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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-03-03 Parks & Recreation Packet - Work SessionKENAI PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION WORK SESSION – KENAI MUNICIPAL POLICY REVIEW MARCH 3, 2022 – 6:00 P.M. KENAI CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 210 FIDALGO AVE., KENAI, AK 99611 *Telephonic/Virtual Information Below* www.kenai.city 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. INTRODUCTION – Brad Walker, Parks & Recreation Director 3. PUBLIC COMMENT (Public comment limited to three (3) minutes per speaker; thirty (30) minutes aggregated) 4. COMMISSION DISCUSSION – Kenai Municipal Cemetery Policy Review 5. ADDITIONAL PUBLIC COMMENT 6. ADJOURNMENT Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89232565329 Meeting ID: 892 3256 5329 Passcode: 543664 OR Dial in by your Location: (253) 215-8782 or (301) 715-8592 Meeting ID: 892 3256 5329 Passcode: 543664 Kenai Municipal Cemetery Regulations and Fees A. Purpose The City of Kenai has ordinances and regulations in place for the administration of the Kenai Municipal Cemetery. These regulations apply to all persons utilizing the Kenai Municipal Cemetery. This document has been prepared as an informational guide and is not inclusive of all ordinances and regulations. B. Administration and General Provisions The Kenai City Clerk is charged with administration and maintains necessary records required by the State to ensure continuity in the operation of the cemetery. The Parks and Recreation Director enforces all cemetery regulations. The fees for purchase of plot(s) and/or niche(s) shall be established and maintained in the City Clerk’s Schedule of Rates, Charges and Fees. The Kenai Municipal Cemetery is open year-round for pedestrian traffic. No person shall enter the Kenai Municipal Cemetery except through he established access routes. The hours listed below list Summer/Winter hours when vehicle access is permitted: 1. Summer Hours – 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. from May 1st to September 30th 2. Winter Hours – Closed from October 1st to April 30th C. Interment Spaces Plots shall be platted in those areas of the cemetery where interments have not as yet taken place in five-foot (5′) by ten-foot (10′) plots, two-and-one-half-foot (2-1/2′) by five-foot (5′) plots for infants, and two feet (2′) by two feet (2′) by two feet (2′) for cremains. The City Clerk shall be in charge and have access to said plats for the purpose of assigning plots upon request, and have charge of burial records, files and maps which shall be stored by the City of Kenai. The City Clerk shall charge a fee for each plot, depending upon the size of the plot (adult or infant or cremains) and the season during which the opening and closing of the grave occurs. All fees shall be as set forth in the City’s schedule of fees adopted by the City Council. Payment in full for the plot is required at the time of purchase of the plot. Payment for the opening or closing of the grave is due prior to commencement of work. The purchase of a burial plot, cremains plot, or columbarium niche in the Kenai Municipal Cemetery shall be made through the City Clerk’s Office. The purchaser will be assigned a plot(s) or niche(s) after having paid the appropriate fee. It is prohibited for the purchaser of said plot(s) or niche(s) to re-sell or re-assign except to the City. All payments for burial plots, cremains plots, or columbarium niches shall be made directly to the City of Kenai. The fees for such purchase shall be established and maintained in the City Clerk’s Schedule of Rates, Charges and Fees. The City Clerk shall be provided with the appropriate State burial and transit permits before interment or inurnment will be permitted. The burial plots can be used for no other purpose than interment and cremains plots or columbarium niches can be used for no other purpose but inurnment. Interment or disinterment shall be made in compliance with all State and City laws and regulations. Prior to interment or inurnment a marker or headstone deposit is required. Such deposit shall be established and maintained in the City’s Schedule of Rates, Charges, and Fees, and must be paid to the City of Kenai. Deposit refunds will be issued after proper installation of marker or headstone. If after eighteen (18) months (plots) and six (6) months (columbarium’s) a permanent marker or headstone has not been installed, the City shall install a marker or flat headstone utilizing the deposit as payment. Markers and headstones for cemetery plots may be set in a concrete base and installed at the head of the grave, centered and inside the plot area. The Parks and Recreation Director must be notified prior to any plot preparation, construction, or placement of headstone or marker. If religious practices make the conformance of this requirement impossible, the old section of the cemetery may be utilized. This decision will be at the discretion of the Parks and Recreation Director or designee. All niche openings and closings shall be overseen by the Parks and Recreation Department. A niche may be opened only at the request of the niche owner as listed in the cemetery records or as determined by the City Clerk. The initial opening and closing (inurnment) of the niche is included in the original cost of the niche. Additional openings and closings thereafter are charged at a rate pursuant to the City’s fee structure. Markers for columbarium niches shall follow a standard format, font, and size as determined by the City and shall include the first and last name of the deceased, year of birth, and year of death. Only interment or inurnment of human remains is permitted in the Kenai Municipal Cemetery. No more than one (1) grave marker per plot shall be allowed. One (1) casket and up to two (2) cremains may be buried in a standard or infant plot. Up to three (3) cremains may be buried in a standard or infant plot. Only one (1) cremain may be buried in a cremain plot. Up to two cremains may be inurned in a standard niche. D. Grave Preparation All openings, closings, plot preparations, interments, disinterments, marker placements and removals shall be overseen by the City and under the supervision of the Parks and Recreation Director or their designated representative. Opening and closing of graves shall be conducted by a contractor or business licensed and insured in the State of Alaska as an embalmer, funeral director or mortuary establishment. E. Maintenance The City of Kenai shall take reasonable precaution to protect all grave markers within the Kenai Municipal Cemetery from loss or damage but expressly disclaims any responsibility for loss or damage from causes beyond such reasonable precautions. Damages incurred directly or collaterally and caused by or resulting from thieves, vandals, malicious mischief, or unavoidable accidents shall be excluded from the City of Kenai’s responsibilities. Planting of trees, shrubbery, plants or turf within the Kenai Municipal Cemetery shall be with the consent of the Parks and Recreation Director or designated representative. Failure to get prior authorization may result in removal of plant material. The City will maintain the driveway in winter and clear the path to the grave if a funeral is scheduled. The City of Kenai shall provide grass cutting at reasonable intervals, as well as raking, cleaning, grading and landscaping. Suggested height of trees is no more than eight feet (8′). Enclosures such as a picket fence or a perimeter shall be permitted around or about any grave or burial plot only upon expressed authorization of the Parks and Recreation Director or designee. Enclosures placed before authorization is granted are subject to removal. Enclosures not maintained or that create a safety hazard may be removed and discarded without prior notice at the discretion of the Parks and Recreation director or designee. Boxes, shelves, toys and other such articles upon a grave or burial lot shall be permitted only if contained within the plot and maintained monthly (April 1 through September 30). Articles that are not maintained, impede maintenance efforts, or become unsightly will be removed and discarded without prior notice at the discretion of the Parks and Recreation Director or designee. Plastic or silk flowers and artificial decorations are only permitted between May 1 and September 30. Burials occurring between October 1 and April 30 may have decorations displayed but are subject to removal thirty (30) days after burial. All decorations (except those on burials less than thirty (30) days) will be removed during a selected Saturday in the month of May each year during the annual cemetery clean up. A twenty (20) day notice will be posted at the cemetery. Family and friends may either remove their properly placed decorations before Saturday’s clean up and replace them later, or request the cemetery not to remove their properly placed decorations by calling or writing the Parks and Recreation Director. A final clean up of the cemetery will also occur in late September. Decorations shall not be placed in or attached to trees, shrubs, or fence. Plants, flowers, decorations, or articles not otherwise removed by the deadlines or regulations set forth herein, or have become withered or discolored, will be removed by the Parks and Recreation Director or designee without prior notice. The cemetery is not responsible for damage or liable for the return of such items. No material shall be allowed to remain in the Kenai Municipal Cemetery longer than is reasonably necessary for any construction work. During periods of break-up, no heavy hauling will be permitted. Within one (1) year of interment, graves shall be restored to ground level and re-seeded. A mortuary conducting a funeral service may provide, place, and remove greens, decorations or seating used for a burial and must provide necessary lowering devices. F. Columbarium Inscription (Niche Faceplate) Information An inscription is required to be inscribed directly onto the granite faceplate. The Kenai City Cemetery requires a specific format for unification of inscriptions that shall be followed according to the purchaser’s name designation. Emblems and/or photos will be allowed as space allows. When a suffix is needed (Jr., Sr., IV, etc.) they will be placed after the first name. Two (2) Urns with Same Last Name Two (2) Urns with Different Last Names SMITH JOHN Jr. (Emblem) (photo) (Emblem) (photo) SMITH JOHN ALAN SEPT. 5, 1954 – NOV. 8, 2004 APR. 8, 1954 – FEB. 10, 2005 ____________________ KATE (Emblem) (photo) (Emblem) (photo) KATE ANN WILLIAMS JAN. 30, 1954 – AUG. 5, 2003 DEC. 5, 1960 – MAR. 10, 1999 One (1) Urn – Single Inscription (Emblem) JOHN ALAN SMITH OCT. 10, 1965 – NOV. 25, 2006 (photo)