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Flagstaff staff report headstone-placement delays tied to staffing and payments; cemetery expansion planned
Summary
City staff said seasonal hiring shortfalls and operational agreements with a neighboring private cemetery have delayed headstone setting, and staff described a planned one-acre cemetery expansion that will require about a year for infrastructure before interments begin.
At the start of the retreat, Rebecca (staff member) and Amy (city cemetery staff) briefed council on cemetery operations and headstone placements. Amy said the cemetery has fallen behind on setting headstones and that staff have been attempting to catch up on weekends when regular weekday services and operations leave little capacity.
Nut graf: Staff explained delays come from several operational factors: reduced seasonal hires, a staffing agreement that pulls employees to work at a neighboring private cemetery, and an administrative rule that headstones cannot be set until families have paid in full.
Amy said summer seasonal hires that previously provided maintenance and allowed other staff to focus on cemetery-specific tasks have been lacking; HR is working with the cemetery division to fill seasonal positions. She also said one reason headstones remain uninstalled is payment status: "we're unable to physically set the headstone unless they've been paid in full. So every now and then, we get into a little bit of a hiccup with that with the family, and we just await until they are paid in full, then we put them in the schedule to set them." Staff also noted that an agreement to provide operations support to a private cemetery on the same campus occasionally requires staff to be pulled away.
Separately, staff described a one-acre expansion project for Highland Mesa (or the city cemetery): building infrastructure at the new acre takes about a year, and actual use of the acreage typically begins roughly a year after the infrastructure is complete. Staff said the timeline includes installation of utilities and finishing touches before new plots are available.
Ending: Cemetery staff asked council for patience while seasonal hiring and schedule catch-up continue and said HR is assisting in recruiting the temporary positions needed to normalize operations.
