CARSTAIRS - Council has approved an updated Carstairs Cemetery Bylaw No. 2045 to replaced the former Bylaw No. 1032 – with the updated bylaw including a new Field of Honour section for veterans.
The move came by way of motion at the recent regularly scheduled council meeting.
The new bylaw differs in several ways from the previous bylaw, including the addition of the Field on Honour section regarding the interment of veterans.
Section 10 - Field of Honour calls for the town to “set aside an area, which shall be known as the ‘Field of Honour’, which shall be reserved for the burial of veterans."
“No interment in the Field on Honour shall contain more than one full burial as the initial internet and six cremations.”
The section also states that, “No internments shall take place in the Field of Honour Section, unless a Town of Carstairs application for burial Field of Honour section form has been fully completed and signed by the applicant and approved by the Town.
“If both spouses qualify as veterans, a reservation may be made after one spouse is interred. For a spouse no qualifying as a veteran, but interred in the same lot, the name and date of the spouse may be engraved on the headstone.
“Cemetery lots may be resold back to the town with a refund of 85 per cent of the prevailing rate and a full refund of perpetual care fee.”
The updated bylaw defines a veteran as defined in the War Veterans Allowance Act (Canada) and the regulations under that act.
The updated bylaw does not include the former ‘Military Funeral’ section, which read: “Military funeral shall mean the formal military participation at a member’s funeral. A member may be entitled to a military funeral in accordance with QR&O 24-15 (military funeral). The discharge of firearms will not be permitted unless approved by council.”
Updated Section 7 of the bylaw deals with the care of cemeteries, removal of monument and maintenance.
Under that section, grave decoration placed at the cemetery shall conform to the following guidelines: “Flowers and similar decorations shall be placed in approved containers and affixed to a monument, grave decorations must not include lawn ornaments or an items made of grass or china placed on any part of the grave or adjacent to the monument, and no person all place, erect or plant any object in any part of the cemetery, expect for temporary memorial funeral designs or floral pieces within seven days of the burial.
“The town reserves the right to remove dead flowers, fading artificial flowers, and other such materials from monuments, markers and structures. The town shall have authority to remove all floral designs, flowers, weeds, trees, shrubs, plants, and herbage of any kind from the cemetery.”
The complete updated bylaw is available for viewing on the town’s website.
