Correction: Columbarium to replace small gazebo in Bardstown City Cemetery

By JIM BROOKS
Nelson County Gazette / WBRT Radio

Tuesday, March 23, 2021 (Corrected Wednesday, March 24, 2021, 1 p.m.) — The Bardstown Cemetery’s historic gazebo will remain untouched by plans to install a columbarium to house cremated remains.

Due to a misunderstanding, the Nelson County Gazette’s original story about Tuesday’s night’s Bardstown City Council meeting reported that the cemetery’s larger gazebo would be the location for the columbarium, which will be a octagon-shaped structure for the housing the cremated remains of up to 144 individuals.

The Gazette regrets the error and any confusion it may have caused.

Tuesday night, the Bardstown City Council unanimously approved a bid of $38,049 from Coldspring USA for the columbarium. According to documents shared with the Gazette on Wednesday, the structure which will replace the small gazebo, and is roughly about the same size or slightly smaller than the gazebo.

Existing benches around the existing gazebo will remain in place.

As depicted in the artist’s rendering above, the niches for the placement of cremated remains will be on the exterior faces of the columbarium.

The company’s bid indicated that the structure will include an ossuary — an area inside the structure where additional cremains for pauper burials may be located.

Councilman Joe Buckman said the city has been budgeting for a columbarium, and with space for burials in the city cemetery running low — and cremations increasing in popularity — it made sense to move forward. The cemetery committee has been discussing a columbarium since 2013, Buckman said.

Buckman said the city will need to provide some in-kind work to help with the foundation the columbarium will need. Coldspring’s bid noted they would charge an extra $9,120 if they build the needed foundation.

The city’s expense to build the columbarium will be reimbursed over time by the fees for housing cremated remains in the structure.

CITY’S AMERICAN RESCUE PLAN FUNDS. Mayor Dick Heaton told the council that the city is eligible to receive $2.4 million in ARP money — half in fiscal 2021, and the second half in fiscal 2022.

Heaton said they are already at work looking at how that money will be budgeted over the next two fiscal years.

The intent is to spend the money on infrastructure projects like water, sewer and broadband internet — all areas that the city has been actively upgrading or expanding in the normal course of city business.

Heaton said the city expects to receive additional guidance on areas where the money may be properly spent.

SPRINGFIELD ROAD WATER LINE PROJECT. The council approved the low bid submitted by Twin States Utilities for the construction of water line that will connect a 12-inch water main near Leslie Ballard Lane to an 8-inch water main on Poplar Flat Road. The connection will improve water pressure in the area, and create a “loop” that will allow water to flow from either side of that loop.

Twin States low bid of $684,400 was $300,000 below the next-lowest bidder.

In other business, the city council:

— gave final approval an ordinance that will limit the number of free boating permits provided to seniors at one per person.

— approved an easement to Nelson Fiscal Court for the county’s new forced main sewer line that will pump leachate from the Nelson County Landfill to the city’s sewer plant.

— approved a change order for the city’s new public works building to cover additional cost of due to an oversight regarding the building’s elevation.

— approved a grant request of $5,000 to help support the mission of the Nelson County Community Clinic, which provides health, dental and vision care to uninsured or underinsured Nelson County residents. The $5,000 donation leaves the city’s grant program with $6,000 left for the rest of the current fiscal year.

— approved the E-911 Central Dispatch budget as presented by its director, Shawn Gaither

— awarded a two-year contract for mowing the city’s three cemetery’s to King’s Mowing. The city will pay the comompany $1,150 each time the three cemeteries are mowed.

— the council approved the appointment of Roy Hall to the Bardstown Board of Adjustments.

NEXT UP. The city council’s next regular meetingg is Tuesday, April 13, 2021.

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