Savanna Residents Opposed to Crematorium Speak Out

Michael Miller For The Prairie Advocate News

(Note: The initial article on this subject ended with an invitation for those residents that could not be reached to express their views. Several of them did so, and this article is the result of that interview)

A small but vocal group of Savanna residents detailed their opposition to the crematorium that is being added to the Law Jones Funeral Home on Bowen Street in Savanna, in an group interview conducted this Friday, August 20th, 2010.

The residents emphasized that in contrast to other public statements, the meeting that occurred with Matt Jones, owner and funeral director of Law Jones Funeral Home, did not satisfy the concerns of everyone present and that many left that meeting still strongly opposed to the crematorium.

While two previously noted areas of concern, the safety of the facility and process, as well as the potentially negative affect on local property values, were again mentioned, the residents also expressed frustration at what they perceived as their powerlessness to affect City decisions.

“How can one person,” asked Penny Gharst, owner of Captain Walt’s Liquor Store, “make a decision that will drop property values for all these people, for the advantage of one?” She cited the City ordinances which do not allow for crematoriums in “M” (Manufacturing) districts, and said she felt this indicated that the City wanted certain things, such as slaughterhouses and junkyards, outside of town. “And yet,” Gharst said. “now a crematorium is going to be within city limits”. She continued, “It’s at anybody’s whim that they decide what’s going to happen” and decried that “someone in a small city government can make decisions for us when the elected people don’t have anything to say about it and he can make a decision even if it’s wrong”.

Gharst said that “John (Savanna Superintendent of Public Works John Lindeman) can decide this and it doesn’t have to go before a board . . . the residents are losing property value and have no recourse.” (Mr. Lindeman politely declined to comment on these statements and opinions.)

Valissa Bearsley, who lives near the crematorium site, expressed her frustration at the impact this event will have on her personal property values. “Now I have a crematorium, a funeral home and a police station . . . who wants to live with all that activity? I have to pay enough taxes and I’m never going to get the property value out of there. These were never things I got to vote on.”

Both Gharst and Bearsley said that their understanding was that if someone has a building permit, there must be a “use” posted on it, and that presently they didn’t believe there was a use posted on the building in question. Gharst says she was told that the use on the permit says “an addition to a garage”, causing Gharst to say “is it an addition to a garage or a crematorium? . . . it’s part of a funeral home, why isn’t it attached?”

Jones answered the question of the permit use via email, saying “when applying for the permit, drawings of the structure were submitted and use of the structure was discussed in great detail.”

One resident who wished to remain anonymous gave Jones credit for “doing a great job and taking care of our families for all of these years”, and said he had nothing against cremation or crematoriums in general, but simply wanted the company to “move it” away from it’s present location. He felt that much better locations existed away from residential areas, and suggested “out by the prison” or near the cemetery.

Bearsley said a lot of people she asked about the issue didn’t even know a crematorium was going up. She felt that “a lot of people are afraid to speak up, that’s there’s a a lot of people who are afraid to comment one way or the other.” She said she didn’t stay for the entirety of the meeting with Jones because she felt he wasn’t answering questions to her satisfaction.

Gharst agreed, saying that the neighborly thing to do would have been to have gone and talked to the neighbors (beforehand). “This meeting”, she said. “was like after the horse gets out of the gate and we’re going to close the gate now”. She did acknowledge that Jones apologized to the lady that lives next door to the site, for not coming to her earlier.

The residents also noted fears that since this crematorium will be the only one in Carroll County, it will become much busier and that there will be many more than the stated standard of 200 bodies per year cremated at the site. Bearsley says she thinks the company should “consider the fact that there’s children right next door” and worries they will be aware of this activity.

When asked about the possibility of children and their awareness of cremation, Jones answered (again, via email) that this was “an important issue”.

“It leads to the real issue, the awareness of death and the discussion of the realities of life and death and what comes next.  Parents of the children should always be the leader of this discussion because each family has their own traditions and religious beliefs.  It may be important for a child to realize the difference between the body and the Spirit.  When a death occurs we often explain to children that the Spirit and body separate, much like a hand comes out of a glove.  We are left with the body to care for, and we do that by burial of the body in ground, or by cremation of the body.  We explain that the Spirit lives on and goes to Heaven.  This part of the discussion is best if held between the parents and the child.

“As a natural part of life, death should be talked about with children.  Most families find it helpful when children attend visitations and services.  Some choose to have a private time, just for the children.  As a parent, I feel it is important for my children to understand that life is continuous beyond our earthly bodies.  The understanding of how we care for our bodies after death can be very important.  Someone may find it easy to compare death to sleeping when speaking to a child.  This may be a mistake because the child may think the body is supposed to wake up sometime.  I recommend to parents, or grandparents, to communicate to their children whenever the issue of death arises, and let them know it is a natural part of life.”

The group has started a petition to oppose the crematorium, and hopes to present this to the City Council upon it’s completion. While as yet the number of signatures obtained is undetermined, the resident who wished to remain anonymous estimated that he got 40 signatures in one night.

Whatever the totals end up being, it seems safe to conclude that for at least some Savanna citizens, the issue has not been resolved.