Columbarium project gets favorable response
By Fritz Busch Journal Staff WriterNEW ULM - Several Brown County commissioners voiced interest Tuesday in exploring the idea of building a cremation columbarium in the Soldiers Rest section of New Ulm City Cemetery.
Brown County Veterans Service Officer Greg Peterson said that because the Soldiers Rest section has a limited amount of space, a columbarium, a storage facility for urns, would help economize available space for future burials.
"There is considerable interest in this," said Peterson. "It would be nice to build a nice building to complement the cemetery."
Commissioner Andy Lochner agreed.
"I think this can be worked out," said Lochner. "It's a sign of the times."
Columbarium niches would save space and cost a bit less than regular burial plots.
In a request for information on cemetery costs, New Ulm Monuments and Cemetery Commission Chairman George Glotzbach said regular burial plots cost $650 while columbarium niches start at $575 each.
Glotzbach stated that there are 17,238 lots in the City Cemetery, 6,327 of them occupied; 4,768 sold but unoccupied; and 6,143 for sale.
In other action, commissioners unanimously approved:
Authorizing Board Chairman Richard Seeboth to sign a letter of support for continuation of the South Central Children's Mental Health Initiative.
2010 recycling contract prices, same as 2009, for Braun and Borth Sanitation and Waste Management.
Revising the three-year Brown County Landfill contract with Mathiowetz Enterprises, Inc. through 2012. Cost hikes are 1.79 percent in 2010, 1.84 percent in 2011 and 2.01 percent in 2012.
The Middle Minnesota Watershed Septic Loan Amendment entering into an agreement with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) for septic funds.
The Minnesota Clean Water Partnership Project Implementation Loan Agreement for the Cottonwood River Watershed Phosphorus TMDL Continuation Project.
Renewal of Frank Madden & Associates, Attorneys at Law, Plymouth, for assistance as needed for union labor contract matters. at 2009 rates of $122 per hour for labor negotiation services and $127 per hour for arbitration and administrative hearing representation, billed in tenths of an hour.
(Fritz Busch can be e-mailed at fbusch@nujournal.com).
