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<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">According to a report in the Daily News (June 9),
the Moscow Cemetery District could take over maintenance of the Sunset Memorial
Gardens Cemetery, a private cemetery located at Mountain View Road and the Troy
Highway, if Latah County taxpayers agree to an override levy of about $10,000
annually. A vote to increase county taxes by that amount could be on the ballot
in May.</P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><BR></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">I believe that the Moscow Cemetery District should
take responsibility for Sunset Gardens. That is the right thing to do.</P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><BR></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">However, I also believe that an override levy
increasing our county taxes by $10,000 annually for that purpose is not likely
to find enough public support.</P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><BR></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Given that situation, perhaps this is an
appropriate compromise: add Sunset Gardens to the Moscow Cemetery District, but
cut district expenses sufficiently to absorb the additional maintenance costs.
Cut those expenses by drastically reducing water use at both the Moscow Cemetery
and at Sunset Gardens.</P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><BR></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">According to information from the cemetery
district office, the cost of pumping water from the aquifer to irrigate the
cemeteries is about $10,000 annually. The real cost of irrigating those huge
lawns is much higher if labor costs are included.</P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><BR></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Those two cemeteries could drastically cut water
usage and irrigation costs by maintaining all the trees and bushes, but allowing
the lawn to naturally brown in the summer. If the Moscow Cemetery District cut
its irrigation program, significant savings in the district's $175,000 annual
property tax bill would follow. Both the Moscow Cemetery and the Sunset Gardens
Cemetery would be maintained, and no taxes raised to do so.</P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><BR></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Here's some reasons why the Moscow Cemetery
District should cut water usage and allow the cemetery lawns to brown naturally
every summer:</P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><BR></P>
<OL>
<LI>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3>The city of
Moscow has committed itself to water reduction through public education and a
rate schedule that encourages water conservation and significant reduction in
lawn watering. Moscow's citizens have responded and many Moscow lawns are now
browning annually.</FONT></FONT></P>
<LI>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3>The aquifer
that is the source of this irrigation water is a quickly-disappearing and
finite water source that should be protected and conserved. Watering the
cemetery lawns wastes this precious resource.</FONT></FONT></P>
<LI>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3>Most of Latah
County's 30 public cemeteries are not irrigated. Those non-irrigated
cemeteries are well-maintained, mowed, and attractive. The people buried at
the non-irrigated cemeteries in Latah County are not less honored or respected
than those buried at the few irrigated cemeteries. </FONT></FONT></P>
<LI>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3>The Moscow
Cemetery District presently administers two cemeteries. The other is the
Buchanan Cemetery off Lenville Road, which is not irrigated. Therefore, the
district has no requirement or mandate to irrigate, just a tradition of doing
so. That tradition should change to fit the environmental awareness and
constraints of our era.</FONT></FONT></P>
<LI>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><FONT color=#000000><FONT size=3>Allowing a
cemetery lawn to brown with the summer heat is appropriate, since this
symbolizes the cycles of life and represents the seasonal changes our our
landscape.</FONT></FONT></P></LI></OL>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in"><BR></P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">Conserving our aquifer and resolving the issue of
perpetual maintenance at Sunset Gardens are important goals – and both goals can
best be met by curtailing irrigation by the Moscow Cemetery District.</P>
<P style="MARGIN-BOTTOM: 0in">BL<BR></P>
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