City plans Newton Union Cemetery expansion

Now that the city council has approved the master planning services proposal to expand portions of Newton Union Cemetery, city staff will begin gathering input from its engineering firm, local veterans groups, funeral homes and other interested parties before deciding further action.

Brian Laube, community services manager for the City of Newton, told the Newton Daily News that their feedback could include suggestions or ideas regarding lot sizes, the layout of the cemetery itself and whether to include a columbarium in the master plan, among other things.

Even though the council issued its approval of the master planning services, no platting of actual lots or construction of accompanying roads will be conducted at this time.

More than 30 years have passed since Newton Union Cemetery, 1601 W. Fourth St. N., was last platted for new lots. Both the regular area and veterans area of the cemetery have acquired large number of lot sales during that time. According to city documents, staff estimates the regular lots will be sold out in six to eight years.

However, the veterans area is estimated to fill faster and be full in two to four years.

Jasper County Veterans Affairs Director Kurt Jackson said it is important to have a designated veterans area in the cemetery where the departed can be acknowledged separately for their service, their time of duty and what they did for their country and fellow citizens.

Newton Union Cemetery, he added, plays a big part in commemorating veterans, even serving as the backdrop for Memorial Day services; during those ceremonies, Jackson typically reads the names of all the veterans that died in the past year.

“It’s a pretty moving ceremony and we have maybe 400, 500 or 600 people that show up for that when it does happen and when we have nice weather,” Jackson said, noting this past year’s event was rained out. “The amount of attention this gets is tremendous, at least as far as my office can see.”

Oftentimes citizens contact Jasper County Veterans Affairs to let staff know if there are any problems with Newton Union Cemetery before the Memorial Day event is held. Barrie Lee, treasurer of the Newton American Legion Post 111, emphasized the importance of the veterans area, especially for Honor Guard ceremonies on Veterans Day as well.

It just kind of separates them, really, from the general public — the same (way) that they were separated from the general public when they served,” Lee said. “There are a lot of special days in the calendar that are responsible for or brought to us by the veterans. It’s a good time for the general public to jog their memory a bit.”

Laube said his goal is to plat some lots in the veterans area of the cemetery in fiscal year 2021. He also has plans for a larger project in mind for fiscal year 2023 that would plat traditional lots and build a few roads adjacent to the platted areas.

City staff requested its engineering firm, Bolton & Menk, provide master planning services for Newton Union Cemetery at the cost of $12,700.

Currently, the engineering team is working on a geographical information system (GIS) for Newton, the second phase of which was also approved Monday by the city council. The first phase of implementation was taking 4D high resolution aerial photography of the city to use as a base map.

Bolton & Menk has already completed the initial round of GIS field work at Newton Memorial Park Cemetery, 2710 First Ave. E., which prompted city staff to retain the firm for master planning services at the other city-owned cemetery. Eventually, Bolton & Menk will also conduct GIS work at Newton Union Cemetery.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com