(A) In accordance with I.C. 23-14-65, the Town Council hereby adopts the following Rules and Regulations to assist the Cemetery Department in the care and maintenance of gravesites.
(B) Owners of lots in Rose Hill Cemetery shall cooperate with the town in the care of and maintenance of gravesites. Fees for the sale of gravesites and for the opening/closing of graves are set forth in § 96.01.
(1) Opening hours. Cemetery is open from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Any person found on the cemetery grounds outside this time frame may be considered a trespasser.
(2) Cemetery lots. All lots shall be used for burial purposes only, and no such lot shall be sold or conveyed away by the grantee or his heirs without the consent of the Town Council.
(3) Annual clean-up. Each Spring owners must remove winter grave blankets, old wreaths and faded artificial flowers prior to the date recognized as Good Friday. After this date, all old and faded decorations will be disposed of by the Rose Hill Cemetery personnel. It is acceptable to place new decorations at the same time old decorations are being removed.
(4) Flowers and other decorations. New decoration placement must be attached to the headstone, attached to the foundation or placed directly into the ground against the headstone by using a shepherd's hook or service organization marker. Water is available for plant watering at any of the four hydrants located throughout the cemetery. All decorations which interfere with mowing will be discarded by cemetery personnel.
(5) Filling low spots or reseeding grass. The gravesite closing, initial grass seeding and all future filling and re-seeding of gravesites shall be completed by Rose Hill Cemetery personnel.
(6) Removal of trees or shrubs. If any tree or shrub in any lot shall, by means of its roots or branches, or otherwise become detrimental to the adjacent lots, walks or drives, or dangerous or inconvenient to passengers, or shall be considered to endanger, by falling or otherwise, any monument or other improvement on other lots, it shall be the duty of the Cemetery Superintendent to enter said lot and remove said tree or shrub, or such parts thereof as are thus detrimental, dangerous, or inconvenient.
(7) Foundations. All new foundations will be laid out by Rose Hill Cemetery personnel. Foundation bases must extend a minimum of four inches beyond the perimeter of the monument (stone). All monuments in the lot must be set on one base. The dimension of each lot is 4 feet by 12 feet. Any headstone foundation may extend across two lots for a maximum of eight feet in length. All foundations must be set in concrete at a minimum depth of three feet. The maximum width of any foundation shall be 22 inches. Foundations may not extend thru the pathways. There is a $40 fee to mark the grave site foundation by cemetery personnel. Once a foundation is marked out, it is only good for seven days. Cemetery personnel will mark the site within two working business days excluding weekends and holidays.
(8) Monuments. If any monument or effigy, or any structure whatever, or any inscription thereon, shall be determined by a majority of the Town Council to be offensive or improper, said majority of the Town Council shall have the right, and it shall be their duty, to remove the same. Monument Placement and Release of Liability and Indemnification form is attached as Addendum C to Ordinance 2019-06 and incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
(9) Above ground mausoleum/crypt. Permitted on approved lots. However, because of health reasons and the possibility of obnoxious odor, no entombments shall be made in any above ground crypt unless the remains of the deceased to be entombed therein have been embalmed or cremated.
(10) Burial opening and closing. Regular burial opening and closing work shall be performed by cemetery personnel. Cremation burial shall be performed by or under the supervision of cemetery personnel. All applicable fees for such are outlined in § 96.01, 24-hour notice is required to cemetery personnel before any burial, not including weekends and holidays.
(11) Animals. No deceased pets shall be interred in the cemetery, except pets that have been cremated and placed in casket of a deceased.
(12) Cremated remains. The scattering of cremated remains is prohibited both on common cemetery property and on grave spaces/lots where interment rights are owned. All buried cremated remains shall be interred in impervious containers and cemetery records kept on each inurnment. The maximum size for a cremation opening is two feet by two feet.
(13) Non-cremated (regular) burial container. A rigid container used to surround a casket and may include the products commonly known as vaults and grave liners. All regular burials shall be in a container which is rigid and impervious to puncturing by heavy equipment. Plastic or fiberglass materials are not approved due to their inability to withstand puncturing or damage from any heavy equipment used in the interment process, and such materials are of such density that they do not prevent movement within the grave space due to buoyancy from water-filled voids. Biodegradable materials are prohibited.
(14) Burial records. In each case of burial, a certified copy of a death certificate must be provided to the town for registry record information.
(15) Miscellaneous restrictions. Conduct that would disturb the quiet and good order of the cemetery shall not be permitted in the cemetery. Walking, jogging, and bicycling are permitted on streets and roads in the cemetery.
(16) Amendments. The Town Council shall have the right to amend these Rules and Regulations at any time, as they deem necessary with the management of the Rose Hill Cemetery.
(17) Lot ownership regulations. All regulations and restrictions shall run with the transfer of lots and a copy of these By-Laws shall be attached to the deed for each lot.
(18) All prior resolutions and by-laws. All prior resolutions, by-laws, rules, and other regulations at Rose Hill Cemetery that conflict with the passage of this section are hereby repealed and replaced.
(Res. 2010-08, passed 6-8-10; Am. Res. 2015-03, passed 3-24-15; Am. Ord. 2019-06, passed 7-9-19)
Statutory reference:
Care and maintenance of gravesites, see I.C. 23-14-65