INNISFAIL – There was quite an outcry on social media earlier this month over the Town of Innisfail’s cleanup of the Innisfail Cemetery.
However, town staff and mayor Jean Barclay all say there was plenty of notice the job had to be done.
“I understand the sensitivity to the cemetery, obviously, but the town was very public in notifying the community that (staff) were going to be doing a cleanup, and it has been going on for several weeks,” Barclay told the Albertan. “I know it's even in the paper (Albertan) again this week (July 9), asking people to remove things.
“It's very clear with our cemetery bylaw about what's allowed and not allowed. We want to make sure that it's such a sacred place and to make sure it stays beautiful.”
The furor erupted on the Innisfail Bulletin Facebook page with more than 90 posts, many critical of the town.
“They throw everything together in a trailer like garbage for those to come find themselves while hurt by this? I couldn’t even try and fish out my grandmother’s things in that trailer,” said one poster. “Things are broken in there tangled together and just not cared about.”
However, there were others pointing out the town did give plenty of notice and that the anger and frustration was not justified.
“The Town has been advising this would happen, and reasons for why it needed to happen for quite a while,” countered another poster. “Residents need to read the information the Town puts out.
“Don’t blame them if you chose to ignore the information they send,” the poster added. “If they had to increase costs to bring on extra staff to deal with everyone’s memorabilia people would be upset too.”
The cemetery kerfuffle thread on the Innisfail Bulletin page has since been removed.
But it did not stop senior town staff in giving their side of the controversy to the Albertan and bringing up the matter at Innisfail council’s regular meeting on July 8.
Erica Vickers, director of corporate affairs for the Town of Innisfail, told the Albertan that public notices of the cemetery cleanup and the need to remove temporary installations began about two months ago with advertising in the Albertan, as well as notices through social media.
She said the cemetery bylaw has been in place “for years” and the information about temporary memorials is posted on the sign when patrons enter the cemetery.
“There is an expectation that we maintain the cemetery grounds, and our town staff work diligently to ensure the grounds remain well tended,” said Vickers, adding the bylaw is not unique to Innisfail, and similar ones exist in other communities.
“In order for (staff) to do this effectively, temporary memorials must be moved or removed, and this adds to the time it takes for them to maintain the grounds.
“Unfortunately, it is no longer an option for us to maintain this level of service. This (cleanup) will now be done on an annual basis when summer grounds-maintenance is required.”
As for the way staff removed the gravesite items, Vickers said this was done with care and respect.
“Our parks team took every item, (and) they tagged and taped every item with the name of the monument and placed them in a bin for the public to come and collect,” said Vickers.
She told council on July 8 that following the social media posts on the Innisfail Bulletin page the town had no record of any calls or complaints.
Vickers said staff will continue to monitor the situation.
