PENDLETON — Dying — or preparing for death — could get more expensive this year, at least for those who plan to be buried at Pendleton’s Grovelawn Cemetery.
The town council is considering increasing the cost of a plot to ensure the long-term viability of the cemetery, specifically to ensure there’s money to maintain the property when it’s full, a time town leaders said is certainly many decades in the future.
“I think we probably should entertain raising our fees on burial lots,” Council President Bob Jones said, stating that Pendleton’s $450 charge for plots is half of what other area cemeteries charge. “I would propose we take it up to $900.”
Town manager Tim McClintick said the cemetery has about 2,650 plots left in the cemetery and an additional 8½ acres of land that has room for 11,500 graves.
“We still have quite a few grave sites left,” McClintick said.
Council members said they want to set prices closer to market price, earmark some of those proceeds for a fund that could grow over time and eventually — when all the plots are sold and that revenue stream stops — ensure there’s enough investment income for proper maintenance.
Councilman Chad Wolfe asked McClintick if he could run some numbers to help the town determine the right cost for a burial plot, one that could achieve the objective.
“We just better know that number,” said Wolfe, who asked for that information to be brought to either the next council meeting or the one after that.
Council members said they also will re-evaluate the costs of other services, such as opening and closing graves.
McClintick said current fees don’t cover associated costs, such as overtime pay for workers.
“Let’s get the services appropriately priced,” Wolfe said, noting that every plot sold at less-than-market value is lost money that doesn’t get invested for the future.
“I think we can have something in place by April,” Jones said.
In other business, the council:
• Discussed opioid abuse and a national class action lawsuit targeting pharmaceutical companies. The council discussed whether the town should join the lawsuit, which could mirror a tobacco industry lawsuit from decades ago, through which settlement funds have paid for anti-smoking programs. The council also discussed the retail availability of drug and drug-related paraphernalia in town. They discussed whether zoning could be used to keep businesses that sell such items out of town. Town attorney Alex Intermill said zoning can be used to keep businesses out, but it would be more complicated when dealing with existing businesses. Intermill said he’d look for such zoning verbiage from other towns that could be reworked for Pendleton. He also said he’s put the town in touch with people who could help the town decide whether to join the class action lawsuit.
• Discussed storm warning systems with an eye to spring severe weather. Jones raised the prospect of the town providing free weather radios to all of its electric customers, which sparked a conversation about the best technology for severe weather awareness. They also discussed related cell phone apps and storm sirens. McClintick was tasked with determining how many storm radios the town has in storage (which the town has been selling to the public for $20) and looking at how much they would cost if bought in bulk. Town leaders also talked about rather than automatically giving weather radios to all electric customers, publicizing that radios are available; then only those who truly want one would end up with one.
• Gave initial 5-0 approval to the 100 percent voluntary annexation of 33.63 acres of land, the site of the town’s new drinking water facility at 3437 West County Road 900 South. A public hearing on the matter is set for Feb. 8, and the plan is not expected to be finalized until April.
• Heard a presentation by Assistant Planning Director Rachel Christenson about a revised tree/shrub ordinance. The town’s Tree Board removed some information from the ordinance — such as permissible tree varieties on public property and other details that are subject to change — and put those into a tree care manual. This allows those provisions to be updated as needed without going through the ordinance revision process every time. The council approved the first reading of the revised ordinance 5-0.
• Voted to keep Bob Jones as president and Chad Wolfe as vice president of the council. The town also appointed/reappointed members of various boards and commissions whose terms expired Dec. 31: Tammy Bowman, reappointed to the five-member Pendleton Board of Zoning Appeals; George Harris, appointed to the five-voting-member Pendleton Historic Preservation Commission, replacing Stephen Bourke; Jessica Smith, reappointed to the three-member Pendleton Board of Stormwater Management; Kyle Eichorn, reappointed to the five-member Pendleton Utility Rate Advisory Board; Craig Campbell, Chad Wolfe, Michael Wright and Steve Davis, reappointed, and Jessica Bastin, appointed to replace Chad Lukins, to the six-member Pendleton Redevelopment Commission; Kirby McCrocklin and Mike Romack, reappointed to the three-member Pendleton Waterworks Board; Kate Edwards and Heidi McClintick, reappointed, and Adrienna Dzelme, appointed to replace Mackey Starkey, to the Pendleton Tree Committee; Josh Ring, appointed, Pendleton Park Board, replacing Steve Wills.