City council has moved forward with updating its cemetery bylaw.
The proposed changes were introduced at Planning Committee last Tuesday, and was slated for three readings and passage Monday night at North Battleford city council.
Some modifications are being brought in mainly to accommodate the growing use of columbariums, which have come into wider use at cemeteries across the country since the original bylaw was enacted in 2005.
Several of the sections which have been amended deal with those items, such as defining how many urns may be placed into niches in the columbarium, what can be placed around and on the columbarium, specifications for engraving, and others.
Such things as regular hours, numbers of memorials, memorial specifications and so on are also dealt with.
An updated fee schedule is also due to come into effect. According to the bylaw draft that was presented last Tuesday, fees for residents start at $1000 for a full lot, $500 for a half-lot and $300 for a ¼ lot, and $500 for a cremation lot. For non-residents fees are $1250 for a full lot, $675 for a half-lot, $350 for a ¼ lot, and $700 for a cremation lot. For veterans and indigent people, there is no charge for plots.
City manager Jim Puffalt added that they’ve tried to narrow the fees they charge for and tried to bundle things a little bit more as well. The last major review of cemeteries fees had been in 2013; the new fees are due to take effect March 1.
