Staff, council share concerns over cemetery fees
By Chris Berendt, San Mateo County Times, Calif. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
It was during a
The plot fees, previously
City staff at a budget meeting earlier this week proposed to complete the initial plan to increase to
"When we started this two years ago, it was to bring us in line with other cemeteries and not even with the average, just the minimum," said Purvis. "The trend to
The Council voted to put the
"Well we spiked in 2012 because everybody in Clinton showed up to buy a plot when they heard about the rate increase," said Public Works and Utilities director
Vreugdenhil said he was an advocate of having a flat rate,
"I say this with no hesitation: 99.5 percent of our sales are for inside personnel, whether they are or not," he commented. "I'm proposing to make it simple ...
The cemeteries are filling up, with the city expected to run out of space at Sandhill and Springvale within the next decade. City staff have previously looked into buying nearly 30 acres across from Springvale, with the cost about
The addition of a columbarium, a structure of vaults lined with recesses for the storage of urns, will go a long way toward expanding space without having to spend big dollars.
"We see the columbariums as an expansion of the cemetery," said city manger
One is already going up in Sandhill, will still some decorative work still to be done.
"My goal is to have them operational, available for sale, by the fiscal year," said Vreugdenhil. "It's possible to have 144 occupants in one, in an area smaller than this table. At
There would be no raw funeral costs such as a deed or a coffin, Purvis noted.
"The costs are so significantly less," Vreugdenhil added.
In other cemetery matters, Vreugdenhill requested that an annual request for proposals (RFP) for grave opening and closing become a standard practice, with all graves at the city cemeteries to be opened and closed by the city or its authorized contractor. That cost would be
Prompting concern, he said, was the standard sight of a few guys in a "non-professional environment," with station wagon, pull-trailer and some shovels in tow, digging graves.
"I have grave concern about that," Vreugdenhil stated. "Everyone we hire in the city to work for us is required to have worker's compensation and insurance. The funeral homes currently can call anyone to go dig a grave for them. They're on your property digging a grave and I think it's a grave liability issue. I believe the city should put out an RFP for a grave digging contractor, that he be required to have insurance and that only he be enabled to dig graves in our cemeteries and that we charge
It will probably ultimately fall into the
"That would be
That
Councilman
"Some of the family members were out there digging a grave and three of them couldn't walk because they were so intoxicated," he remarked. "They didn't have the money and they decided they would dig the grave."
If there is a poorly-dug grave, it compromises another owner's property with tombstones moving and sinking.
"It's liability control and it's quality control," Purvis noted.
"I think it will be a good thing," Becton noted. "Our gravedigger is 100 percent for it. Sometimes a funeral home comes in and digs a grave in one place and we come along and dig one (next to it) and maybe they didn't dig that other one correctly or came over too much. (Having a contractor) would cut some of that out."
Mayor
In addition to conversations with Becton, Vreugdenhil said he had already spoken with representatives at Crumpler-Honeycutt,
"It's the accountability more than anything," the Public Works director said. "It's certainly not about the slight bit of increased revenue, which is a good thing. But now, if I have one person who is a lower bidder with competent skills and accreditations, if I have a settling problem or any issues with a grave, I know who to call."
"This needs to be standardized," Councilman
Vreugdenhil also pointed out that the city has no requirement for an outer vault. While 98 to 99 percent of the graves in Springvale have a sealed concrete or Fiberglas vault, many in Sandhill do not, which subjects those graves to cave-ins, depressions and settling, which affects those plots and surrounding ones.
Becton said he has buried many in
"Some have been financial reasons, and surprisingly there were quite a few people who just felt like they didn't need it," Becton remarked.
"Most perpetual care cemeteries require it," Vreugdenhil said. "It is a cost, but it's one of the things I'd like (Council) to consider. If we don't do something about it, you'll probably hear something about it in a later budget year."
Starling said more discussion was needed on that topic, but Council gave its consensus to include in the 2014-15 budget the
___
<p class="shirttail">___
(c)2014 San Mateo County Times (San Mateo, Calif.)
Visit the San Mateo County Times (San Mateo, Calif.) at www.mercurynews.com/san-mateo-county
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Wordcount: | 1430 |
Advisor News
Annuity News
Health/Employee Benefits News
Life Insurance News