Malinoski and Danyluik Funeral Home. (Facebook/Mike Yager)

By Aaron Schulze

crematorium conundrum

Special council meeting to decide potential Humboldt crematorium’s fate

Oct 1, 2019 | 5:11 PM

Owners of a Humboldt funeral home will have their judgement day on if they can install a crematorium on their property.

The City of Humboldt will hold a special council meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 8 where council will approve or deny a discretionary use application for Malinoski and Danyluik Funeral Home to add a crematorium on its property on Eighth Ave. Council can also approve the application with certain conditions that are part of what the discretionary use process allows.

Council postponed its decision during the Aug. 26 meeting due to concerns expressed from residents regarding a crematorium within city limits.

Mayor Rob Muench said Humboldt council has done their homework ahead of their decision, especially with a public information session hosted by the city and the funeral home on Sept. 12.

“We’ve had a lot of input from the public both for and against it,” Muench said. “We have a business that’s wanting to provide an extra service in our community that isn’t currently available; residents have to travel their loved ones for this to take place outside of the city. It’s an investment in our community from a business standpoint, but it’s also something that residents in the vicinity are concerned. We have to consider all that before we make a final decision on this.”

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Connie Danyluik, co-owner of Malinoski and Danyluik Funeral Home, feels people who attended the public session had their questions answered.

“I think people that were open to learning felt more comfortable after,” Danyluik told northeastNOW. “They understood the process better and they are safe to be within the community. Perhaps people who had already made up their mind… I’m not sure that it changed their minds. But the people who were open to hearing what we and council had to say certainly learned and are better informed.

Muench previously said after the Aug. 26 Humboldt council meeting the concerns he and other councillors have heard are mostly around any safety issues with crematoriums, although he noted that city staff’s report showed other communities near Humboldt have crematoriums in residential areas.

Danyluik said there’s nothing more she and her business partner Gloria Malinoski can do.

“We’ve done what we needed to do by presenting [the city] and the community with the information,” she said. “It’s up to them to go through it, look through all the information, view the comments by the community members, and make a decision from there for what they feel is best for our community.”

Malinoski and Danyluik Funeral Home sent its application in June 2019, although Danyluik said the manufacturer would need six to seven months to install the potential crematorium if council approves discretionary use. It would be operational in April or May 2020.

If Humboldt council declines the application, Danyluik said she and Malinoski will decide if they want to proceed with opening another crematorium elsewhere or give up on the process entirely.

The Oct. 8 Humboldt council meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. at Humboldt City Hall.

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aaron.schulze@jpbg.ca

On twitter: @SchulzePANow