Survey results show most want new city cemetery

Results from a recent city survey show that while most respondents think Whitefish needs a new cemetery, they aren’t in favor of paying higher taxes to fund the project.

An Ad-hoc Cemetery Committee prepared and distributed the survey this past winter to gauge interest in the possible project.

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.

Of 426 survey respondents, 63 percent answered “yes” to the question, “Does the city of Whitefish need a new cemetery?” However, 60 percent of those respondents said they wouldn’t prefer to be interred in Whitefish if a plot was available. About 73 percent said they weren’t interested in family plots, either.

About 64 percent said they wouldn’t be willing to pay higher property taxes, while 23 percent said “maybe.”

76 percent said cremation was their preferred form of burial. 10 percent said they preferred conventional burial and 13 percent said they preferred a green or natural burial.

The cemetery committee has narrowed down possible cemetery sites to a location south of the wastewater treatment plant near the Whitefish River, and near the city shops off of West 18th Street.

The site at the public works shops is city-owned and is roughly 8 acres in size. The site on Monagan Road is city-owned and allows for a cemetery to be created in two sites on about 11 acres with access from a country road.

Water perc tests at the two sites were preformed over the past several months and the city expects to see those results in July.

The committee meets again June 21 where they will likely craft a recommendation for city council review.