VERO BEACH – A new area for cremains is expected to come to the Vero Beach municipal cemetery, providing more places for Vero Beach residents and others to be remembered.
The Vero Beach City Council is poised to hold the first reading on an ordinance, modifying the rules for new addition. A public hearing will be scheduled for a later date.
A former Vero Beach council approved setting aside $260,000 in 2008-09 for the construction of a new columbarium area at Crestlawn Cemetery, using monies from the cemetery’s trust fund as a loan for the work.
The city plans to pay back the loan through the sale of the columbarium niches.
A columbarium is a structure or building that is substantially exposed above ground, intended for the interment of cremains.
In mid-2010, the then-city council awarded the construction contract to Brian Couture, of Groveland, Fla., to build eight columbaria in the northwest corner of the cemetery.
The cost of a columbaria space is expected to be $2,000 for Vero Beach property owners and $4,000 for all other non-property owners, according to city records.
The city has a two-tiered price structure for the cemetery – a price for city property owners and a price for non-property owners.
The City of Fellsmere last year revised its pricing structure for the Fellsmere Cemetery – offering prices for Fellsmere residents, Indian River County residents and non-county residents – to bring the city’s prices more in line with others in the area.
At Crestlawn Cemetery in Vero Beach, single grave lots cost $950 for city property owners and $2,000 for all others.
