An updated Memorial Cemetery bylaw is before the City of Wetaskiwin council, and councillors approved first reading of the bylaw during their April 24 meeting.
The updated bylaw looks at increasing fees for the cemetery, allowing it to break even on operations.
The Memorial Cemetery operates under an operational and cost-sharing agreement between the County of Wetaskiwin and the City of Wetaskiwin. The city/county committee has expressed a desire that the Memorial Cemetery be self-funding by its own revenues.
The bylaw proposes two fee increases, the first to take effect July 2, 2017 and the second is scheduled for Jan. 1, 2018.
The fee increases will allow the Memorial Cemetery to break even on its operating costs by 2018.
Jacqueline Pelechytik, municipal intern with the City of Wetaskiwin, says there were a couple of wording changed in the proposed updated bylaw.
In Schedule A of the bylaw the line “Monument permit fee is $50.00” was in conflict with Schedule B and now simply directos readers to refer to Schedule B.
Brian McCulloch, director of finance, informed council there were also two definition changes within the bylaw for the terms “columbarium,” which now reads “a structure designed for storing cremains,” and niche, defined as “an opening in a columbarium.”