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Cemetery committee likes land near river

by Matt Baldwin / Whitefish Pilot
| June 30, 2011 10:16 AM

Whitefish’s ad hoc Cemetery Committee

has expressed interest in two parcels of land for possibly creating

a new city cemetery. The group is impressed with land near the

Whitefish River footbridge and the city’s sewage treatment pond,

while a plot of state land on Lion Mountain is also of

consideration.

The committee’s objective is to

evaluate possible locations for a cemetery close to the city.

Whitefish’s only cemetery off of Ramsey Avenue opened in 1918 and

has 3,079 lots and 184 crematory sites, but they’re all sold and

privately owned. As a result, several community members recently

have been buried outside the city.

The city purchased land near the Armory

in the 1950s with the intention to create a cemetery, but the land

was found to have high groundwater.

At a June 16 committee work session,

member Ole Netteberg called the land near the river and treatment

plant a “beautiful forest” that he was very impressed with after

taking a city-led tour.

Steve Thompson said that the area was

forested with a nice mix of large and small trees and could work

well for both a traditional and “natural” cemetery.

Other committee members agreed the

city-owned parcel was nice, although there were some concerns about

the potential for foul smells coming from the treatment

facility.

It was noted that many of the trees

there would have to be cleared for a cemetery, which could increase

the chances of smells wafting through the area. It was also noted

that the ponds are “turned” a handful of times a year, which

emphasizes the odors.

Necile Lorang, the city’s

administrative service director, said that most of the complaints

the city gets about the plant’s odors come from people who live

near Shady River Estates. The city received three letters from

neighbors of the treatment plant about the noxious odors and

putting a cemetery there.

A second area of consideration for a

cemetery is near the parking area for the Whitefish Trail off of

Lion Mountain Loop Road. It was also widely considered to be a

nicely forested area that could be ideal.

Downfalls include that it’s outside of

city limits and on Department of Natural Resources and Conservation

land, and that access to utilities could be an issue.

Member Charlie Abell brought to the

committees attention a parcel of land off of State Park Road that

he consider to have potential as a cemetery site.

The committee invited to the meeting

Anthony Gloschat of Johnson-Gloschat Funeral Homes. Gloschat asked

the members whether the city had researched the public’s interest

in creating a new city cemetery. He warned that a cemetery could be

a “highly subsidized venture.”

Member Terry Trieweiler said having a

city cemetery is “part of creating a sense of community.”

Abell added that he believes there is a

great need for a cemetery and “has been for a long time.”

“There are dozens of people buried in

Kalispell that would rather be buried here,” Abell said.

Gloschat agreed that there is a strong

sense of pride among people from Whitefish.

Gloschat noted that with Whitefish’s

greater population of about 10,000 people, there would be about 100

burials a year and that a 10 acre cemetery could last for dozens of

years. He estimated that 80 percent of Whitefish residents choose

to be cremated. Whether the lack of city cemetery space has boosted

that rate in recent years was unclear.

The committee will study at their next

meeting the concept of a natural cemetery. Thompson set up a

seminar with a firm experienced in the arena.

Green burials, as they are sometimes

called, are a way of caring for the deceased with minimal

environmental impact and embalming fluid is discouraged.

It was noted that natural cemeteries

are scarce in Montana, with the closest one in the Swan Valley. If

Whitefish partitioned off a natural area in a new city cemetery,

there was speculation by some committee members that there could be

a demand from people living outside of the city who want to be

buried in a natural cemetery. This could be a good or bad thing,

the committee said.