The ravages of December storms continue to frustrate people dealing with their aftermath. With Memorial Day approaching, North Coast cemeteries are still cleaning up from the storms, but some of the damage will remain. "This December taught us - we can be proactive, or we can be reactive and wait until something fails," said Mike Leamy of Greenwood Cemetery. "That windstorm knocked over about 80 upright monuments."Some of the monuments that got knocked over broke."That's going to take some expertise to repair," Leamy said.Expertise means expense. He said one estimate he's gotten - just for repairing the 80 blown-over stones - is $6,000.And that doesn't account for the toll age is taking on the cemetery. Greenwood Cemetery in Astoria has nearly 14,000 graves, some of which are more than 150 years old. As things stand - relying on user fees - Greenwood takes in about four-tenths of
a penny per grave per month. "That doesn't go very far," Leamy said.Some revenue comes from fees for grave openings and closings. Most income for perpetual cemeteries comes when people buy a grave space. In perpetual care cemeteries a percentage of the grave sale goes to a trust fund whose interest maintains the cemetery. But the idea of perpetual cemeteries didn't come along until the 1950s - long after many of Greenwood's graves were forgotten about. There are three perpetual cemeteries in Clatsop County - Greenwood, Ocean View Cemetery in Warrenton and Lewis and Clark Cemetery in Astoria. As society is changing, so are people's methods for dealing with their dead.Oregon is one of a few states where more people are cremated than buried, and Leamy said Clatsop County has a higher rate of cremations than many other counties in Oregon. Every cemetery in Clatsop County is considered historic, Leamy said. And because the cemeteries are so old, many are not only in need of maintenance, they are in dire need of repairs. "Deterioration demands, restoration demands, and reconstruction before (monuments) can be restored," Leamy said.Leamy has proposed that Clatsop County start a cemetery district to the county Board of Commissioners and to
ALEX PAJUNAS — The Daily AstorianMichael Leamy, the caretaker at the Greenwood Cemetery in Astoria, hopes to get a measure to establish a countywide cemetery district on the ballot in November to help restore and maintain local cemeteries. Leamy also chairs the Clatsop County Cemetery District Formation Committee.
ALEX PAJUNAS — The Daily AstorianA monument lays in disrepair at the Greenwood Cemetery after December’s windstorm blew over the spire and it snapped in two after hitting the ground. “This December taught us – we can be proactive or we can be reactive and wait until something fails,” said Mike Leamy, caretaker of the Greenwood Cemetery. “That wind storm knocked over about 60 upright monuments.”
Taxation needed to cover preservation?The ravages of December storms continue to frustrate people dealing with their aftermath. With Memorial Day approaching, North Coast cemeteries are still cleaning up from the storms, but some of the damage will remain. "This December taught us - we can be proactive, or we can be reactive and wait until something fails," said Mike Leamy of Greenwood Cemetery.
"That windstorm knocked over about 80 upright monuments."Some of the monuments that got knocked over broke."That's going to take some expertise to repair," Leamy said.Expertise means expense. He said one estimate he's gotten - just for repairing the 80 blown-over stones - is $6,000.And that doesn't account for the toll age is taking on the cemetery. Greenwood Cemetery in Astoria has nearly 14,000 graves, some of which are more than 150 years old. As things stand - relying on user fees - Greenwood takes in about four-tenths of a penny per grave per month. "That doesn't go very far," Leamy said.Some revenue comes from fees for grave openings and closings. Most income for perpetual cemeteries comes when people buy a grave space. In perpetual care cemeteries a percentage of the grave sale goes to a trust fund whose interest maintains the cemetery. But the idea of perpetual cemeteries didn't come along until the 1950s - long after many of Greenwood's graves were forgotten about. There are three perpetual cemeteries in Clatsop County - Greenwood, Ocean View Cemetery in Warrenton and Lewis and Clark Cemetery in Astoria. As society is changing, so are people's methods for dealing with their dead.Oregon is one of a few states where more people are cremated than buried, and Leamy said Clatsop County has a higher rate of cremations than many other counties in Oregon. Every cemetery in Clatsop County is considered historic, Leamy said. And because the cemeteries are so old, many are not only in need of maintenance, they are in dire need of repairs. "Deterioration demands, restoration demands, and reconstruction before (monuments) can be restored," Leamy said.Leamy has proposed that Clatsop County start a cemetery district to the county Board of Commissioners and to municipalities in the county which have cemeteries. Cannon Beach last week endorsed a vote on a countywide cemetery district. Leamy wants the county to create the cemetery district so it can begin taxing its citizens."The view that we're taking is a preservation view," he said. "There are a lot of significant figures buried here." John Shively - who made the trip along the Oregon Trail two or three times in the 1840s and wrote about his travels - is buried at Greenwood.There are areas set aside for the Finnish Brotherhood, Elks groups, Redmen, Woodmen of the World, the Alaska Fishermen's Union, the Saint Nicholas Society and others.Leamy said formation of a funded district can only go on the ballot in May or November of an evennumbered year. He's hoping to have a measure on the November ballot.Leamy suggest the initial year of the tax rate to be 11 cents per $1,000 of assessed value of property."We will be looking at a permanent rate of 20 cents per $1,000 following that," Leamy said. "You have to prepare for the greatest burden, and for the long run"The reason to get the cities to come on board is that they already have existing services for their cemeteries. For a county district to take in those districts within cities, the cities have to approve. Otherwise they would not be parts of the district. Leamy said this proposal would provide funding that would spread the burden of caring for cemeteries across the county.But the cemeteries continue to decay. And heavy equipment can't be taken across the gravesites to perform repairs or they will cave in. "It's going to be by hand: It's going to be with hand tools," he said. "It's going to take years to repair the ravages of decades of years gone by."
a penny per grave per month. "That doesn't go very far," Leamy said.Some revenue comes from fees for grave openings and closings. Most income for perpetual cemeteries comes when people buy a grave space. In perpetual care cemeteries a percentage of the grave sale goes to a trust fund whose interest maintains the cemetery. But the idea of perpetual cemeteries didn't come along until the 1950s - long after many of Greenwood's graves were forgotten about. There are three perpetual cemeteries in Clatsop County - Greenwood, Ocean View Cemetery in Warrenton and Lewis and Clark Cemetery in Astoria. As society is changing, so are people's methods for dealing with their dead.Oregon is one of a few states where more people are cremated than buried, and Leamy said Clatsop County has a higher rate of cremations than many other counties in Oregon. Every cemetery in Clatsop County is considered historic, Leamy said. And because the cemeteries are so old, many are not only in need of maintenance, they are in dire need of repairs. "Deterioration demands, restoration demands, and reconstruction before (monuments) can be restored," Leamy said.Leamy has proposed that Clatsop County start a cemetery district to the county Board of Commissioners and toALEX PAJUNAS — The Daily AstorianMichael Leamy, the caretaker at the Greenwood Cemetery in Astoria, hopes to get a measure to establish a countywide cemetery district on the ballot in November to help restore and maintain local cemeteries. Leamy also chairs the Clatsop County Cemetery District Formation Committee.
ALEX PAJUNAS — The Daily AstorianA monument lays in disrepair at the Greenwood Cemetery after December’s windstorm blew over the spire and it snapped in two after hitting the ground. “This December taught us – we can be proactive or we can be reactive and wait until something fails,” said Mike Leamy, caretaker of the Greenwood Cemetery. “That wind storm knocked over about 60 upright monuments.”
Taxation needed to cover preservation?The ravages of December storms continue to frustrate people dealing with their aftermath. With Memorial Day approaching, North Coast cemeteries are still cleaning up from the storms, but some of the damage will remain. "This December taught us - we can be proactive, or we can be reactive and wait until something fails," said Mike Leamy of Greenwood Cemetery.
"That windstorm knocked over about 80 upright monuments."Some of the monuments that got knocked over broke."That's going to take some expertise to repair," Leamy said.Expertise means expense. He said one estimate he's gotten - just for repairing the 80 blown-over stones - is $6,000.And that doesn't account for the toll age is taking on the cemetery. Greenwood Cemetery in Astoria has nearly 14,000 graves, some of which are more than 150 years old. As things stand - relying on user fees - Greenwood takes in about four-tenths of a penny per grave per month. "That doesn't go very far," Leamy said.Some revenue comes from fees for grave openings and closings. Most income for perpetual cemeteries comes when people buy a grave space. In perpetual care cemeteries a percentage of the grave sale goes to a trust fund whose interest maintains the cemetery. But the idea of perpetual cemeteries didn't come along until the 1950s - long after many of Greenwood's graves were forgotten about. There are three perpetual cemeteries in Clatsop County - Greenwood, Ocean View Cemetery in Warrenton and Lewis and Clark Cemetery in Astoria. As society is changing, so are people's methods for dealing with their dead.Oregon is one of a few states where more people are cremated than buried, and Leamy said Clatsop County has a higher rate of cremations than many other counties in Oregon. Every cemetery in Clatsop County is considered historic, Leamy said. And because the cemeteries are so old, many are not only in need of maintenance, they are in dire need of repairs. "Deterioration demands, restoration demands, and reconstruction before (monuments) can be restored," Leamy said.Leamy has proposed that Clatsop County start a cemetery district to the county Board of Commissioners and to municipalities in the county which have cemeteries. Cannon Beach last week endorsed a vote on a countywide cemetery district. Leamy wants the county to create the cemetery district so it can begin taxing its citizens."The view that we're taking is a preservation view," he said. "There are a lot of significant figures buried here." John Shively - who made the trip along the Oregon Trail two or three times in the 1840s and wrote about his travels - is buried at Greenwood.There are areas set aside for the Finnish Brotherhood, Elks groups, Redmen, Woodmen of the World, the Alaska Fishermen's Union, the Saint Nicholas Society and others.Leamy said formation of a funded district can only go on the ballot in May or November of an evennumbered year. He's hoping to have a measure on the November ballot.Leamy suggest the initial year of the tax rate to be 11 cents per $1,000 of assessed value of property."We will be looking at a permanent rate of 20 cents per $1,000 following that," Leamy said. "You have to prepare for the greatest burden, and for the long run"The reason to get the cities to come on board is that they already have existing services for their cemeteries. For a county district to take in those districts within cities, the cities have to approve. Otherwise they would not be parts of the district. Leamy said this proposal would provide funding that would spread the burden of caring for cemeteries across the county.But the cemeteries continue to decay. And heavy equipment can't be taken across the gravesites to perform repairs or they will cave in. "It's going to be by hand: It's going to be with hand tools," he said. "It's going to take years to repair the ravages of decades of years gone by."
No comments:
Post a Comment