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Newnan council awards Barnes Vault contract for cemetery openings, amends fees with 15% administration surcharge
Summary
Council awarded Barnes Vault Company a contract to perform burial openings and closings in city cemeteries, amended the city fee schedule to add a 15% administration fee and approved the change 6-1 after debate on rounding and price increases.
The Newnan City Council on May 27 awarded a contract to Barnes Vault Company for burial openings and closings in City of Newnan cemeteries and amended the city fee schedule to accommodate the outsourced service and a 15% administration fee.
Council had directed staff at its May 13 meeting to outsource burial openings and closings. City staff recommended Barnes Vault after a request for proposals. Public works director Ray Norton explained the administration fee is intended to cover city staff time to locate gravesites and prepare sites for contractor work and families.
Council members debated whether to round service prices for clarity. Council member Jim Thomason offered an amendment to round prices to the nearest tenth; Council member Cynthia Jenkins objected to raising cemetery prices on widely used services. Council member Rhodes Shell supported rounding for increased funds to support service changes. Ultimately Thomason withdrew the rounding amendment and council approved the fee-schedule amendment as presented in a 6-1 vote, with Jenkins dissenting. The contract award to Barnes Vault Company passed 6-1 with Jenkins dissenting.
The fee schedule amendment and contract are effective immediately; staff and public works will coordinate on transition and family communications.
