The Jones County Board of Commissioners just might have an idea that could resolve the issue of the county’s indigent cemetery.
Board members devoted a May 6 work session to the dilemma.
The issue with State Place Cemetery came before this board for the first time in February of last year, however it has also been dealt with by previous boards. The issue of burying those not indigent in the county’s pauper cemetery was a point of contention in July of 2011.
Commissioner Tommy Robinson investigated and found out a county employee was indeed allowing the burials as long as the families understood the graves were in a row and there was no choice as to the burial location.
Robinson said a survey of the pauper’s cemetery had been done by Max Davis and contained a lot of information about the cemetery.
After dealing with that issue, another similar situation came before the same board about a cemetery on Randolph Street that families were using also as a public cemetery.
After bringing the May 6 work session to order, Chairman Chris Weidner stated there were 30 graves in State Place Cemetery that are going to have to be moved because they are buried on landfill property. He said the county is working with the EPD, and there are two wells on the property that need to be protected.
Weidner said the county also needs to consider the relocation of the cemetery entrance. He suggested a new entrance off Overland Way.
County Administrator Jason Rizner handed out maps of the cemetery that show where the graves are located. He said the commissioners are considering what to do with the cemetery property, and one option would be to transfer its ownership.
Rizner said it would require a process. It could be a bid process or an auction.
“The question is if there are groups interested in ownership,” he said.
The administrator said that was the purpose of the work session, and if there are interested groups, there will be time for them to gather information.
He said in addition to the drawing, the cemetery information is also on a website.
“There is an area east of the current cemetery where there is room for growth,” he said.
The meeting was opened to citizens comments, and Rev. Wilber Greene was the first to speak. His question was why the county wanted to transfer ownership. He said the people thought the problem was solved.
Greene said the cemetery was donated to the county to be a cemetery.
Commissioner Sam Kitchens said the property was donated for indigent burials.
“It is not an open cemetery,” he said. “It’s evident by the gravestones, they are not all indigent burials. The county can’t give away plots.”
Greene asked if money is the reason the county wants to transfer the property.
Kitchens responded it is about legality.
Weidner said the county cannot let everyone be buried there because it is a pauper burial ground.
Kitchens reiterated the property is an indigent cemetery. He said he believes funeral homes are part of the problem.
“We’ve learned funeral homes are doing burials,” the commissioner said.
Greene said he does not believe that information has been relayed to the funeral homes.
“It’s always been done like that. They didn’t know they can’t do it,” he said. “Some things you don’t touch; this is one of those things.”
Kitchens said what has been done does not matter.
“The law is the law, and we can’t continue. We are trying to right the wrong,” he said. “We have to fix it.”
The commissioner said if a church or group of churches took over the cemetery, it would be a legally binding contract. He said the county cannot give away land that was donated for pauper burials.
“We are trying to figure out a way people can have access to the property for a cemetery. It can’t continue as is,” he said.
Commissioner Daylon Martin said the newest graves in the cemetery are the ones on landfill property.
One audience member said the public works department was aware of the burials.
Weidner stated that the Environmental Protection Division says the graves have to be moved.
“We have to fix it,” he said.
The chairman went on to say the county spent a lot to clear and clean up the property. He said they wanted to make the cemetery into a property that someone could do something with.
David Tufts, who is also a councilman for the City of Gray, asked if the property could be purchased. The answer was an immediate yes.
Rizner explained the county wants to put out a request for proposals (RFP) for the purchase of the property. He said it would be helpful to know what pieces interested parties would like to be in the RFP.
Martin said at the end of the day, the county wants the property to be used, but at the current time, no one should be burying a body in State Place Cemetery.
“People with means are burying bodies there. That’s just wrong,” he said.
The commissioner said the county cannot give away the property, but it could be sold for as little as $1. He said the county has invested a lot in the property so someone can take it over.
The county spent $40,000 for ground penetrating radar to identify where the graves are. The project showed 881 burials on the property. That is in addition to the cost of cleaning up the property.
Commissioner Wendy Vaughn said indigent bodies have not been buried in the cemetery for decades. Instead of burials, the county’s opted to cremate the bodies of the indigent.
Commissioner John Wood said he has been to the cemetery many times. He suggested looking into the possibility of moving the property line of the landfill instead of moving the bodies.
Kitchens said that was a good question.
It appeared that would depend on what was under the bodies.
Wood also suggested churches could come together and set up a foundation to take care of the cemetery.
Kitchens said the board would be most interested in the proposal that would be best for the county, but Tufts said it is important for the bidders to know what the county expects.
Weidner said what would be good for the county would be for churches to operate and preserve the cemetery for the future.
Kitchens agreed. He said the intent was to get the cemetery out of the county’s hands and to make sure it is preserved.
