By Joel van der Veen

DAVIDSON — After 65 years, the bylaw regulating Davidson’s cemetery is looking a little long in the teeth.

Town councillors agreed at Tuesday’s meeting to the formation of a new committee to oversee the cemetery.

Their first order of business will be to develop and draft a bylaw to replace the current one, which has been on the books longer than any of the current council members have been alive.

Bylaw No. 155, “A Bylaw to Provide for the Maintenance and Improvement of Davidson Cemetery,” had its three readings and approval on June 5, 1951.

The typewritten, one-page document bears the signature of Mayor J. A. Vopni and town clerk K. H. Ketcheson — both of them since buried in that same cemetery.

The bylaw was amended in September 1979, adding restrictions on the placement of plants and limiting the sale of burial plots to two at the time of need. Otherwise, it is unchanged.

“It sounds like we need to redo this,” said Mayor Tyler Alexander, one of four members appointed to the new committee. “It’s definitely a work in progress out there. . . This is a good first step.”

Public works foreman Doug Torrie and assistant administrator Donna Bessey were also appointed, along with Coun. Todd Lockwood, who is also the town’s only funeral director.

“I’m happy to do it,” said Lockwood. “I’m out there, I hear the questions and I feel the heat when something’s not right.”

The cemetery’s condition and maintenance have been perennial sources of concern in recent years.

In the past, visitors and residents have complained about damage to headstones, the state of the grass and roads, and even the type and volume of soil used to top up gravesites after burials.

For the full story, please see the March 6 edition of The Davidson Leader or call 306-567-2047 to subscribe today.