Many changes have been made to Moose Jaw’s cemetery bylaw that now bring the 33-year-old piece of legislation into the 21st century.
City administration brought forward a new cemetery bylaw during city council’s Jan. 27 regular meeting. The new bylaw repeals the one enacted on July 1, 1987, which had not been amended since its original passage. Several changes now reflect current standards and practices, provide improved clarity and consistency, align with provincial regulations and municipal bylaws, and properly align with the practices of other communities.
Council voted unanimously during all three readings of the bylaw, which means it goes into effective immediately.
Background
Administration introduced the bylaw during the Dec. 16, 2019 council meeting, but was tabled pending input from funeral homes and monument companies, according to a report from the parks and recreation department. A day later, the parks and recreation department distributed an email to the Moose Jaw Funeral Home and Jones-Parkview Funeral Services requesting feedback on the proposed bylaw and updates to the monument regulations.
The local funeral homes were given 10 business days to review and provide feedback; no feedback was provided.
The parks and recreation department operate and maintain The Moose Jaw Cemetery at 1005 Caribou Street East and the Rosedale Cemetery at 1804 Caribou Street West.
Notable changes
General administration
New are daily burial hours that apply year-round, compared to the previous bylaw that had winter and summer burial hours. New is both cemeteries now have dedicated public hours, while a clause has been added about the director of parks and recreation having discretion about what events can occur at the cemeteries.
Fees and charges
The cemetery no longer allows payment plans on any cemetery services, which now reflects the current practice. Also updated to reflect current practices is the proposed bylaw specifies that all fees are payable prior to a burial taking place.
Sale of interment rights
New to the bylaw is that no person can purchase more than eight graves without approval from the director.
Sale of niche interment rights
Updated to reflect current practice is that a section of niche interment rights has been added to reference the columbaria that were installed in 2002, 2009 and 2018.
Perpetual care of graves
The reference in section 4(4)(a) of the now-former bylaw to perpetual care being paid annually is no longer applicable. Perpetual care is currently included in the fee paid when purchasing a grave. This has now been updated to reflect current practices.
Refund of interment rights
Section 5 (2) of the former bylaw states the municipality shall refund the original purchase price for a returned grave. However, the council report indicates cemeteries have been operating with a fee set on the cemetery rates sheet that says refunds are 75 per cent of the current licence fee. This was implemented as an incentive to return unused graves, the report said.
With cemetery rates increasing, refunds were much higher than the amount of the original purchase price. The department has deleted this fee from the cemetery rates and has incorporated a new clause in the bylaw whereby 85 per cent of the original grave or niche licence fee will be refunded when returning a grave/niche to the municipality.
The remaining 15 per cent holdback is the administration fee.
Casket interments
Updated to reflect current practice is the fact two caskets are no longer permitted in a single grave but up to seven burials are permitted within one regular grave. This means one casket and up to six cremations are permitted.
Cremated remain interment
Scattering of ashes is now only permitted in the scattering garden, whereas before ashes could be scattered on a grave. Furthermore, regular graves are now allowed up to six cremated remains to be interred into the grave. Both of these now reflect current practice.
Disinterments
New is the fact the bylaw now requires the authorized decision maker to provide permission to disinter a casket, whereas the old bylaw indicated the plot owner had to give permission. Updated to reflect current practice is that disinterments from double depth grave or burials more than 50 years ago are not permitted.
Indigent interments
In an effort to be more culturally sensitive, the term “indigent” has been removed from the new bylaw, since the definition of that word can be construed as offensive to many people, the report said. Indigent interments are now referred to as social services interments.
Community graves
Updated to reflect current practice is the fact, as of 1999, burials in community graves were no longer permitted. Furthermore, memorialization on community graves is now permitted, compared to the previous bylaw that restricted monuments or markers on special graves.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Feb. 10.
