "in favor"?

[36:11] 1.

[36:11] Are there any objections?

[36:13] Good. We can

[36:15] continue.

[36:15] And finally, obviously,

[36:17] we're putting up all the

[36:18] new signage, and the plan was to

[36:20] paint those, um,

[36:21] sign posts, so

[36:22] we started doing that.

[36:24] We've almost completed

[36:25] Greenwood, and then once

[36:25] that's

[36:26] installed, um, we'll

[36:27] start here on Swan Lake

[36:29] and hopefully

[36:30] paint it all. I think

[36:31] it looks 100%

[36:32] better than

[36:33] raw wood

[36:34] with paint. Therefore. Uh, and

[36:37] one more thing I did

[36:39] n't include here. I

[36:40] just mentioned the

[36:41] fall cleanup that

[36:43] both cemeteries

[36:44] will start on

[36:45] August 15th and, sorry,

[36:47] October 15th, and it

[36:47] will last for one

[36:49] week. So we're

[36:50] just asking everyone

[36:51] to remove everything they have

[36:53] there. After the 15th, if

[36:55] it's approved,

[36:56] sorry, after the week of

[36:58] the 15th, after

[36:59] everything is cleaned up and

[37:00] everything is tidied up, they

[37:02] can have

[37:03] their decorations back.

[37:07] But we are simply

[37:08] reminding

[37:09] visitors to

[37:09] Swan

[37:11] Lake Cemetery that on November 15th,

[37:12] you should

[37:13] turn the vases over and

[37:14] put them back on their

[37:15] marks so they don't get

[37:17] waterlogged and

[37:18] crack. And then,

[37:25] around October 15th,

[37:26] we'll turn off the water in

[37:27] Greenwood for a year to keep the

[37:29] pipes from freezing.

[37:31] So, I think that's

[37:33] all I can say

[37:34] .

[37:41] I propose to accept the

[37:42] chief's report.

[37:45] I support this.

[37:46] Perfectly. Um, we're

[37:48] going to

[37:49] vote. All are in favor of

[37:50] accepting the

[37:51] chief's report without changes.

[37:53] All in favor?

[37:54] Yes. Are there

[37:55] any objections?

[37:56] Also accepted. We

[37:58] are moving to an

[37:59] open forum.

[38:03] What happened to the

[38:03] water situation in

[38:05] Greenwood? And with

[38:08] which one?

[38:09] You know we

[38:10] shared water with the

[38:13] "Oh, yeah" section.

[38:15] We still share

[38:16] water. It seems like

[38:17] not

[38:18] many people

[38:19] are using water there right now,

[38:20] but this is what happened: we

[38:21] begged them

[38:22] to fix the lines because

[38:23] they were on their

[38:24] property and they

[38:25] hit them, but

[38:27] we couldn't

[38:28] solve anything. So

[38:30] Dave, the foreman from

[38:31] Greenwood, and I went

[38:32] there and ended up

[38:33] fixing it ourselves. So

[38:35] we managed to

[38:36] get the water back on in

[38:37] Greenwood. But again

[38:40] , without any...We

[38:42] looked at all the

[38:43] Greenwood maps or

[38:44] resource maps here.

[38:46] We can't find

[38:47] any maps that

[38:48] show where

[38:48] these

[38:49] water lines are, and

[38:50] there are kilometers,

[38:51] probably kilometers, of

[38:52] water lines.

[38:53] There are so many

[38:54] poles, probably

[38:55] hundreds of poles there in

[38:56] Greenwood.

[38:57] Ahem.

[38:59] So, not knowing exactly

[39:01] where they enter the, uh,

[39:02] Jewish part

[39:03] there.

[39:05] Ahem.

[39:06] Without knowing where they

[39:07] enter and exit,

[39:08] um, we would have to

[39:09] dig all this up to

[39:11] shut down this

[39:11] service. So,

[39:14] at this point, it's

[39:15] simply cheaper

[39:16] to provide them with services

[39:17] than to

[39:18] spend money

[39:19] digging all

[39:20] this up to shut

[39:21] it down. Therefore.

[39:22] Thanks for fixing

[39:23] that.

[39:30] Good. Um, I don't know

[39:31] if we've had any

[39:32] updates on the, uh,

[39:34] ordinance that we're

[39:35] trying to pass

[39:36] , or the changes to the

[39:37] ordinance regarding...

[39:38] I stopped

[39:40] by the mayor's office today, and the young

[39:41] woman at the, uh, front desk

[39:42] said

[39:44] that they're working on

[39:45] a few people to

[39:46] get them involved. Therefore.

[39:49] And what? So is it correct

[39:51] that they can be

[39:52] outside? You see,

[39:54] we haven't adopted this

[39:55] resolution yet. It has to

[39:57] go through approval from, uh

[39:59] , the city attorney

[40:00] , and then it has to be

[40:01] voted on by the council.

[40:04] Okay, so we're still a

[40:05] long way from...

[40:07] Well, they're

[40:08] working on the

[40:09] budget right now, so that's

[40:10] kind of pushed it to the

[40:11] back burner, but I have

[40:12] Council Member Randy Adney

[40:14] and Council Member Nancy

[40:15] Boldenour

[40:16] sponsoring it. So,

[40:18] when they go through the

[40:19] budget process,

[40:20] then we

[40:21] can probably come back

[40:22] to this issue.

[40:26] And I will remember this tonight

[40:28] . Well,

[40:29] I meant...

[40:32] Well, it should be soon.

[40:37] Any other calls

[40:38] , old business?

[40:40] I don't know if this is old

[40:42] business, but I had a

[40:43] question when

[40:44] I was talking to Don and

[40:45] Kevin. Do we

[40:49] as an organization have the right

[40:50] to accept donations

[40:51] from the public?

[40:53] I would have to

[40:54] talk to the city

[40:55] attorney. I think there

[40:56] should be some kind of

[40:58] donation account where this

[40:59] money would go.

[41:00] Or at least some

[41:02] line item in our

[41:02] budget so we

[41:03] have a place where we

[41:04] can put this money

[41:05] . So I would have to

[41:07] check that out.

[41:09] Regarding

[41:10] volunteers, have

[41:11] we ever encountered any

[41:12] problems with

[41:13] this?

[41:13] Yes, no, for

[41:14] insurance reasons?

[41:15] Right. No, I

[41:16] understand that, but I wonder

[41:18] about the real money.

[41:20] If someone is so

[41:21] concerned about

[41:23] having a

[41:24] pet cemetery

[41:25] , I mean

[41:27] , who knows. Someone could

[41:29] make a huge

[41:30] donation that

[41:31] would allow this to happen,

[41:32] but there's no point in it

[41:33] .

[41:33] Of course, if someone

[41:34] wanted to make a

[41:34] huge

[41:35] donation, we would

[41:36] find a way. a

[41:37] way to accept it.

[41:38] I think this is funny,

[41:40] everyone. You hear about this

[41:42] . You know, people

[41:43] take care of their

[41:44] pets, that...

[41:45] What?

[41:46] Pet owners

[41:47] are

[41:48] pet owners. They

[41:49] consider them children.

[41:50] Of course. Oh, of course. I have it

[41:52] .

[41:53] I have

[41:54] pets. Me too.

[41:56] Me

[41:56] too. I take care of

[41:57] my feet, I take

[41:59] them to the doctor like a

[42:00] child.

[42:00] Yes.

[42:01] So I just can't

[42:03] claim it on

[42:04] my taxes. Yes,

[42:06] don't mess with

[42:07] my animals. Katie

[42:09] will be behind you. Emm. Are there

[42:14] other old cases we don't know about

[42:15] ?

[42:17] In the finance section...

[42:18] Our regulations

[42:20] talk about

[42:20] gifts. See?

[42:24] Gifts, donations.

[42:26] So this is listed in

[42:27] our resolution.

[42:29] Acceptance...Yes.

[42:32] So you can

[42:33] accept...

[42:33] We can. We can

[42:37] accept...accept

[42:38] if someone is

[42:39] watching. Yes.

[42:41] If we ever

[42:42] define the area we have

[42:44] at the

[42:45] moment...

[42:46] Yes.

[42:46] Okay then.

[42:47] Move on with

[42:49] any new

[42:49] things.

[42:56] Swans. They are here. When did

[42:59] they appear?

[43:01] Tomorrow, the 17th of last

[43:03] month, it seems.

[43:07] And when, when the fence is removed

[43:09] , do they usually

[43:10] stay? Apparently that's the

[43:14] plan, because we

[43:15] still plan to

[43:16] put the swans in

[43:17] our shelter for the winter.

[43:19] So the plan is,

[43:20] probably a couple of

[43:21] weeks before we

[43:22] have to

[43:23] take them in, we'll take down the

[43:24] fence, just to

[43:25] see if

[43:26] they try to

[43:27] get lost. Because if

[43:29] they try,

[43:30] maybe we'll just

[43:31] install it

[43:32] again in the spring for

[43:33] a while until they get

[43:34] used to it.

[43:36] It's clear that we didn't

[43:37] put up a fence

[43:38] to prohibit

[43:39] public access

[43:41] or anything like that.

[43:42] Obviously we don't

[43:43] encourage people to

[43:44] feed them, but that's not the

[43:46] purpose of the fence, but it's been

[43:47] really nice the

[43:48] last month or

[43:49] couple of weeks that they've

[43:50] been with us, having that

[43:51] fence just gave

[43:53] me peace of mind not having to

[43:54] worry about them

[43:55] at night.

[43:57] They are new to the

[43:58] area. They need to

[43:59] acclimatize to

[44:00] the area so they

[44:01] know their

[44:02] terrain and don't

[44:02] fight each other.

[44:06] Maybe, besides that,

[44:07] we can remove the

[44:08] fence when we're

[44:09] sure they're not

[44:10] just going for a walk.

[44:12] Yes. I mean, is it

[44:13] in their nature,

[44:15] their animal

[44:16] nature, to stay? I

[44:17] ... It

[44:18] 's hard to say.

[44:19] The last group

[44:20] we had, um, I think

[44:22] the first year I was

[44:23] here, they

[44:24] got lost on the highway.

[44:25] Roxanne had to

[44:26] go out there and

[44:27] chase them away. But,

[44:28] well, that was the

[44:30] fence line. I walked

[44:31] them all the way to

[44:32] the end, and I just…

[44:33] of course, I didn't hit

[44:34] them, but, I mean

[44:36] , I walked them, and

[44:37] then I actually

[44:38] turned around and

[44:39] led them back with the broom

[44:40] , hoping

[44:41] they would turn around.

[44:42] Wow. But I think

[44:44] a lot of it had to do

[44:45] with the fact that,

[44:46] according to the

[44:47] autopsy, they

[44:48] were both females. But

[44:49] they were still

[44:50] trying to find a

[44:52] nesting site during

[44:53] nesting season. So

[44:54] hopefully

[44:55] we won't

[44:56] do that with two males.

[45:01] Unless they go

[45:02] looking for a mate.

[45:03] Right.

[45:04] Yes. Is there, I

[45:06] mean, is there a

[45:06] possibility that we

[45:07] could have a permanent

[45:09] fence that would be

[45:10] something attractive?

[45:12] Well, again, I would

[45:13] consider

[45:14] getting a quote

[45:15] this year to

[45:16] see what

[45:17] comes of it.

[45:17] Especially if it

[45:18] will save you worries

[45:20] on the weekend.

[45:25] Perfectly. Something else?

[45:30] Comment from Mr.

[45:31] Mellon.

[45:32] Yes, there are actually a bunch of

[45:33] things. Hmm, Ms. Kavna is

[45:35] certainly an interesting and

[45:37] experienced woman.

[45:38] Hmm.

[45:39] But we all love

[45:41] our

[45:42] pets, but domestic

[45:43] cats, uh, kill

[45:45] an estimated 2.24

[45:46] billion birds a

[45:47] year in America. They are

[45:49] one of the

[45:49] most dangerous

[45:50] creatures affecting

[45:52] our

[45:53] bird population. So, even

[45:54] if you love cats,

[45:55] they shouldn't be

[45:56] outside. Nevertheless

[45:58] , thanks to Jeff and the

[46:02] team for

[46:03] fixing this

[46:04] water issue. This is a

[46:06] really good thing. It's

[46:09] disappointing to hear that another

[46:10] group has not fulfilled

[46:11] its responsibilities. Um,

[46:15] regarding this, uh, those of

[46:17] you who don't understand

[46:18] memorandums of

[46:19] understanding, the

[46:20] memorandum of

[46:21] understanding, it's

[46:22] technically a legally

[46:23] binding

[46:24] document, but it's

[46:25] just us, this one

[46:26] essentially says that the

[46:27] council and the mosque will

[46:29] collaborate on the

[46:30] skull. They have no

[46:33] obligations to

[46:34] anyone other than to

[46:35] work together and

[46:36] effectively. So, I

[46:39] know that, and I thank you. I

[46:41] ...I...I've

[46:41] talked to Jeff twice

[46:43] about this. I am very grateful to the council

[46:44] for being

[46:45] so open to the

[46:46] Islamic garden. It

[46:47] was very

[46:47] encouraging for

[46:48] this member of

[46:49] the public to hear

[46:50] another member of

[46:50] the public

[46:51] speak with understanding

[46:52] about Islam. Um, boy,

[46:57] I should have taken

[46:58] notes because there was a

[46:59] ton of stuff in there. Oh yeah, I

[47:00] was going to start from the

[47:01] beginning. I

[47:02] was born on a hot

[47:04] summer day, July

[47:06] 1965, in Chicago. My

[47:08] grandfather...sorry, I'm

[47:12] trying to think of

[47:13] what I...There were a lot of

[47:14] things I wanted to bring up

[47:16] . Oh,

[47:16] the most important thing is that

[47:18] you have a resolution. I didn't

[47:19] notice that you

[47:20] discussed

[47:21] an ordinance or that

[47:22] you have an ordinance

[47:23] proposed to

[47:24] expand

[47:26] your potential council members beyond the

[47:27] city limits of Mission City. I am

[47:29] ready to serve in

[47:30] this district.

[47:31] School district. I

[47:33] have some interest in

[47:34] ...I think I have things

[47:35] I could

[47:36] offer this

[47:37] council, but given

[47:39] my religion, our

[47:40] religion, you

[47:41] don't usually buy your seat

[47:42] in advance. When your

[47:44] time runs out, you are

[47:45] buried. So, we do

[47:47] n't actually have

[47:48] pre-purchased

[47:49] places in Islamic

[47:50] gardens. Um, I'm working,

[47:54] so they don't...they

[47:55] don't generally

[47:56] assign seats

[47:57] in advance. There are

[48:01] some internal things going on there now,

[48:02] but according to Islam, it

[48:03] works best

[48:04] overall. So I would like

[48:08] you to either

[48:09] consider

[48:09] wording that would

[48:10] extend this to

[48:11] men, that

[48:13] somehow someone has to be

[48:14] buried here, but

[48:15] because it's like it's

[48:16] forbidden to buy a

[48:17] place. If there was

[48:20] some other way

[48:21] to meet these

[48:22] criteria, or if there was a

[48:24] valid exception to

[48:25] this condition, because

[48:26] simply religion

[48:27] excludes what is

[48:28] required to

[48:29] join your

[48:30] council. And I think

[48:32] considering a few

[48:33] things here, helping

[48:36] someone...I think I would be

[48:37] very helpful in

[48:39] helping in two

[48:40] ways.

[48:41] Helping

[48:41] to advance this

[48:42] master

[48:43] planning. I am very

[48:44] inclined towards

[48:45] construction or

[48:46] real estate. I

[48:47] also have, to be honest

[48:48] , extremely

[48:50] high financial

[48:51] acumen.

[48:52] Hmm.

[48:54] I just...And it

[48:55] hurts me to hear your

[48:56] financial statements.

[48:59] It hurts. I understand that

[49:02] the cemetery has different

[49:03] needs than the general

[49:04] public. Um, in

[49:10] our

[49:11] conservative

[49:12] retirement account that

[49:13] I've been managing since the

[49:14] beginning of the year, we've

[49:15] grown a little less

[49:17] than 13% year-to-date

[49:18] in a

[49:18] conservative

[49:19] long-term

[49:20] retirement account,

[49:22] which, by the way, throws out

[49:23] over 5% dividend

[49:24] yield. So, it

[49:26] throws away a lot of

[49:27] money, and it

[49:28] grows. So I

[49:30] think given

[49:32] the terms that

[49:33] cemeteries have, which

[49:34] are effectively perpetual,

[49:35] if your law, if

[49:36] the law requires you to

[49:38] have very

[49:39] conservative

[49:40] investments, of course, but if

[49:41] you're forced to be

[49:42] completely in

[49:43] bonds, you're almost

[49:44] forced to lose

[49:46] money over time. If you

[49:48] don't get a lot of

[49:49] winnings... Whereas

[49:51] if you had the

[49:51] right portion of

[49:52] the right things, you would

[49:54] get a much

[49:55] better return. One

[49:57] idea I have is to

[49:58] buy a

[50:00] dividend-paying growth stock fund

[50:01] for this purpose in our

[50:02] lives. Well, over time,

[50:03] interest, your

[50:04] dividends not only

[50:05] buy more shares,

[50:06] so you get

[50:07] more dividends, you

[50:09] know, you're probably all

[50:10] familiar with this. But with

[50:11] rising

[50:12] dividends, the

[50:13] yield increases over

[50:14] time depending on

[50:15] your initial

[50:16] purchase. The idea is

[50:17] that if you had

[50:18] bought this position 20

[50:19] years ago, you would

[50:20] probably be losing

[50:21] over $10,000 in

[50:22] cash per month and

[50:24] you have the initial

[50:25] investment

[50:25] multipliers. So

[50:27] I don't know how

[50:28] flexible your

[50:29] financial rules are,

[50:30] but I think with the

[50:31] right help

[50:32] you could achieve

[50:33] much better

[50:34] results, because

[50:35] money is always an

[50:36] issue in all

[50:37] municipal

[50:38] affairs. Um, I was

[50:41] disappointed with that.

[50:43] It was painful to hear his

[50:44] reports that you had

[50:45] grown by 2/10 percent

[50:47] , you know, by 0.02, 2/100

[50:48] percent. And to hear that

[50:50] you've declined since

[50:50] the beginning of the year, while

[50:52] the market has grown significantly over the past

[50:53] few years

[50:54] . So, we

[50:55] need growth

[50:56] to finance our

[50:57] activities, to

[50:58] invest capital,

[50:59] to build new gardens,

[51:00] to build roads,

[51:01] to lay drainage. It would be

[51:02] very helpful

[51:03] if we could be

[51:04] a little more

[51:04] aggressive on this

[51:05] issue. It takes time for

[51:06] it to matter

[51:07] . But I think in

[51:08] that regard, if I

[51:09] could join

[51:10] this board, I could

[51:10] help Marshall with the

[51:11] master

[51:12] planning. I think I

[51:13] have a good voice

[51:14] there, and I think I could

[51:15] offer

[51:16] some help in making sure

[51:17] we invest a little better

[51:18] to

[51:19] increase the

[51:20] money pile for the cemetery.

[51:22] Um, but if you

[51:23] can think of a

[51:24] way that a member of the

[51:25] Islamic Center

[51:26] could join the

[51:28] board, that would open up

[51:29] that opportunity for me. And

[51:30] since you have a

[51:31] resolution that

[51:32] you're working on, maybe

[51:33] some wording

[51:34] there could

[51:35] work.

[51:36] Um, can I

[51:37] answer you?

[51:38] Of course.

[51:39] Um, we are governed by

[51:40] state law

[51:41] .

[51:42] Of course.

[51:45] Indiana law

[51:46] states that you

[51:47] must own the

[51:50] cemetery plot and also

[51:51] reside in the county

[51:52] where the cemetery is located

[51:53] . So, we are

[51:57] obligated to do this. So,

[51:59] if you don't have a

[52:00] document in your

[52:02] name, this won't work.

[52:04] So sad.

[52:05] Enjoy

[52:06] your 100% profits.

[52:07] Yes. I know, but

[52:09] thank you, Caroline.

[52:10] Yes, sorry.

[52:11] Well, I mean,

[52:12] if

[52:13] I could change it.

[52:14] I could maybe

[52:15] discuss this with the

[52:16] city attorney

[52:18] to find out...I know

[52:19] what the

[52:20] residency requirements are that are

[52:21] set by

[52:22] state law

[52:24] , but, uh, I don't think it's a

[52:25] state law

[52:26] that, uh, requires that a

[52:28] member be appointed by

[52:29] the mayor. Uh, I don't think it

[52:30] says that. It's

[52:32] our city

[52:32] ordinance that

[52:33] says the mayor

[52:34] appoints all

[52:35] members. So maybe

[52:36] there's some way we

[52:38] could appoint

[52:39] one position on the board

[52:40] that would perhaps be

[52:41] appointed on the

[52:42] recommendation of,

[52:43] for example, the

[52:44] Islamic Center,

[52:45] because I think the

[52:46] Islamic section is

[52:48] really the only section

[52:49] here that is their own

[52:50] true

[52:51] section. Yes, we have a

[52:52] Jewish section.

[52:54] They own their

[52:55] property, but we do

[52:56] n't really have any

[52:57] other sections that

[52:58] really have

[52:59] religious restrictions,

[53:00] because that's the only

[53:01] place you can

[53:02] bury in that section

[53:03] . So that's exactly what I

[53:05] can discuss with you

[53:06] . Yeah, I

[53:07] mean, this is something

[53:08] we've never

[53:10] encountered before.

[53:12] And the thing is, it's a

[53:13] religious barrier

[53:14] that adds to the real

[53:16] danger...

[53:18] Mmm...

[53:19] But you know, I

[53:20] understand the laws, but I

[53:21] didn't know if you were governed

[53:23] by local, you know,

[53:24] your rules.

[53:26] We...Yes, or our decree

[53:28] says that you should be

[53:29] allocated a place in the

[53:30] cemetery.

[53:31] And that's what I

[53:32] mean, if you're

[53:32] working on a new

[53:33] expansion, who's

[53:34] eligible, maybe something

[53:35] will be done. I

[53:36] think Jeff said that's a

[53:37] really good thing, because

[53:38] let's... I appreciate

[53:39] everyone's openness,

[53:40] you know, Islam is

[53:41] one of the three major

[53:43] monotheistic

[53:43] religions of the world. Islam,

[53:44] Judaism, and Catholicism

[53:46] are what I wanted to

[53:47] add there earlier.

[53:48] Christianity, you

[53:49] mean?

[53:50] What did I say?

[53:51] Catholicism.

[53:52] Sorry. My mistake.

[53:55] I don't really like

[53:56] religion. But I'm saying it's the

[53:58] same set of

[53:59] characters. Islam and

[54:01] Christianity. My

[54:04] brother-in-law's name is Abraham.

[54:07] Mhm.

[54:08] Uh, Yahya—this is uh, John.

[54:10] OK. in

[54:11] Arabic. Um, it's the

[54:12] same set of

[54:13] characters. They

[54:14] believe that Islam

[54:15] believes in Jesus as a

[54:16] prophet. Their religion

[54:17] says that

[54:18] another came after him, and that

[54:19] was Muhammad. Um, but

[54:20] they don't rule out what

[54:21] came before it

[54:22] . Believe me. If that's

[54:23] worth anything. So it's

[54:24] one of those, it's

[54:25] one of the three great

[54:26] monotheistic

[54:27] religions. God is God. The

[54:28] Arabic word for

[54:29] God is, er,

[54:30] Allah. The same God.

[54:31] is God. So it's not

[54:33] different. This is not another

[54:35] deity. These are

[54:37] not even different prophets.

[54:38] My wife's last name is

[54:38] Mussa, which

[54:39] means Moses, and

[54:40] they are from Nazareth, which

[54:41] I thought was

[54:42] really biblical in

[54:43] that regard. So

[54:45] I thought that was

[54:45] pretty interesting. But this is

[54:47] not some fringe

[54:48] religion or something that

[54:48] we should

[54:49] make exceptions for. It is

[54:50] one of the three

[54:51] largest world

[54:52] religions, and by some

[54:53] arguments, it is the

[54:54] number one most

[54:55] populous religion in the world. It's

[54:56] one or two. Hmm, so it's

[54:58] one of the

[54:58] world's largest religions,

[54:59] perhaps despite

[55:00] current claims in the

[55:01] press. Hmm, but

[55:05] certainly in this

[55:06] region it is very

[55:06] moderate, and nothing

[55:07] worldly. So I'm

[55:11] thinking about being a

[55:12] liaison...

[55:13] Yeah. or council.

[55:15] If possible, the mayor

[55:16] can appoint you

[55:17] there. Do you understand? Because that

[55:21] would...

[55:21] As I said, I have a

[55:22] lot of opportunities.

[55:23] Some of you know...

[55:25] Yes,

[55:25] you know me.

[55:26] Yes.

[55:27] I have a decent

[55:28] level of trust as a

[55:29] fairly serious and

[55:30] solid person.

[55:32] Right.

[55:32] Hmm, and I think

[55:33] you guys aren't that much of a

[55:35] people person...

[55:35] Hmm...you mean?

[55:37] Yes.

[55:38] You could do

[55:39] a lot worse than I did.

[55:40] Well, it's not that

[55:41] we don't want you,

[55:42] it's that we

[55:43] have to make it

[55:44] work.

[55:45] I understand.

[55:46] Yes.

[55:46] But this is what I...So

[55:47] if there's a way I'd

[55:48] like to

[55:49] help you, I think it would be

[55:50] mutually beneficial.

[55:51] You know,

[55:52] and I just want to

[55:52] add, this is not a

[55:53] marginal religion,

[55:54] so are we going to have to

[55:55] make exceptions for

[55:56] this group, that

[55:56] group, and this group?

[55:57] That won't happen, I don't

[55:59] think. By the way, if I

[56:00] didn't know,

[56:01] cremation is forbidden by

[56:02] Islam, so we

[56:03] can't have

[56:04] small spaces here.

[56:05] These should be

[56:06] full-size

[56:07] human burials.

[56:08] Yes. This is Islam.

[56:09] Good.

[56:10] Thank you.

[56:11] for sharing.

[56:17] Okay, is there any

[56:18] unfinished business?

[56:24] Last point.

[56:25] I propose to close the

[56:26] meeting. I propose to

[56:27] close the meeting. I

[56:30] support

[56:31] this.

[56:31] All in favor?

[56:33] Yes.

[56:34] Perfectly. Of course, but

[56:35] we don't even

[56:36] need to vote

[56:37] because you all said "

[56:38] yes."

Michigan City Board of Cemetery Trustees October 8, 2026

Transcript