Lac La Biche County officials say there’ s a need to improve maintenance at a local cemetery, and that could mean enforcing rules that haven’ t been applied regularly before.
Lac La Biche County officials say there’ s a need to improve maintenance at a local cemetery, and that could mean enforcing rules that haven’ t been applied regularly before.
Monuments in disrepair or that don’ t comply with county regulations are among the most frequent complaints about Willow Park Cemetery, at the eastern end of Lac La Biche’ s Main Street.
The county has a cemetery bylaw, but senior manager of community services and recreation Jeff Lawrence said it hasn’ t been enforced consistently. As a result, there are monuments in Willow Park with fences and other ornamentation that isn’ t allowed.
Stepping in and demanding changes isn’ t the right way to encourage compliance, though, because cemetery monuments have a lot of personal significance to their owners or the next-of-kin, he said.
“There’ s a lot more sentiment to it,” said Lawrence.
The municipality is expected to seek community input on how to proceed, but the county is going to add some ornamentation of its own this year. Earlier this month, councillors voted to install a cairn in the cemetery, to act as a memorial for people whose burial records have been misplaced over the years.
The county will also rebuild the existing roadway through Willow Park. Mayor Omer Moghrabi said this might look like a beautification campaign, but it’ s mostly maintenance that the county is behind on.
“Really, it’ s maintenance that, in the last few years, we just didn’ t do,” he said.
Other potential upgrades include wrought iron fencing and a new main gate, but those will be addressed as part of the community consultation process. Lawrence said religious and cultural groups in the area will be asked for their opinions, but the one thing the county can’ t lose sight of is the need for better upkeep.
“We recognize that general maintenance needs to improve,” he said. “We will be consulting with the various groups to see what their thoughts are.”
Councillor Hajar Haymour said the cemetery’ s appearance is a reflection of the community-and not a good one, at that.
“It’ s embarrassing when you see the lack of maintenance,” he said.
Municipal staffers are recommending removing the bushes and shrubbery that are overgrowing the fence on Willow Park’ s northern side, but councillor John Nowak said he would actually rather see more vegetation because it makes for a quieter, more peaceful environment inside the cemetery.
More details of the county’ s plans to enhance the cemetery should be publicized in the months ahead. Lawrence said it’ s important to consider Willow Park’ s future, because the county still expects to get a lot of use out of it.
“We anticipate a 10-plus-year lifespan for that cemetery,” he said.
