Council’s hopes of recouping extra costs for those not using cemetery vaults is over.
Earlier this year, the town applied to the Ministry of Small Business and Consumer Services for permission to increase fees for burials done without concrete vaults; a decision that followed the recommendation of the town’s public works committee.
That request was denied.
A few years ago, Minto tried to get a bylaw to make burial vaults mandatory, but that approach was not allowed either.
At a council meeting earlier this year, Public Works Director Norm Fisk explained that while not using a vault for the casket may seem like a green initiative, the ground continues to sink over the grave as the ground settles.
As a result, more upkeep is needed. “This was one way of paying for that [extra upkeep],” Fisk said.
