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Blog Entry 60 of 80 Grave Concerns: Inside Grand View Memorial Park

News you can use regarding Grand View Memorial Park, Glendale, CA's oldest cemetery, which has been closed for regular business since June 13, 2006, due to legal and financial problems. Lisa Burks also runs the website GrandViewMemorialPark.info.

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Cemetery visitations continue, pending tree issue

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Contributed by: Lisa Burks on 6/27/2007

The Glendale City Council, voted unanimously on Tuesday, June 26, to approve $187,600 in funds to continue limited visitations two Sundays a month at troubled Grand View Memorial Park during the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

However, "alarming" public hazards posed by falling branches from dying trees, which also pose a fire danger on the arid property, remain a problem that will require further attention before the new operating schedule can be announced.

The last limited visitation occurred on Father's Day, Sunday, June 17.

City Manager Jim Starbird told the council that, much to his dismay, late that afternoon he had received a revised estimate from West Coast Arborists Inc., which had been consulted for tree trimming and removal. The estimate jumped from $75,000-$100,000 to a whopping $200,000-$250,000.

The revisions were said to have been based on a reassessment that the trees in question cover 60 percent of the contained cemetery property, many close to grave sites which would require "ginger" handling, opposed to the standard street tree maintenance procedures.

The costs were not reflected in the original figures Starbird's office had laid out in a report finalized for the council earlier in the week.

Starbird said that in light of the new numbers, he and his staff were "not quite prepared" to recommend approving upward of "a quarter-million dollars to deal with trees."

The council, unanimously stating that limited visitations should definitely continue, cited public safety as its number one concern, and directed Starbird to work with city arborists to find an alternative, affordable solution to the tree problem that would keep the operation schedule within the original budget.

"I think we can be be creative in terms of the maintenance," said Councilman Frank Quintero, who noted that city resources and other outside vendors could be used to address trees that pose the biggest threat to safety while also holding down costs.

"Safety is a huge issue," agreed Councilman John Drayman. "I would like to see some additional professional evaluation and priorities made of the trees as to which ones should come down, and then see the facility re-opened on the same schedule as soon as possible."

"It is not the city's responsibility, as everyone has pointed out, and we are clearly not in the cemetery business, but we are in the human being business, and this is all a part of running a city," Drayman said.

City Attorney Scott Howard said that permission is also needed from the cemetery owners as well as the court,because ofthe current standing preservation order, before any work could be done.

The next status conference hearing before Judge Anthony J. Mohr, where this could be accomplished, is scheduled for July 9.

With fire season in full swing, the funding approved also covers a proactive $14,000 capital outlay for a much needed 50-gallon Airkwick air-pressure water tank to be used by park rangers in the event of possible brush fires on the dry cemetery grounds.

Two separate brush fires have already broken out during previous visitations, which were doused by rangers on the scene using relatively inferior water truck equipment.

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Submitted By: Linda Mustion

posted on 6/29/2007 @ 12:08:43 PM

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This is a reply to K Fog....The water is turned off because of no business per the State. The City of Glendale has a truck with water, but that is for fighting any fires that have or might occur at Grandview. If you want to step up and pay the monthly water bill, I am sure the owner would love to water the trees!

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Submitted By: K Fog

posted on 6/27/2007 @ 9:44:45 AM

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How about they just water all the trees so they stop dying -- then they don't have to worry about falling dead trees! Seems obvious to me...

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