Cemetery upgrade rethink

Times Contributor 

 

While reviewing draft budget figures for the coming year, Wheatland County council stopped to reconsider spending for the renovation of the Gleichen cemetery.

A previous open house had been held in the community to outline a potential plan and give potential costs; however, the process was not yet finalized.

“The community was not in favour of major repairs,” said Councillor Alice Booth. “There is not one person that I have talked to that is in support of this.”

She said the community might support some levelling and stone repair and have new graves in the cemetery adapted to the suggested plan, but they would not support the great expenditure of funds proposed. She recognized that there were problems for the current maintenance managers and it was a lot of work to maintain. She had talked to the Lions club members, who said they would not go against the majority of the community members’ wishes in this matter. 

Some families were concerned, as they have spent a considerable amount of money keeping up their family burial sites and didn’t want them damaged. There were also some families who were happy for the county’s offer, as they didn’t have the funds to repair their ancestors’ graves themselves. 

Chief Administrative Officer Alan Parkin cautioned council to consider that the standard set for Gleichen cemetery renovation may set a precedent for decision making in other cemetery improvement projects. 

There was a recent request for upgrade funding for the Rosebud cemetery.

Councillor Brenda Knight said the amount of money spent on the cemetery in Gleichen would be better spent on water improvements, and suggested an independent company could be hired for under $5,000 to do maintenance and alleviate the burden from the current volunteers.

“This is a once in 100 year plan, easy to maintain and nice to visit, but $588,000 is a lot of money. I understand that some of that money is provided. I don’t think we have all the facts yet to make a decision,” said Councillor Rex Harwood.

Jim Laslo, General Manager of Agriculture, Community and Protective Services commented on the time staff spent to develop the plan, but stated it could be revised and staff would be happy to proceed as council directed. He said that the Catholic Dioceses had not yet responded to their requested funding agreement. Along with the grant funding already in place, there were private donations for the new renovation and the affected donators would have to be contacted about any revisions. 

“It is whatever you want, we are trying to meet your need. It was put forward by the previous councillor for the area. We took the design and applied it to the area, taking into consideration cost savings for the project. We presented it to the community and council,” said Laslo, who considered modifications would be requested before final approval.

Parkin said the county does have some liability issues and responsibility to meet certain government regulations, so he asked council if they could give staff direction on the plan, perhaps with a modified approach, so both the cemetery plan and the 2014 budget estimates could move forward.

Reeve Glenn Koester said that he would like to see a partnership formed between the community and the county in regards to decisions for the cemetery.

“I suggest we try to get a community board formed in Gleichen. This would also give them some ownership in the project. If the county does this alone, it moves it to a different level,” said Koester.

Decisions on the plan and budget costs were deferred to a later council meeting.