Board member Kathy urged the Clay County Historical Preservation Board to broaden its focus beyond signage to include cemetery preservation and a formal inventory of archaeological, architectural and historic resources.

"One of the main reasons for me joining the Board was because of cemetery preservation," Kathy said at the Oct. 1 meeting, citing earlier commission objectives that called for an inventory of unincorporated-county buildings and cemeteries built prior to 1940. She asked why cemetery work had dropped off the board's recent agendas and requested that cemetery updates be reinstated as a standing item.

Beth, the county historic preservation staff member, agreed to "put it back on the agenda as far as cemetery updates," and told members she would circulate maps of historic properties and the county's land development code language describing the board's roles and responsibilities. Beth also said she would distribute the master site file to board members.

Kathy described field work she has done locating cemeteries and consulting death records and county GIS, and she reported removing sites from the county list where evidence was lacking. She said she had added 16 previously unregistered cemeteries to the state list but that others, including a Middleburg Catholic Church cemetery and several listed on county GIS (Rosemary Hill, Lake Geneva, Wolf Branch), lack physical evidence or church records and may need further verification or removal.

Staff discussed next steps for verification. Beth said GIS staff have GPS coordinates for some sites and would attempt to investigate two Camp Landing locations currently listed but unverified. The board discussed arranging site visits once GIS clears access and securing property-owner permission where burial sites are on private land.

Kathy said she has attended Florida Trust training and cemetery-protection workshops and plans to attend a conference next year that focuses on cemetery preservation. Beth and other members also mentioned a planned volunteer sign-up web page that staff will host for cemetery activities, and Beth said the county will issue official county email addresses to board members so public correspondence is preserved under public-records rules.

Board members also asked how historic building repairs are handled; Beth said routine projects such as courthouse roof work are monitored by the county Facilities Department and funded through the county budget, while larger rehabilitations typically rely on grants and are routed through county project lists.

The board agreed to restore cemetery updates to future agendas, pursue GIS verification and site visits for unverified cemetery listings, and coordinate volunteer recruitment through a county-hosted webpage.