Cemetery - Development Plan
Cemetery Development and Management Plan
Executive Summary
1.0 background
The City of Prince George has in the past addressed concerns with council regarding the Municipal Cemetery's operations, both physical and fiscal. It was acknowledged there was a need to enhance the cemetery's bottom line while serving the community's burial needs. The City undertook this Cemetery Development and Management Plan.
The resultant document investigated the cemetery's physical and operative status quo, options and constraints and summarized recommendations to expand the cemetery's level of service and fiscal potentials.
The Executive Summary highlights the Report's findings.
2.0 Development Plan
The Physical Aspects of Prince George Municipal Cemetery
2.1 Prince George Municipal Cemetery Land Holding and Classifications
2.1.1 Delivered (Lots sold, occupied or not or readied for sale)
19.50 gross acres
2.1.2 Available (lands available for potential cemetery lots but not yet developed for same)
17.50 gross acres
2.1.3 Unavailable (cemetery lands not used for burial per se, wooded, sloped areas, setbacks, worksyards, parking lots, etc.)
16.0 gross acres
2.1.4 Total Lands (See Drawing No. 1)
53.0 acres (21.5 hectares)
2.2 Lot Sales
Of lands currently available for burials the largest percentage are sold and a priority need is to bring on new sections within the cemetery for interments (See Drawing No. 2)
2.3 Timelines
The City's Cemetery Reports suggests a reserve of 6.5 hectares (about 16.0 acres) of cemetery lands are available for expansion with their projection of a 75 - 80 years timeline to a sold out condition.
Based on the current land use of at need and pre-need land sales and combined disposition calculations (casket/cremation burials) suggest a 1/3 acre per year land use rate. Based on the City's current cemetery plan net land use actually available for burials is estimated to be 11.25 net acres therefore suggesting a sold out position within a 34 year timeline. The annual death rate will increase by virtue of an aging population and because the population base will increase thereby shortening the timeline perhaps by another 10 or 12 years to a 23 year timeline (using 2 acre per year average from 1998 to 2028).
Using a different cemetery layout plan for the remaining lands and implementing land recovery (notably roads) could well extend the cemetery's timeline as an active facility.
2.4 Prince George's Cemetery Land Needs: Years 1998 - 2028
The City needs to be aware its current Municipal Cemetery lands are a finite resource. The projection of 22 - 34 years to a sold out position is a comparatively short time. Planning standards and cemetery interments statistics indicate the City will need an additional 50 - 60 gross acres by the year 2028 to service the community's ongoing burial needs. Acquisition and re-zoning takes time and money and the City should be planning for this event now ... even if all it does is secure an option for first right of refusal on a suitable piece of land as its first step. Purchasing such a land base secures an inventory for future land bargaining if the City finds itself in a position needing such circumstances.
2.5 The Schematic Master Plan
The City elected to focus less on the preparation of a Master Plan per se for this report placing more emphasis on management recommendations. However, the Schematic Master Plan (Drawing No. 3) reflects the minimal fundamentals to facilitate reasonable expansion of the cemetery's lands to a sold out condition.
It illustrates roads to remain/to be removed, a new entry, office/worksyard location, special burial gardens/features for cremation interments and estate lawn crypts (individual mauselea) to potential mausoleum, and buffer zones, etc.
This schematic provides the basis for enhancing site aesthetics, functional requirements, funeral traffic flows, enhanced interments and memorialization alternatives and potential for stronger revenue stream through sales and operations.
2.6 Development Phasing
2.6.1 Interment Area Expansion
City staff and our observations concur the top phasing priority must be given to expand the cemetery's available burial lands immediately within the grounds and the context of the Schematic Master Plan.
It also needs to increase its available interment/memorialization options as it makes this expansion.
2.6.2 Public Washroom
The real lack of appropriate public washroom facilities on site is an unkindness to cemetery users. This facility needs to provide for male and female comfort even in advance of locating a new office building on the cemetery grounds. These facilities need to be made available and maintained in a clean manner for the year round comfort of cemetery visitors during the cemetery's hours of operation.
2.6.3 Road Upgrades/Drainage
Cemetery roads should be upgraded to an asphalt condition, preferably with curb and gutter and appropriate sub-surface drainage systems for all new active areas of the cemetery. Roads in the older sections of the cemetery could be upgraded over time if capital is available to undertake such improvements.
2.6.4 Irrigation System
This would ideally be an automatic system otherwise a manual system should be considered to facilitate water maintenance - particularly for those areas deemed active (ie: where burials occur on an ongoing basis). This system could be reasonably installed and Blow out maintenance activities would be required for either alternative in the fall of each year.
2.6.5 Noise Wall/Berms
Where feasible these should be installed to assist in reduction of vehicular traffic noise alongside interment zones on Hwy. 16 and in future along Ferry Avenue and Lansdowne Road. Virtually maintenance free sound attenuation barriers can be installed which require a minimum foot print on cemetery lands. They can then be used as back drops for vines, espaliered plants, etc., to enhance their appearance. Berms complete with plantings can be a softer approach but to reach the appropriate heights needed to reduce noise concerns will require a broad foot print on cemetery burial (ie: revenue generating) lands. Maximum slopes could be a 3:1 ratio and lands are quickly consumed in such landscape endeavours.
Certainly a combination of pre-cast/pre-fabbed walls and berms should be investigated at the detail design level for these important features if sound reduction is required/desired.
3.0 The Management Plan
The City has resolved to stay in the after death care business with the objective of not having to subsidize cemetery operations from general tax funds, and to enhance level of service and establish a long term plan for the development and management of the Cemetery.
3.1 Improved Delivery of Services to the Public
Recommendations:
- Develop a mission statement
- Expand interment areas and options for both casketed and cremated remains.
- Provide a mix of flats/upright marker lots in combination to enhance maintenance operations, lot sales appeal for both types of burials (casketed/cremation).
- Review/revise by-laws where applicable to enhance service levels (ie: lot decoration/memorialization controls; use of mausoleum (crypts)).
- Enforce by-laws where required regarding lot decorations/temporary memorialization, as to type, time allowed on site, etc.
- Provide mausolea sections, columbarium features, special garden zones.
- Provide increased memorialization options using features such as trees, benches, memorial stones, etc.
- Regulate nature of materials allowed for monuments (recommend granite, granite/bronze, marble, professional concrete only) within dimensional guidelines established by cemetery regulations. Other materials will invariably, in perpetuity, cost the cemetery to maintain over the long term. (Unfortunately, there are many examples of this nature in use in the cemetery today).
- Do not allow use of many of the grave decorations currently on site (ie: white quartz stone mulch - potential hazards for mowing equipment and nearby cemetery visitors, glass objects, fencing of any type, etc., etc. These all require more maintenance effort and result in a cluttered overall cemetery image. Staff must be instructed on how to tactfully and sympathetically be directive in refusing these tokens of memorialization.
- Grave side plantings must be regulated by the cemetery.
- Provide appropriate washrooms on site for cemetery visitor use. Perhaps this would be in context of a suitable cemetery office from which a management/sales person might conduct lot and other amenity transactions directly on site for the City.
- Educate all cemetery related staff to deal with the grief stressed public ... to learn to simply listen or to inform such individuals in a sensitive, caring and effective manner of cemetery regulations, etc.
- Prepare cemetery Client Response Forms for distribution post interment right sales transactions or post interment services to get a better understanding of how well you've done in meeting the clients needs.
- Prepare and implement cemetery staff protocol in dealing with the general public visiting the cemetery and for cemetery interment services.
- Prepare and maintain standards for dealing with grave openings, dressing, closings, etc., to offset as much as possible negativisms from cemetery users.
- To overcome traffic noise issues consider a handheld megaphone for use by those delivering graveside eulogies, etc.
- Establish delivery schedules for equipment, supplies at times least likely to interfere with funeral service activities.
- All field cemetery staff should be uniformed and provided with business cards. The cards should reflect a sense of caring through appropriate verse on the reverse side or even "Serving our community since 1911", etc.
- Crews for construction projects on the cemetery grounds must be instructed that visitations for grieving/funeral services occur and appropriate respect must be granted such visitors by terminating noisy equipment for a reasonable duration, for providing safe and easy vehicular/pedestrian flows for such visitations. Such crews must not desecrate in any manner the sanctity of Prince George Municipal Cemetery. Their sites must be kept tidy and litter free and protect monuments and burials in proximity to their activities at all times.
- Assess and ensure full compliance is adhered to for provincial ministry requirements and your own cemetery By-Laws/Regulations. Always have Cemetery By-Law copies available for visitors with inquiries regarding same.
- Provide staff with the copies of provincial/Prince George Municipal Cemetery By-Laws/Regulations and assess them on their own knowledge of same relative to their role in delivering quality services to the public. (This should pertain even to part - time/seasonal staff.
- Create a Cemetery Advisory Board to meet monthly with clear objectives for a reasonable implementation period for aspects of this Plan.
- Enhance cemetery record systems as a means to identify and track marketing trends/directions (see example enclosed).
- Encourage field staff participation/recommendation making and develop a pro-active means for evaluating and implementing suggestions.
- Join the CCABC (Cemetery and Crematorium Association of British Columbia) and encourage staff to participate in the organization. At the very least subscribe to various Trade Journals (ie: Network, Cemetery and Funeral Management magazines, etc.) and have monthly luncheon workshops of information gained from such journals.
3.2 Enhanced Revenues and/or Reduced Tax Subsidization
Recommendations:
optimize the use of lands at Prince George Municipal Cemetery by
- implement land recovery by infilling unneeded roads with burial lots.
- reduce road layouts illustrated in City's current plan to optimum carrying distances (ie: 50 yards as per Schematic Master Plan)
- do not single load cemetery roads
- carefully assess sound attenuation needs along roads to avoid unnecessary land use to create berms, etc., (as around parking lot in cemetery).
- enhance memorialization and interment options with appropriate burial mixes for casketed and cremated remains.
- establish memorialization lease programmes versus selling such features.
- reasonably increase tariffs for all aspects of cemetery related sales/services on a continual basis.
- leave care fund principal to grow through addition of annual provincially required percentage from revenue stream strictly for cemetery's future needs.
- carefully assess development options for future (ie: mausoleum, on site office to administer sales/public relation issues).
- develop and implement an ongoing marketing campaign highlighting interment/memorialization and other cemetery service choices.
3.3 Short Term Implementation Options and Long Term Vision to Guide Development and Operations.
Short Term:
- Provide alternative interment options within frame work of the Schematic Master Plan and
- initiate marketing endeavours and
- relocate maintenance/service yard zone in accordance with Schematic Master Plan and
- develop more fully evolved Master Plan and Detailed Design Layout of cemetery lot layout and
- provide appropriate public washroom facilities perhaps in conjunction with a new and/or reloated/refurbished maintenance/office and
- relocate security fence as required to accommodate new interment zones.
Long Term:
- Road upgrades complete with curb and gutter and appropriate subsurface drainage in accordance with intent of Schematic Master Plan and
- implement an appropriate irrigation system and
- implement noise reducing barriers on roads around the cemetery and
- assess feasibility of a community mausoleum facility and/or lawn crypt section as per Schematic Master Plan to meet this market niche and
- review Cemetery Land Needs on an ongoing basis and identify purchase timeline of an appropriate site to meet future community needs.
3.4 Addressing Changing Market Demands
- organize an overall Marketing Plan and keep all cemetery staff apprised of same and of the cemetery's objectives of raising both service levels and enhancing the cemetery's bottom line position.
- develop pro-active marketing endeavours to capture pre-need demands for one-stop shopping.
- develop a wider product range to meet above.
- promote in memory of donations and memorialization lease programmes.
3.5 Investigate Public/Private Partnerships
Protect City's interests in all dealings pertaining to cemetery operations/assets and keep partnership mutually reciprocal in benefits (win-win situation) for both parties.
Do not sell lands associated with cemetery to any prospective partner.
Make alliances with product suppliers, sub contractors for supply of vaults, monuments, urns, wreaths, etc.
4.0 Summary
Prince George Municipal Cemetery has developed its service provider position in the community over the past century (89 years). By assimilating and following most or all of the recommendations within the context of this report the City will go far to ensure that the best business practices, service and operational procedures and self financing capabilities will fall into place.
HILTON LANDMARKS INC.