
Speaker A
202:58 - 203:57
"I do believe it is in the best interest of the public that we dispose of land that cannot be developed in any other way, given the slope, given the hydrology, uh, given the quality of the soils, uh, to do exactly the thing we've told the public we want them to do, and that is to be buried in a sanctioned space."
“I do believe it is in the best interest of the public that we dispose of land that cannot be developed in any other way, given the slope, given the hydrology, uh, given the quality of the soils, uh, to do exactly the thing we've told the public we want them to do, and that is to be buried in a sanctioned space.”
We've created a demand structure by which people are required to be buried in a certain fashion. And we haven't necessarily solved how that happens because the cemetery that we currently own and operate is, as many have stated tonight, nearing capacity, if not already there. So I do believe it is in the best interest of the public that we dispose of land that cannot be developed in any other way, given the slope, given the hydrology, uh, given the quality of the soils, uh, to do exactly the thing we've told the public we want them to do, and that is to be buried in a sanctioned space. So I'm delighted to approve, uh, to vote to approve this particular ordinance, and I, um, and I hope that, that we find other creative ways to attend to the needs of our residents after they are no longer alive. This strikes me as a really really fantastic use of public assets.
After hearing emotional testimony from families who lost loved ones to police shootings, the Anchorage Assembly voted 8-4 Tuesday to postpone debate on a substitute version of a public safety oversight commission that would give APD and other agencies voting seats.

The Anchorage Assembly voted 11-1 Tuesday to transfer a 9.6-acre Heritage Land Bank parcel to Alaska Natural Burial, a nonprofit that will create Anchorage's first natural burial cemetery. The move addresses the city's burial space shortage after Anchorage Memorial Park reached capacity and a 2024 cemetery bond failed.
