Blind River council has approved guidelines for mortuary use for at the town-owned Hillside Cemetery.
The mortuary is used to store deceased people during the winter months until burial can occur.
The report was compiled by the town’s deputy clerk Pam Walsh.
The established guidelines, approved by council at its virtual meeting Monday evening, sets out that:
- No person shall use the mortuary or place a body in the mortuary without the consent of the Clerk’s department
- A body may be stored in the mortuary for the purpose of burial in the spring
- A body may be stored in the mortuary for the purpose of burial in another cemetery as long as the Clerk’s department deems there to be room
- All bodies temporarily placed in the mortuary must be removed as soon as the Clerk’s department deems it possible
- In consultation with the Public Works department, no body shall be stored in the mortuary unless it is embalmed and enclosed in an impermeable shroud
- The bodies of persons dying from contagious diseases (as defined by the coroner or Algoma Public Health) must be interred and shall not be stored in the mortuary
- The Clerk’s department reserves the right to determine if the weather conditions are adverse enough to prevent a burial
The cost for cemetery plots was set back in 2019 at $495 for land plots and perpetual plots at $330.
Opening and closing of a site is from $450 to $550 for Monday to Friday for adult burials and go from $550 to $650 on Saturdays.
Weekday infant burials will go from $250 to $300 and Saturday burials will see an increase from $350 to $450.
The cost to inter ashes in the Columbarium is set at a top row placement for one going to $650 and for top row placement for two to $925. Other row placement went up $100 depending on placement in the Columbarium when the new fees were set.
Further information on burials can be obtained from the clerk’s office or at the town website at blindriver.ca.