1999 AGN DEC 07 I26 - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

City of Colton Agenda Report Council Meeting of December 7, 1999 Page 2 designed to address the rudimentary question, "should the City of Colton be in the Cemetery business?" Staff believes the proposed agreement provides the answer to that question. The answer is no, the City does not belong in the Cemetery Business. A qualifying response to the RFP was received from InlandMemorial, Cremational and Burial Society. The response to the RFP was reviewed by staff and the City Attorney and converted into suitable legal format to be reviewed by the "evaluation team" as established by the RFP and by the Cemetery Commission. The evaluation team and the City Cemetery Commission reviewed the Agreement and both of those bodies recommended that the Agreement be forwarded to the City Council for review and recommended approval. DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: During the discussions surrounding the RFP four basic options were presented with the most viable one being to test the market (RFP). The other three options included complete divesture, continued operations with an increased investment (in order to compete in the marketplace), or to simply maintain the status quo and do nothing. The beauty of the RFP option as demonstrated by the proposed agreement is that we have the opportunity to enhance the physical features at Hermosa, improve and modernize record keeping systems at Hermosa; increase the level of service provided to the community, and to turn a historical financial drain into a modest financial gain for the City of Colton. Highlights of the Proposed Agreement ❑ Essentially, the Agreement proposes a 55 -year lease of the premises (both the developed and the undeveloped portions of the property). ❑ The Lessee pays twelve percent (12%) of the total amount of gross revenues from all services performed to the City of Colton. ❑ The Lessee shall maintain ledgers, books of account, invoices, vouchers, cancelled checks, contracts, purchase agreements and computerized inventory logs of occupied and unoccupied plots, customer complaints, employee training, inventory, and maintenance logs. u The Lessee shall assume existing pre -need obligations (the approximately $155,000 mentioned earlier in this report) in exchange for the cemetery specific assets to be listed in Attachment 1 to the Agreement. ❑ The Lessor may terminate the Agreement in the event of a material breach not cured within the parameters delineated in the Agreement. ❑ Lessor establishes the minimum prices to be charged for internment rights, merchandise and services. The minimum prices shall initially be those prices currently in effect at Hermosa. Prices charged to customers shall be established by the Lessee and shall not be less than the minimum prices established by the Lessor and must be competitive with those prices charged by other cemeteries in the trade area (the market).