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Cemetery board seeks new administration building, second well as trust fund covers cost
Summary
Staff presented plans and funding for a new cemetery administration building and said the cemetery trust fund has sufficient reserves to cover the roughly $606,000 estimated project cost; staff also recommended a second irrigation well to reduce strain on existing pump.
Cemetery staff and the city manager told the July 16 workshop that the cemetery enterprise fund has the capacity to fund a planned administration building and other needs.
Richard (Parks superintendent) and Brian said the cemetery trust fund contains available reserves and staff have budgeted for a new administration building in the FY26 capital plan. Richard said the building will include visitor space and public-facing amenities: "A small conference area that is going to be for families and for meetings and we'll have a TV on the wall so that we can do everything inside the building instead of now, oh, well, here's this map that was printed 30 years ago and let's point this,'" he said. Staff also said the new facility will include ADA restrooms, staff workspace and a garage area for cemetery equipment.
Operationally, staff requested an additional irrigation pump or well to split the load from the single active well, citing ongoing strain: "That well collapsed. The pump burn out. So we had to dig a new well and go through that whole process already with the with the other 1. So it is very taxing on that well and the pump at this point to irrigate that entire cemetery," Richard said. Staff said the extra well would improve reliability and reduce the risk of water shortages during hot/dry periods.
Staff noted the cemetery trust fund balance and said the FY26 CIP shows the administration building budgeted from the trust rather than the general fund. Cemetery officials said they will return with design and procurement steps as the project advances to permitting and final bids.
Why it matters: cemetery facilities affect public service for families making burial arrangements and the city's capacity to care for older gravesites. The trust-funded building and pump would both serve ongoing operations and public-facing functions.
