Council panel OKs cemetery lease

Erin Neff

Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2000 | 10:57 a.m.

Four generations of Foleys are buried beneath the dried Bermuda grass lining Woodlawn Cemetery.

So it was with a bit of trepidation that lobbyist and former state Sen. Helen Foley gave her blessing on Monday to a city plan to lease to a Houston company the sacred grounds where her forefathers rest.

"I'm not finding a guarantee that they won't turn it into a desert rock garden," Foley, speaking as a lifelong resident, told the City Council's real estate committee.

But Carriage Services President Mark Duffey assured Foley -- whose family at Woodlawn includes a federal judge, a district judge and a Nevada pioneer buried in 1936 -- that his large, publicly traded company keeps dignity for the dead high on its list of priorities.

"Woodlawn will be brought up to the level of our other properties," Duffey said.

The committee recommended the full council on Wednesday approve a 25-year lease agreement with Carriage. Carriage would pay $50,000 a year to the city and would split the cost of the cemetery's water bill.

The city would pay the other half of the water bill, an estimated cost of $50,000.

"Essentially it's a break-even proposition," said Bob Hasegawa, a city transportation manager, who for the past year has been looking for someone to take Woodlawn off the city's hands.

Deputy City Manager Steve Houchens said breaking even on Woodlawn is actually considered a huge win for the city. In recent years the city has considered the 1912 cemetery a money pit.

The city has had to subsidize the cemetery with anywhere from $500,000 to $800,000 a year of general fund money that residents would rather see spent on parks and traffic improvements.

Carriage officials said they will be able to turn Woodlawn around, in part because their company offers a wide variety of services the city was unable to provide.

"We would propose that if the City Council approves this lease agreement on Wednesday, we would begin the capital improvement process immediately," said Kevin Daniels, Carriage's senior vice president of operations.

Although Carriage would take over all maintenance, lot sales and operations of the cemetery, the city employees who currently work there will not lose their jobs. All will be reassigned to parks and recreation services, Houchens said.

If approved Wednesday, the cemetery will change hands as soon as the state issues the appropriate licenses to Carriage.

Erin Neff covers Las Vegas city government for the Sun. She can be reached at (702) 259-4062 or (702) 229-6436, or by e-mail at erin@ lasvegassun.com