Columbarium Team Meeting

2)      Brochures – Jill reviewed the information she received by mail from Architarium and Eickhoff Columbaria. 

3)      Location - The group discussed the pros and cons of three possible locations for a columbaria at St. James: in the center courtyard; in the outdoor alcove to the right of the bronze doors at the front entrance; and to the left of the bronze doors at the front entrance where a tree now stands. While no final recommendations have yet been determined, overall the group initially preferred the courtyard location which allowed for increased security and privacy. However, if a courtyard installation is to be recommended, consideration for appropriate access (hours, sign out key?, etc. will need to be determined)

4)      Questions – to begin the planning process, we brainstormed questions that will need to be considered:

a)      What niche sizes are available from each manufacturer? What sizes are typical for commercially available urns? Debi will research these questions and report at our next meeting

b)      Does Barrington have regulations on cremains and/or columbaria installation that we will need to consider?

c)      If we install “indoors” (i.e. in the courtyard), when will niches be accessible?

d)      Determine Budget – we discussed the need to involve both Jack Zawislak (property) and George Bowen (Finance) in our discussions fairly early on. We should have an approximate budget in mind before consulting on specifics of design, number of niches, etc. As part of our budget considerations, we need to budge for both initial costs and recurring costs (faceplates, administration). A casual survey of market costs should give us a pretty good idea of the marketability of columbaria niches and local costs.

e)      What would happen to columbarium if St. James ceased to exist? Can it be moved to a different location? Can/should we have a contingency plan in place to move it to a local cemetery? (Note: all felt that this question in itself is a good argument for a stand-alone model which could be moved if absolutely necessary.)

f)       Do we want niches to be available to entire community, St. James membership only, or something in between (relatives of members for example). Our protocols will need to be documented.

g)      Documentation will also need to be developed as to rules about what can be engraved on faceplate - font size, style, # of characters

h)      What are the ongoing administrative needs - ongoing marketing, coordinating inurnments, etc.

i)       Future Expansion – the group’s initial impression is that a columbarium with 75-120 units might be a good starting point, but that we would like to include a plan for expansion.

j)       Contract for niche owners? What happens if bought and not used? Etc.

k)      Urn size – what is a “standard” urn size? We note from the marketing materials that Eickhoff uses an 8X8X8 niche size with a square urn that they supply. However, if this is the only option, we felt that an alternate vendor – like Architarium – might be preferable as they would have a larger niche size that would accommodate larger size urns. Debi will research this question and report at our next meeting.

5)      We spent a few minutes with online searches for columbaria located on church grounds in Rhode Island. Jill will make contact with some of these sites to solicit feedback on the planning and installation of these projects. Debi will also photograph the cremation garden recently installed at the North Burial Ground in Bristol.

 

In attendance:  Jill Bowen, Debi Curry, Ed & Blanche Richmond

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

 

Respectfully submitted,
Debi Curry