Fees finalized for Winter Garden Cemetery

The Winter Garden City Commission unanimously approved an ordinance only allowing Winter Garden residents to be buried in Winter Garden Cemetery. 

The commission also unanimously approved Thursday, Oct. 9, a resolution addressing the cemetery’s fee structure. 

Commissioner Lisa Bennett was absent. 

The city updated the ordinance to clarify residency eligibility for the purchase of lots and niches, refine ownership rights and update the fee structure. 

The ordinance changed the residency requirement to limit the sale of new burial plots to current residents of the city at the time of the purchaser’s death, former residents or maybe an immediate family member of current residents. An immediate family member is defined as the owner’s parents, spouse, children, step-children, siblings, grandparents and in-laws.

Assistant City Manager Steve Pash said the resolution regarding cemetery fees allows the city manager to increase and change fees as the companies hired to do work for the cemetery changes their pricing. 

“As everybody knows, we have a very limited amount of space remaining at the cemetery, and the costs associated with the expansion and maintenance continue to rise, so we are recommending the fees go up,” Pash said. “We’re changing them to be more consistent with surrounding cemeteries.”

Pash said the average price of cemetery plots in the Orlando area is around $2,500 for a basic plot in a public cemetery and more than $5,000 in a private plot, with prices reaching up to $25,000 for premium locations. 

Pash said the city also is encouraging families to purchase one lot and use it for multiple burials due to the cemetery’s limited space. 

The resolution has fees for an interment in the ground in a single location be $3,000. People can purchase a headstone that could have six niches in it for another $6,000 or $1,000 per niche. 

“You could also put in a six-niche headstone and six more niches in the ground, so you could put up to 12 bodies in one location and that would be $12,000 or $1,000 per burial location,” Pash said. 

Other expenses that can be factored in are for opening and closing services, — which vary in pricing from $630 to $1,344 — set-up services, rental of a chapel or pavilion, extra chairs or tent, services on Saturdays or holidays and more.

“If you just did it separately and did 12 separate niches, it would cost a family $31,560 or if you did 12 separate grave spaces, it would cost $48,960,” Pash said.

For cremation spaces, which need a minimum of six in a headstone, it will cost $6,000. 

Piggybacking on contracts

The commission unanimously approved several piggyback contracts with various companies. 

“The city uses lots of vendors to purchase our supplies,” Pash said. “In order to do this, we often search for contracts with other municipalities that we use as piggyback contracts.”

He said the city is confident that piggyback contracts offer “good prices.” When Mayor John Rees asked if Pash was confident it would be a greater cost for the city to retrieve separate bids for a contract than if the city used piggyback contracts, Pash said yes. 

The commission unanimously approved a city of Boynton Beach piggyback contract with Core & Main, LP for equipment supplies.

A Clay County piggyback contract with Sensus USA Inc. to update water and irrigation meters was unanimously approved. 

A city of Clermont piggyback continuing services agreement with Willdan Engineering, Inc. for building inspection and plan review was unanimously approved. 

Commissioners unanimously approved a Lake County piggyback contract with DWC Outdoors & Hauling, LLC for right-of-way trimming and related services. 

A Marion County piggyback contract with Odyssey Manufacturing Co. to provide sodium hypochlorite to be used at the Wastewater Treatment Plant and Water Plant was approved.

The city commission approved a Port Orange piggyback contract with Shelly’s Environmental Systems for hauling and disposing of sewage waste/sludge.