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The city ought to check out the possibility of paying for maintenance of unkept and insolvent cemeteries with Community Development Block Grant money, as a potentially sustainable alternative to occasional mowing forays by volunteer groups, city Planning Commission member Randy Isenberg said recently.
CDBG Manager Mary Johnson plans to take up the matter with the city's consultant for the funding program.
Mowing, trimming and other maintenance work at cemeteries that generate little or no money from burials and that have little or no trust fund money has been an ongoing problem.
Oak Ridge and Fairview have been among the most prominent among such cemeteries, although Blair County Prison inmates have been helping to keep both in trim recently, even as the UPMC Altoona Foundation has made a move to help with Fairview, according to Isenberg.
Rose Hill Cemetery used to be unkempt, but a group there instituted reforms beginning a couple of years ago that have it looking better.
People with relatives buried in problem cemeteries sometimes organize cleanups, but cemetery maintenance is difficult, because of the need to trim around gravestones -- and grass continues to grow after those efforts.
A government-funded program could provide consistent funding for ongoing, reliable maintenance, according to Isenberg.
Generally, church-affiliated cemeteries aren't as troubled as cemeteries overseen by nonprofits, because the churches tend to take responsibility, according to Isenberg.
Cemetery maintenance is a problem all over the country, said Community Development Director Lee Slusser.
High grass and the trash that accumulates can attract rodents, according to Isenberg.
Still, when kept nicely, cemeteries offer pleasant open space for residents to enjoy, Haines said.
Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.