Environmentally-friendly burials are on the way to the city's cemetery.
Surveying will begin this spring for establishment of a "green burial" area in the south end of the Memorial Park Cemetery, according to a staff report to city council.
"Green burial is an environmentally-sensitive practice where the body is returned to the earth to decompose naturally," staff says. "The body is prepared for burial without embalming and is buried in a biodegradable container or shroud.
"A communal memorial built from stone will be placed within the green burial section with room for a simple inscription to record the names of the persons buried in this area."
Benefits listed include eliminating the contaminants typically released into the soil with conventional burial and cremation and eliminating the pesticides and herbicides used in conventional landscaping.
The plan calls for development of 25 plots in the section plus a scattering garden. Access will be through the existing forested walkway.
It won't be the only work scheduled for the cemetery this year. On Monday, council approved a capital plan that includes adding 1,030 glass-front niches to the mausoleum. $1.4 million is budgeted for the project.
According to staff, the mausoleum is over 93 per cent full and nearing capacity.
As of mid-September, all of glass front niches have been sold as have 94 per cent of the marble-front niches while 40 families have signed a waitlist for new niches.
The move follows on a report included in the Feb. 4 council agenda package that provided an annual update of the state of the facility.
Over 2018, there were 242 interments at the cemetery, comprised of 129 cremated interments, 70 full interments, 41 niche inurments and two crypt inurments.
Based on the current ratio of cremations to full burials, more than 50 years of land remains at the cemetery and it's expected to rise as cremations grow in popularity.
Also this spring, staff will complete a review of the fees and charges for the facility and bring proposed changes to council in the fall. In 2016, council approve a yearly three-per-cent increase to all fees and charges over the ensuing four years, including those for the cemetery
