Volunteers on behalf of the borough this month cleared new land at Jones Point Cemetery, across Sawmill Road from the main burial grounds.
The stretch of land was the subject of a controversy earlier this year when neighboring non-profit Takshanuk Watershed Council applied for a borough easement for use of a driveway running through the corner of the now-cleared land.
Part of the argument against granting the easement were plans made by longtime cemetery caretakers Roc and Diann Ahrens to build a columbarium – a structure to store cremated remains — on or near the driveway area.
The recent land clearing and grading is the first step in that process, Roc Ahrens said this week.
“This year, phase one is to clear the property on the right hand side of the road (across from the main burial ground) to develop parking and a green grassy strip,” Ahrens said. He also applauded work by borough maintenance staff to cut back brush around the rest of the cemetery grounds.
The caretakers plan for another phase to follow, mainly the construction of a covered pavilion and columbarium. Plans are still preliminary and have not been submitted to the borough, Ahrens said, but his current hope is to place the structure across the road from the flagpole at the center of the burial grounds.
There have been questions about just how the approval process for improvements to the cemetery should work, given the unusual situation of borough-owned land, but improvements initiated by caretakers and done with volunteer labor.
In June, the cemetery caretakers were told they could not submit a land-use permit request because the borough owns the land, and not the caretakers.
At a July 8 assembly meeting, borough manager Alekka Fullerton said that a land-use permit would “need to come to the Assembly as owners for approval.” At the same meeting, assembly members expressed broad support for volunteer work being done at the cemetery but did not take official action.
According to Lambert, the recent work, as preliminary site-work, was completed under a different type of permit: a site-development permit. And because the project is being done by volunteers, the improvements do not have to go through the competitive bidding process required for other borough projects and improvements, Fullerton said. That process, she said, applies to projects over $25,000.
The permit was both submitted and approved by the borough, and Lambert said the caretakers filled out the permit and Fullerton signed off on it. Then it went for final approval to the lands department, in this case to Lambert, Fullerton said.
Ahrens emphasized this week that he has delivered reports to the borough clerk detailing all the work being done, as was asked of him by the borough administration.
Takshanuk executive director Derek Poinsette said this week he hopes there will be opportunities for public input in the future.
“Given that it’s public property, and an important piece of public property, I think it would be beneficial to everyone if the cemetery caretakers, and the neighboring landowners — Takshanuk and (Alaska Mountain Guides) — we could all come up with a dev plan that moves forward and is aesthetically pleasing.”
Alaska Mountain Guides, which borders the newly-cleared land on the other side, also became involved in the cemetery boundary dispute in the wake of the easement controversy. Vehicles associated with AMG had been parked on the side of Sawmill Road opposite the main cemetery burial grounds. But a recent survey determined cemetery land extended 30 feet toward AMG property from the center line of Sawmill Road, encompassing the parking area.
On July 22, the borough sent the company a cease-and-desist letter regarding parking on cemetery land. Lambert said the company never replied to the letter but did make efforts to be in compliance.
If and when construction does move forward on the columbarium, the borough administration will submit a land-use development permit request, Fullerton said. Although the permit would not require a public process, Fullerton said she will likely put it in front of the assembly.