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Council considers buying equipment and raising grave‑opening fee after contractor demo
Summary
A councilor said using a contractor’s backhoe with a 36‑inch bucket reduced grave‑digging time dramatically and proposed raising the town’s grave‑opening fee from $500 to $700 to help buy a dedicated bucket or pay rental costs; staff will survey neighboring towns for comparable fees.
A councilor who helps manage cemetery operations described difficulties using the town’s backhoe for grave digging and recommended purchasing or renting heavier equipment to make the work faster and neater. The councilor said using Chase Nelson’s backhoe with a 36‑inch bucket reduced a job that previously took 2½ hours to about 35 minutes, but left the town without a convenient place to stage the spoil.
"Ideally, I would like to take that to $700," the councilor said, proposing an increase in the fee for opening and closing graves (currently $500) to help fund equipment such as a 36‑inch bucket or a dump trailer. Members asked staff to survey other nearby towns’ fees and return with comparative figures to justify any change. They also discussed alternatives such as renting a dump trailer when needed or contracting the work to local operators.
The clerk reported the cemetery sold $4,500 in plots recently; council members agreed those receipts will be placed in the cemetery fund and can be considered in the next budget cycle for equipment purchases. Members asked that comparisons of neighboring towns’ cemetery fees be presented at the next meeting so any fee change can be included in the June budget process.
Next step: staff will gather fee comparisons from surrounding towns, cost estimates for equipment or rentals, and present recommendations before the June budget vote.
