Problems plague cemetery project
Money pit? | Thousands of dollars put into Oromocto cemetery plan, but more needed
The Town of Oromocto has temporarily halted its funding for the non-denominational Oromocto Pioneer Gardens Cemetery.
A special meeting of town council Monday narrowly voted down a request by the cemetery committee for an immediate $35,800 and an additional $107,385 before the end of the year.
The money would have been used as a deposit and payment for a collumbarium, which is a storage area for cremated remains.
The town, which doesn't have enough burial spaces within its boundaries, has already given the cemetery committee $250,000, as well as pledging a further $100,000 for January.
It has also donated four hectares (10 acres) for the cemetery, which will have regular burial sites and a military field of honour.
The motion for more money was defeated by a 3-2 vote.
Coun. Mike Comeau, who along with councillors Don Burns and Dianne Buchanan, voted against the motion, said enough was enough.
"I firmly believe in it and I support it wholeheartedly, but it's town taxpayers' money ... (and) I believe the town has given more than an ample amount of funds in support of this project," Comeau said.
"It's not just money; it's the work that's gone on, the services in kind.''
The committee has to pursue other areas of funding, he said.
Buchanan said the town has already committed close to $500,000 to the project through the donation of land, work and grants.
"I think it's time for the base to help and the legions," Buchanan said. "There are other avenues that could be looked at."
Deputy mayor Mel Vance wasn't hiding his disappointment Monday.
There is a need for a collumbarium in the military section, he said Monday.
"I think it gives a wrong message when we are not prepared to support the military side of the house, especially with Afghanistan going on and the way things are being done with regard to troops going oversees."
Mayor Fay Tidd was also disappointed.
She said the town is full of veterans and there is a demand for a collumbarium.
"I don't know what's gone wrong, I really don't know," Tidd said. "What really bothers me is there are two military people (on council who voted against) and one, in particular, has generations of people who are military."
Cemetery spokeswoman Wendy Creighton said there will be a collumbarium in the field of honour at some point.
"It is going to depend on other people stepping up to help," Creighton said.
She said the military sent engineers to the site to draft a proposal in April, but nothing has been heard from them since.
Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson toured the site Monday morning.
He said he was uncertain if the project would qualify for federal funding. He said he would look into it.
Base public affairs officer Lt. (Navy) Brian Owens said the base not only supports the project, but has a member on the cemetery committee.
Among other things, he said, the military has offered architectural assistance.
"On top of that, 4 Engineer Support Regiment (4ESR) has been asked to assist in the preparation of the cemetery - for construction drainage and levelling of the area, as well (as) pouring the concrete footings for the headstones."
The majority of the regiment is on summer leave, but the project is on its list of things it's planning to get done, Owens said.
"The base commander has asked the regiment to support this and I don't suspect there will be any inclination that they will not do this."
More City & Region
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
Comments (2)
All comments are subject to the site Terms of Use. For a full commenting tutorial click here.
Our editorial team relies on filtering technology and our visitor community to identify inappropriate comments. In the event that a site user has submitted offensive content that has evaded our filter, please select the option to Flag As Inappropriate presented within the comment. Thank you for helping to keep this site clean.