Inuvik’s council has approved a $280 cemetery plot reservation fee and made reservations available only to residents.
An amendment to Inuvik’s Cemetery Bylaw, passed on September 9, is associated with the town’s work to expand the near-capacity cemetery.
Reserved plots that in some cases have been unused for decades mean the town is running out of space in its graveyard, senior administrator Cynthia Pihlaja told an August 10 council meeting.
Town staff had contemplated removing the option to reserve plots (while honouring existing reservations) but some councillors spoke in favour of keeping the system as long as a fee was added.
“We should be allowed to be buried next to our families. I think that’s super important, for me anyways,” said councillor Melinda Gillis at the August 10 meeting.
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Having decided to keep reserved plots, Inuvik Mayor Peter Clarkson presented a proposed layout of the expanded graveyard at an August 12 meeting that would include 81 reservable plots and 54 non-reservable plots. Pihlaja said the town could still use reservable plots that have not been claimed if extra graves are needed.
The amended Cemetery Bylaw also increases the notice period for burial plot preparation from 48 to 72 hours, to give the town more operational flexibility.
One change recommended at an earlier stage but ultimately not passed involved requiring families to apply for a monument permit before erecting one on a grave site.
Pihlaja called this an “administrative burden that we didn’t feel was necessary for grieving families to have to go through.” She said her position has the authority to address monuments that contain anything offensive.
