New municipal standards for maintaining Jasper’s cemetery are a welcome development, but regular visitors to the site are requesting that more be done to renew and repair it.

More than 20 Jasperites crowded into the Tuesday (November 15) council meeting to express their thanks to town officials for the policy on service standards at the cemetery, which was approved during the course of the afternoon meeting. They were also in attendance to ask that council consider funding a one-time improvement project that would hopefully alleviate many of their pressing concerns.

The cemetery is in a very poor state, said Anita Forabosco, who was acting as spokesperson for the group. Headstones, tablets and indeed entire plots have sunk into the earth, she said.

“It’s issue enough for these people to come out today,” Forabosco said, referencing the fact that many among the group were elderly.

“Some manpower is needed to go out and do the work,” she told Council. “It (the cemetery) deserves as much care and attention as the trails around town or the fancy-dancy crosswalks.”

While councillors recognized the group’s concerns, one said that there is a problem with where money might come from to fund anything more than a gradual program of perpetual maintenance.

“One problem that we have is that we charge three hundred dollars for an interment but it costs us $1,500 to do it,” said Councillor Andy Walker. “I’m not opposed to it but I’m just letting you know that this is a problem.”

Other communities in Alberta charge as much as $3,000 for interment, said Neil Wilson, in charge of grounds and parks for the municipality.

Another councillor suggested that the town do more extensive research into what the going rate seems to be in other places. Gloria Kongsrud said that if costs need to be adjusted in Jasper, then the municipality should be prepared to take that step.

In the meantime, Mayor Richard Ireland told Forabosco and the rest of the group that Council would study the budget to see if any money be made available for the proposed improvements.

“We’ll look at the budget to see about cost and we’ll look into rectifying the maintenance problems that have been going on for generations,” he said.

Ireland also expressed his pleasure that the group had worked so co-operatively with Wilson and Municipal Manager George Krefting in the creation of the newly approved service standards for the cemetery. 

Forabosco had herself referred to the group of citizens as starting off as an “angry mob,” but said that they had been “delighted” to see progress on the matter and were pleased by the collaborative approach that town officials took to their concerns.

More needs to be done,” Forabosco said adding that her group would like to see an overall approach as opposed to the municipality taking on their concerns on a plot-by-plot basis.

The maintenance standards as approved indicate that the municipality will address levelling concerns and sunken plots on a individual “worst-case” basis, given the labour involved in any improvements and the nature of ground settling in the cemetery. Plot owners can request a higher standard of care and enter into an arrangement with the municipality should they wish. In addition to this, there are now written guidelines for regular mowing, watering and upkeep of the information kiosk and cemetery fencing.