Ephrata council tables cemetery display issue

EPHRATA - About 30 Ephrata residents came out in full force to combat a proposed ordinance that would restrict displays at the cemetery.

The city council held the second public hearing on the issue Wednesday and several community members expressed their displeasure toward the restriction.

According to City Administrator Wes Crago, the proposal stemmed from the city's budget problem.

"This is tough for the staff," Crago said. "This is a sensitive and kind of important issue."

After hearing several people speak and suggest alternatives to restricting displays, the council decided to table the issue.

The main disagreement between the community and public works employees was having to mow the cemetery lawn three times per week.

Ephrata resident Ellyn Berg addressed the council and explained that she had called eight other cemeteries around Grant County and all except for one mowed their lawn only once a week.

"I think we could go with mowing a little bit less and still have a beautiful, beautiful cemetery," Berg said.

Ephrata resident Jack Park, who said he has 35 to 45 friends buried in Ephrata, explained the importance of the cemetery.

"We have a beautiful cemetery and I'm proud of the cemetery," Park said. "It's like a beautiful park and some cities don't have one."

Phil Borck, who doesn't have any family members buried in the Ephrata cemetery, stressed the importance of allowing personalized memorials around headstones.

"If there's nothing there those people are forgotten," Borck said. "The memory is gone."

Borck said it would be difficult to enforce a restriction on displays.

Aaron Lutz didn't offer an emotional response to the council, instead he suggested ways to curb the growth.

Lutz is a graduate of Washington State University with a degree in crop science and a national certified crop advisor.

"There are things that you can do differently as far as growth regulators that were mentioned and you don't need to mow three times a week," Lutz said.

After the public comments were heard, Public Works Field Supervisor Dennis Ohl addressed the council on the problems his staff have been facing.

According to Ohl, the Ephrata cemetery is older and the lawn is uneven which slows down the mowing process.

Ohl also explained that putting displays back in their original place can be difficult, especially when public works uses groups from the jail.

"When you're moving two, three four hundred ornaments a day and you're trying to get through that it is hard," Ohl said.

The council commended the public works employees commended the public works for the job they do at the cemetery, but ultimately decided to table the vote on the ordinance.

"Whichever decision we make half the room is going to want to kill us and the other half is going to want to give us a hug or maybe not even that," Mayor Pro-Tem Bruce Reim said.