By CARA LORELLO
Staff Reporter
Members of the governance committee for the Eastern Washington State Veterans Cemetery met on April 1 for an update on the cemetery's design plans, and made a recommendation to the state director on veterans affairs which type of cemetery marker they want to use for burial plots.
Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs director, John Lee, announced in March the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has asked project leaders and their hired design firm, JGM & Associates, to begin the design and construction phase and have bid documents available by May. A general layout plan is nearly finished, but several smaller details are still being decided on at the committee level.
Governance committee chairwoman Ester Westlake first gave a report on cemetery design elements. Those included recommendations for an avenue of flags, a wall of honor, and memorial walk leading to burial plots with spaces reserved for organization monuments, flags, and benches.
Next came the question of whether to go with flat grave markers, or upright markers for in-ground cremations, which will make up an estimated 11,000 plots in the cemetery's first phase.
Project leaders and their design committee debated whether they should base their decision on what would save the project more money in long-term maintenance costs, or pick the best conceptual look for the cemetery's primary purpose, which is honoring the area's veterans.
The now 110-acre cemetery is expected to average a total of 500-600 burials a year with Eastern Washington being home to about 140,000 veterans and veteran families. About 75 of those will be in-ground cremations per year, project director Rich Cesler said.
As far as maintenance and operating costs, upright markers have some drawbacks. Upright markers have problems staying straight, and tend to sink. They require on average twice a year re-setting, a “constant problem” for maintenance crews, Joe Gilbert, cemetery manger for the Kansas Veterans Cemetery at Winfield, told Cesler in an email.
Standing markers also impede irrigation and trimming equipment more than flat markers, and cremation placements would need to be done manually as there's no room for equipment to maneuver in the 4-by-4 foot space for those placements.
Cesler said if the cemetery hired two groundskeepers, paid $12 an hour, extra labor and equipment costs for re-settings would average $3,000 a year.
“Resetting costs also increase exponentially every year,” Cesler explained.
Committee vice chair Jim Johnson said the original conceptual plan discussed with the state and federal VA authorities had a focus on upright markers. Choosing flat markers simply to save money now would divert from those discussions. There'd be no way to tell the cemetery from an open field, especially in the middle of winter when grounds would be covered in snow for months, he added.
Maintenance and labor-related issues, Johnson said, would be “minimal” at most, and probably could be avoided through careful scheduling, without putting a dent in the maintenance and operations budget.
Discussions closed with committee chairman Neal Sealock asking the committee to vote on one choice to recommend to Lee. Seven voted in favor of standing markers, and five for flat markers.
Since it was a close vote and each side presented some valid points, Sealock said the opposing side's concerns would be included in the recommendation letter to the state.
“We are here as an advisory committee to them, and may only recommend they consider operational perspectives, as well as the conceptual aesthetics originally asked for,” Sealock said, referring to previous discussions with the state and federal organizations. In other business, the committee talked about plans for the cemetery's Memorial Day groundbreaking event, scheduled for 1 p.m., Monday, May 25. Cesler said the expected turnout is around 800-1,000 people. Parking will be limited to spaces along Espanola and North Ritchey Road next to the site, with an area reserved for handicapped parking. Event details are currently available online at http://www.dva.wa.gov/eastern_wa_vet_cemetery.html.
Cara Lorello can be reached at [email protected]
Reader Comments(0)