City hikes cemetery fees for first time in 23 years

by Melissa Martin

June 2 city council meeting

Brecksville City Council unanimously approved a list of several amendments to Chapter 13 of the Codified Ordinances of the city of Brecksville, which will boost the cost of fees and city services at both the Highland Drive and Riverside cemeteries.

Service Director Joe Kickel told council June 2 that the last time the city increased its fees for both labor and materials at the cemetery was back in 2003.

“We have since done some comparative costs with surrounding communities to make sure we were in line with what others are charging,” he said, noting that the administration explored the fee structure other communities with municipal cemeteries, including Chardon, Hudson and Richfield.

As part of the recommended list of amendments, the city has elected to increase the cost of its gravesites from $500 to $800. The only exceptions, Kickel said, will be the cost of graves in the baby section of the Highland Drive Cemetery, which will increase from $40 to $64 per gravesite. Additionally, the cost of graves in sections 1, 1A, 1B and 2 at Highland Drive Cemetery will now cost $1,200 each instead of the $750 the sites have cost for the past two decades.

Other price increases addressed in the legislation are cremation graves, which will go up from $325 to $520 per gravesite. Additionally, graves that are permitted to have raised markers will now cost $720 per grave while gravesites that permit raised monuments will cost $800.

The city has also elected to raise the fees associated with interments, opening and closing graves. For those sites located in the baby section, that fee will jump from $100 to $300. For a full-sized grave, the charge will go up from $200 to $700 per grave. For the burial of remains in the case of cremation, the fee will go up from $100 to $350.

Kickel said the cost of labor and materials associated with setting individual grave markers and headstones will also go up; however, the city has elected to waive the cost of constructing veteran headstones and foundations.

The new fee schedule was implemented immediately following the ordinance’s passage.

In other news, city council approved legislation authorizing the city’s service department to replace more equipment that was damaged and destroyed in the service garage fire that occurred in February 2024.

Kickel said the city’s insurance company has agreed to replace several items, including several costly holiday decorations that were being stored in the garage at the time of the fire, at a cost of $333,123. He said that amount reflects appraised value of the items at the time of the loss and once the claim is settled and closed, the insurance company will pay the city the remaining value associated with replacing those items.

Also approved was the replacement of the trackless train the city uses annually for Safety Town. Kickel told council his department was able to clean and restore the locomotive portion of the train The cars in which the children ride, however, were deemed unsafe and had to be thrown away. Replacing the cars will cost the city $13,100 – an amount that will also be covered by insurance.

Additionally, council also approved the purchase of a replacement regenerative air street sweeper at a cost of $381,375. The vehicle will replace the street sweeper that is believed to have been the cause of the fire two years ago.

Translation services

Council has also agreed to enter into a service agreement with Languages.com, which will provide language interpretation services for the city’s police department on an as-needed basis.

Police Chief Stan Korinek said the need for such services arose earlier this spring following the shooting at Brecksville’s UniUni facility on Snowville Road in which four witnesses only spoke Spanish.

“We were able to get a couple officers there from other departments who spoke Spanish, but if they hadn’t been available, we would have been stuck and had to scramble to find someone,” he said. “As this service costs approximately $1 a minute for interpretation services, we could have handled all four of those interviews for less than $75.”

Korinek told council the new agreement will make translation possible in 350 languages, including American sign language, as needed during interviews, interrogations or just in speaking to a suspect or a victim.

“We’ve had a very limited need for services like these over the years, but when you need it, you need it,” Korinek said.