Decatur OK's Extra Costs for Cemetery Renovation

The Decatur City Commission voted Monday night to spend an extra $56,500 on a renovation project at the historic Decatur City Cemetery.

Hugh Saxon, a deputy city manager, said about 650 cubic yards of soggy soil in the cemetery needed to replaced with a mixture of gravel and fill dirt to support pipes in the new storm drainage system.

 “It has no bearing capacity,” he said of the soil to be replaced. “It’s basically mud.”

The city also has to replace about 160 feet of old sewer line that doesn’t work properly with the new storm drainage system, Saxon said.

Mayor Bill Floyd and commission members Jim Baskett, Kecia Cunningham and Patti Garrett voted in favor of the change order in the contract.  Commission member Fred Boykin was absent.

The 45-acre cemetery has existed since at least 1828 and is the oldest in the Atlanta metro area.  The city wants to make the cemetery more pedestrian friendly by improving sidewalks and landscaping and building new walking trails. The oldest part of the cemetery may be closed to cars. Work should be completed by the end of this year. 

The total cost of the cemetery project is about $2.1 million. That includes the purchase of property at 811 Church St., renovation of the cemetery office and restoration of woodland on the east side of the cemetery.

Saxon said the renovation created space for about 70 new gravesites, which could bring about $140,000 in income. But he said the council should expect more change orders totaling $100,000 to $125,000 as the project moves ahead.

“We do not anticipate this will be the last time we’ll be coming back to you,” he said.