REPORT TO

MAYOR AND COUNCIL

PRESENTED: JULY 6, 2009 - REGULAR MEETING REPORT: 09-98

FROM: RECREATION, CULTURE, AND PARKS DIVISION FILE: 3900-20
SUBJECT: LANGLEY CEMETERY BYLAW, 1994 No. 3202
AMENDMENT BYLAW 2009 NO. 4765

RECOMMENDATION(S):
That Council give first, second and third reading to Langley Cemetery Bylaw, 1994 No. 3202
Amendment Bylaw 2009 No. 4765.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
The Langley Cemetery Bylaw exists to incorporate all legislative requirements of the “Cemetery
and Funeral Services Act” as they pertain to the Township’s operation of Langley Lawn Cemetery,
Fort Langley Cemetery and Murrayville Cemetery.

Currently Township cemetery fees and charges are embedded in the Township’s Cemetery Bylaw.
With the goal of consolidating, where practical, the Township’s fees and charges into one bylaw,
this “housekeeping” report is recommending the amendment of the Bylaw to remove all references
to Fees and Charges.

Finance Division is concurrently bringing forward an amendment to the Township’s Fees and
Charges Bylaw, including a revised schedule of fees and charges that pertains to Recreation,
Culture, and Parks Division, including cemetery services. By removing fees and charges from the
Langley Cemetery Bylaw and embedding them in the Township’s Fees and Charges Bylaw, it will
simplify the process for the Division to review and enact changes to cemetery fees and charges on
an annual basis.

PURPOSE:
The purpose of this report is to seek Council’s authorization for the Langley Cemetery Bylaw, 1994
No. 3202 – Amendment Bylaw, 2009 No. 4765.
DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS:

This bylaw amendment administratively removes all references to fees and charges from the
Cemetery Bylaw allowing for their inclusion with all other Recreation, Culture, and Parks Services
fees as a Schedule contained within the Finance Division’s concurrent Fees and Charges Bylaw
amendment. This amendment to the Cemetery Bylaw is therefore mainly for “housekeeping”
purposes. The concurrent Fees and Charges Bylaw amendment addresses the actual fees and
charges for cemetery services and the rationale for their adjustment.

Staff will be undertaking a full review of the Cemetery Bylaw over the next number of months and
will be reporting back to Council later in 2009 with an amended (or new) bylaw based on this
comprehensive review.

Respectfully submitted,

David Leavers
DIRECTOR, RECREATION, CULTURE, AND PARKS
for
RECREATION, CULTURE, AND PARKS DIVISION

This report has been prepared in consultation with the following listed departments.

CONCURRENCES
Division Name
FINANCE DERRICK SPARKS

ATTACHMENT A –
LANGLEY CEMETERY BYLAW 1994 NO. 3202

ATTACHMENT B -
LANGLEY CEMETERY BYLAW 1994 NO. 3202 – AMENDMENT BYLAW 2009 NO. 4765
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THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWNSHIP OF LANGLEY

LANGLEY CEMETERY BYLAW 1994 NO. 3202

AMENDMENT BYLAW 2009 NO.4765

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Bylaw 4765 revises the Langley Cemetery Bylaw 1994 No. 3202 to remove all references to
Fees and Charges. These changes will be effective the day following adoption of Amendment
Bylaw 2009 No. 4765.

All references to Fees and Charges pertaining to cemetery operations can now be found in
Corporation’s Fees and Charges Bylaw.
 THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWNSHIP OF LANGLEY

LANGLEY CEMETERY BYLAW 1994, No. 3202

AMENDMENT BYLAW 2009, No. 4765

The Council of the Corporation of the Township of Langley, in Open Meeting assembled,
ENACTS as follows:

1. This bylaw may be cited for all purposes as "Langley Cemetery Bylaw 1994 No. 3202
Amendment Bylaw 2009 No. 4765."

2. It is established that the Council of the Corporation of the Township of Langley shall be
hereby appointed as a Board of Cemetery Trustees.

3. In this bylaw, unless the context otherwise requires,

'Corporation' shall mean The Corporation of the Township of Langley.

'Clerk' shall mean the person duly appointed as such from time to time by the
Council, or his designate.

'Treasurer' shall mean the person duly appointed as such from time to time by the
Council, or his designate.

'Caretaker' shall mean the person, or persons, who are the Caretaker(s) of the
Municipal Cemeteries.

'Cemetery' shall mean and include any parcel or tract of land owned, used, or
maintained by the Corporation of the Township of Langley as a cemetery.

'Medical Health Officer' shall mean the person duly appointed from time to time to act as
Medical Health Officer for The Corporation of the Township of Langley.

'Council' shall mean the Council of The Corporation of the Township of Langley.

'Mayor' shall include the Acting Mayor.

'Resident' shall mean any person presently residing in the Township of Langley,
and who has continuously resided in the Municipality for a period not less
than six months.

'Non-Resident' shall mean any person not covered under the interpretation of Resident.

'Memory Garden' shall mean a designated area in the cemetery set aside specifically for
the multiple interment of cremated remains.

'Veteran' shall mean any member of the armed forces, who is a veteran of a war.
Only a veteran or the spouse of a veteran may be buried in a veteran
grave, provided that the veteran predeceases the spouse.

'Child' shall mean a person between the ages of 2 and 12 years, inclusive.
 'Infant' shall mean a person up to the age of 24 months.

The use of words signifying the masculine shall include the feminine.

3. The following lands owned by the Corporation are set aside for use for cemetery
purposes:

(a) LANGLEY LAWN CEMETERY legally described as:

Lot Thirteen (13) of the Southeast Quarter (SE1/4) Section Thirty-Five (35)
Township Seven (7), Plan Three Thousand Three Hundred Seventy-Six (3376),
N.W.D.

(b) FORT LANGLEY CEMETERY legally described as:

Lot B of District Lot Seventy-nine (79), Group Two (2) Sketch Seven/Four
Hundred and Ninety Five/Four Thousand One Hundred and Eighty Seven A,
(7/495/4187A), N.W.D.; and

Lot Eleven (11), Block A, District Lot Seventy-Nine (79) Group Two (2), Plan
Eight Hundred and Sixty-Five (865), N.W.D.; and

Lot Ten (10), Block A District Lot Seventy-nine (79) Group Two (2), Plan Eight
Hundred and Sixty-Five (865), N.W.D.

(c) MURRAYVILLE CEMETERY legally described as:

Part of the North-East Quarter, Section Thirty-Six (36) Township Seven (7), Map
Six Thousand One Hundred and Twenty-One (6121), N.W.D.; and

Part Four (4) Acres More of Less, North-East Quarter, Section Thirty-Six (36),
Township Seven (7), Plan Six Thousand Five Hundred and Twenty (6520),
N.W.D.; and

Part of 0.0875 acre portion of Lot Four (4), North East Quarter of Section Thirty-
Six (36), Township Seven (7) Sketch Eleven Thousand Seven Hundred and
Sixty-One (11761), N.W.D.

(d) A copy of the plans of the cemetery are filed with the Registrar, Cemeteries
Branch, Ministry of Labour and Consumer Services, and copies shall also be
kept available for public inspection in the Municipal office and at such other
places as deemed necessary.

LICENCE TO USE CEMETERY

4. The Council may grant to any person paying the applicable fees, a licence in the form of
Schedule 'A' to this bylaw, for use by him, or his executors or administrators, of any one
or more grave spaces which may be vacant and unlicenced in the Cemetery.

5. A request by an individual to purchase more than two grave spaces may require the
approval of Council.
6. (a) If the holder of a license to use and occupy grave space in the cemetery shall at
any time wish to dispose of or transfer to another person this right, he shall first
furnish the Clerk full particulars of the name and address of the person to whom
such disposal or transfer is desired to be made.

(b) Upon receipt of a transfer fee and upon compliance with the requirements of this
bylaw, the Clerk shall affect the transfer by an endorsement upon the license
and shall record the transfer in the books or other records kept for that purpose.

7. All licenses issued for the use of grave space in the cemetery shall be subject to the
provisions of this bylaw and all bylaws now or hereafter passed by Council.

GRAVE SPACES MAY BE RECLAIMED

8. (a) Where a grave space previously sold has not been used, and:

(i) the license holder with the right of interment, if living, would be at least 90
years of age

(ii) a period of at least 50 years has elapsed from the date the grave space
was sold, and

(iii) the corporation has been unable to locate the license holder after having
given notice as required by section 34 (2) of the "Cemetery and Funeral
Services Act", the Corporation may apply, as prescribed, to the registrar
for permission to reclaim the lot and sell it to another person.

(b) Where a grave space is reclaimed and sold with permission of the registrar and the
space is subsequently required for use by the license holder with the right of
interment the Corporation shall provide another lot of equal or greater value
acceptable to the license holder or a person referred to in section 51 (1) of the
"Cemetery and Funeral Services Act".

FEES AND CHARGES

9. (a) The fees for grave spaces, interment, disinterment, care of graves, goods, and
other cemetery related services offered by the Corporation, are as set out in the
Corporation’s Fees and Charges Bylaw.

(b) The applicable fees for goods or services as set out in the Corporation’s Fees
and Charges Bylaw shall be paid in advance, at the Corporation's offices.

REFUNDS

10. (a) The holder of a license, his heirs, executors, or administrators may apply for a
refund for an unused grave space. If approved, the refund shall be 90% of the
current resident cost, less the current care fund fee.

(b) The person requesting the refund shall be required to produce the original
license and proof satisfactory to the Corporation of his right to claim a refund, or
if the original license is not available provide an affidavit attesting to his right to
the original license and proof of his right to claim a refund.
PERMISSION TO INTER, DISINTER AND EXHUME

11. No body other than a deceased human body shall be interred in the cemetery and no
interment shall be made until a permit in the form of Schedule 'A' to this bylaw has been
completed and the fee for interment paid to the Corporation.

12. All applications for a permit to inter in a cemetery must be made to the Caretaker or to
the Municipal Hall, at least 48 hours before the proposed time of interment.

13. Any person who makes application for an interment permit, or who requires an
interment to be made, shall furnish a statement of the name, age, date of death of the
deceased, date and time of funeral, whether or not death was caused by a
communicable disease in accordance with the "Regulations for the Control of
Communicable Diseases" made under the "Health Act", and such other information as
may be reasonably required.

14. (a) Where the Health Officer directs, pursuant to the "Regulations for the Control of
Communicable Diseases" or otherwise, that a body be buried in the cemetery
during any period when the Corporation's offices are closed, permission to inter
in the cemetery shall, if possible, be obtained from the Clerk.

(b) Where permission from the Clerk is not possible to obtain, and a burial in the
cemetery is performed under the conditions of sub-section (a), the person who
permitted the burial and the person who performed the burial shall report the
matter to the Clerk with full details of the deceased, together with such
applicable fees, if such fees have not already been paid.

(c) The information required to be given to the Clerk under this bylaw shall be
provided to the Clerk as soon after such interment as the Corporation's offices
are opened.

15. (a) No deceased person interred in the cemetery shall be disinterred without a
written order from the Municipal Clerk or his designate, and in the case of
exhumation, except in compliance with Section 58 of the "Cemetery and Funeral
Services Act".

(b) There will be no disinterment or exhumation from the memory garden.

16. It shall be unlawful for any person to cremate or bury a deceased person within
the limits of the Township of Langley except as authorized under the terms of
the "Cemetery and Funeral Services Act" and the Regulations made thereunder,
and in compliance with this bylaw.

17. The holder of a license to use and occupy grave space in the cemetery shall not
allow an interment, transfer or disposal of the grave space to another person,
group or organization except in compliance with and subject to the provisions of
this bylaw.

18. (a) Where the body of a person who died while suffering a communicable disease is
to be buried in the cemetery, any instruction given by the Health Officer
respecting the interment shall be fully and carefully followed by those who
perform the interment.
 (b) Where a body delivered to the cemetery for interment is subject to direction of
the Health Officer under the terms of the "Regulations for the Control of
Communicable Diseases" made under the "Health Act", the person delivering
the body to the cemetery shall inform the Caretaker.

19. (a) Each interment in the cemetery shall be made in a grave dug to a depth
sufficient to provide for not less than three feet (914.4 mm) of earth between the
upper surface of the coffin or grave liner and the level of the ground surrounding
the grave.

(b) No more than two casket interments shall be permitted in any one grave except
for cremated remains. In addition to two casket interments, up to eight (8)
cremated remains may be placed in one grave.

(c) Where two interments are permitted in any one grave, the last interment shall
have at least three feet (914.4 mm) of earth between the coffin or grave liner
and the level of the ground surrounding the grave; except that a baby under the
age of six months may be interred in the same coffin as the parent, and where
the remains of a family destroyed by fire are contained in one casket or coffin.

(d) A precast concrete grave liner or a fibreglass grave liner, the specifications of
which are satisfactory to the Corporation, shall be used for each interment in a
standard adult or child grave, except in the case of cremated remains. In some
instances, and at the discretion of the cemetery Caretaker, a grave liner may be
waived for a child's grave.

(e) Cremated remains of a deceased person may, when in a container sheathed

and sealed in not less than one and one half inches of concrete, be interred in a
grave to provide not less than twelve inches of earth between the upper surface
of the concrete-encased container and the level of the ground surrounding the
grave.

(f) No grave liner shall be provided by the Corporation free of charge.

20. No interments shall be permitted in the cemetery except between the hours of nine
o'clock in the forenoon and three o'clock in the afternoon.

21. No interments shall be permitted in the cemetery on Saturday, Sunday, or any statutory
holiday unless written permission of the Clerk is first obtained. With the exception of
memory garden interments, the fee for Saturday and Sunday burial, opening and
closing of the grave is to be twice the weekday cost and is to be three times the
weekday cost for Statutory Holidays.

22. No grave shall be dug, or opened by any person other than the Caretaker or other
person duly authorized by him, or by the Clerk.

23. No vaults, or other methods of interment above ground level, shall be permitted in the
cemetery.

24. The interment of cremated remains in an area designated as a Memory Garden shall be
without a container and shall only be performed under the direction of the Caretaker.
ADMINISTRATION AND CARE FUND

25. The Clerk shall maintain records as necessary for the administration and management
of the cemetery as required by the "Cemetery and Funeral Services Act".

26. The Clerk is hereby authorized on behalf of the Municipality to issue a license in the
form set out as Schedule 'A' to this bylaw in respect of any grave space in the cemetery,
according to the scale of fees and charges specified in the Corporation’s Fees and
Charges Bylaw.

27. The Clerk, or his designate, shall issue all permits for interment required by this bylaw,
except as otherwise provided.

28. Upon issuing any permits for interment in the cemetery, or upon receiving an order for
exhumation from the proper authority, the Clerk shall notify the Caretaker before the
time of the intended interment or exhumation, giving the name of the deceased and the
number and location of the grave space concerned.

29. (a) A fund shall be established to be known as 'The Cemetery Care Fund' and such
fund shall be administered in accordance with the requirements of the
Regulations made under the "Cemetery and Funeral Services Act" for the
establishment and administration of a Municipal Cemetery Care Fund and in
accordance with the procedures hereinafter set out.

(b) An account shall be established to be known as 'The Cemetery Care Fund

Account' into which the Treasurer shall pay all funds received for Care Fund
purposes and all such funds shall be deposited in said account, and there held
pending investment as hereinafter provided.

(c) On all licenses for the use of grave space, and on all contracts or agreements
for the sale of such licenses, the amount required to be used for Care Fund
purposes shall be specified.

(d) Investment of funds received for Care Fund purposes shall be made as required
by the Regulations under the "Cemetery and Funeral Services Act" applicable to
Municipal Cemetery Care Funds.

(e) The income from the 'Cemetery Care Fund' including any appreciation thereof,
shall be used for the sole purpose of upkeep and maintenance of the property
licensed and the cemetery of which it forms a part.

(f) The principal sum of the cemetery care fund shall not be reduced otherwise than
in accordance with an order of the Minister made pursuant to the Regulations
under the "Cemetery and Funeral Services Act".

MEMORIALS

30. No person shall place on any grave space in the cemetery a memorial marker or tablet
until the Care Fund, setting fee, and burial expenses have been paid to the Municipality.

31. No memorial tablet will be permitted in an area designated as a Memory Garden.

32. A memorial may be installed on a grave in the cemetery subject to the requirements of
this bylaw and subject to the following:

(a) All memorials shall be of the tablet type and may only be of granite or bronze.

(b) All bronze memorial tablets shall be attached to concrete bases not less than
four (4") (100 mm) in thickness and with a four inch (4") (100 mm) concrete
surround, except for infant and cremation graves which shall be set in concrete
not less than four inches (4") (100 mm) in thickness and with a three inch (3")
(75 mm) concrete surround.

(c) On single, double depth and child graves the granite memorial tablets shall be
not larger than twenty inches by twelve inches (20" X 12") (500 mm X 300 mm)
and be not less than three inches (3") (75 mm) thick and shall be set in concrete
not less than four inches (4") (100 mm) in thickness and with a four inch (4")
(100 mm) concrete surround.

(d) On infants' and side by side cremation graves the memorial tablet shall be not
larger than sixteen inches by ten inches (16" X 10")(400 mm X 250 mm) and be
not less than three inches (3") (75 mm) thick and shall be set in concrete not
less than four inches (4") (100 mm) in thickness and with a three inch (3") (75
mm) concrete surround.

(e) On a side by side adult grave the granite memorial tablet shall be not larger than
thirty inches by eighteen inches (30" X 18")(750 mm X 450 mm) and be not less
than three inches (3") (75 mm) thick and shall be set in concrete not less than
four inches (4")(100 mm) in thickness and with a four inch (4") (100 mm)
concrete surround.

(f) On single cremation plots the granite memorial tablet shall be not larger than
twelve inches by eight inches (12" x 8")(300 mm X 200 mm) and not less than
three inches (3")(75 mm) thick and shall be set in concrete not less than four
inches (4")(100 mm) in thickness and with a three inch (3") (75 mm) concrete
surround.

(g) All memorial tablets to be placed shall be received at the Municipal Works Yard
Stores from the Monument Contractor and shall be installed by the cemetery
workmen under the supervision of the Caretaker.

(h) All granite memorial tablets shall be set with the top surface of the tablet even
with the ground.

(i) All concrete bases and concrete surrounds shall be supplied by the Municipality
in accordance with the fees as set out in the Township’s Fees and Charges
Bylaw.

(j) The Municipality shall not be responsible for any breakage or damage to any
tablet except as shall arise out of the carelessness and negligence of the
Caretaker or his assistants.
GENERAL

33. No grave, or grave space, shall be defined by a fence, railing, coping, curbing, hedge,
or by any other marking save by a memorial tablet as set out in this bylaw.

34. Cut flowers, wreaths and floral offerings may be placed on graves but may be removed
by the Caretaker when their condition is considered by him to be detrimental to the
beauty of the cemetery.

35. Boxes, shells, toys, wire screens, arbours, trellises, tripods or any other objects are
prohibited on any grave. Between March 1 and November 1, no artificial flowers are to
be placed.

36. No person shall plant, remove, cut down, or destroy, any trees, shrubs, plants, bulbs or
rocks in the cemetery other than an employee of The Corporation authorized to do so.

37. All persons are prohibited from damaging, or defacing any memorial, monument, fence,
gate, or structure in the cemetery, or any improvements in the cemetery.

38. Owners of automobiles or other vehicles will be responsible for any damage done by
them or their drivers in violation of the provisions of this bylaw.

39. No person shall solicit orders for or place or cause to be placed advertising material for
markers, tablets, memorials, curbings, cappings, or like works within the limits of a
cemetery.

40. All persons and funeral processions in the cemetery shall obey the instructions of the
Caretaker or his assistant, and any person not behaving with proper decorum within the
cemetery, or disturbing the quiet and good order of the cemetery may be evicted
therefrom by the Caretaker.

41. Dogs shall not be permitted in the cemetery and no person shall allow a dog owned by
him or in his care to be in the cemetery.

42. Any person who willfully destroys, mutilates, defaces, injures, or removes any tomb,
monument, grave-stone, or other structure placed in the cemetery, or any fence, railing,
or other work for the protection or ornament of the cemetery, or any tomb, monument,
grave-stone, or other structure aforesaid or lot within the cemetery, or willfully destroys,
cuts, breaks or injures any shrub, or plant, or plays at any game or sport, or discharges
firearms (save at a military funeral) or who willfully or unlawfully disturbs persons
assembled for the purpose of burying a body therein, or who commits a nuisance, or at
any time behaves in an indecent or unseemly manner, or deposits any rubbish or
offensive matter or thing in a cemetery, or in any way violates any grave, tomb,
tombstone, vault, or other structure within the same, shall be guilty of an infraction of
this bylaw, and liable to the penalties hereof.

43. No person shall be within the cemetery during the period dusk to dawn.

44. Any person who contravenes or violates any of the provisions of this bylaw or who
suffers or permits anything to be done in contravention or violation of this bylaw or who
neglects to do anything required to be done pursuant to this bylaw commits an offence
and shall upon conviction be liable to a fine of not less than $300.00 and not more than
the maximum penalties provided by the Offence Act from time to time and, where the
 offence is a continuing one, each day that the offence is continued shall constitute a
separate offence.

45. Notwithstanding anything herein contained, the administration of the cemetery shall be
carried out at all times in accordance with the "Cemetery and Funeral Services Act" and
Regulations made thereunder.

READ A FIRST TIME the day of , 2009

READ A SECOND TIME the day of , 2009
READ A THIRD TIME the day of , 2009
RECONSIDERED AND ADOPTED the day of , 2009

Mayor Deputy Township Clerk