(A) The City Council retains at all times the authority to adopt rules and regulations for cemetery operations. The Cemetery Sexton shall enforce those rules adopted by the City Council. The Cemetery Sexton shall have authority to give appropriate direction on day to day operations wherein formal policy has not been adopted.
(B) The cemetery when platted shall show the location of each lot in the cemetery, and if there be double lots, to show the location of such double lot or lots. Each lot shall be numbered numerically as shall be deemed best by the Cemetery Sexton of said cemetery.
The original plat of said cemetery shall be kept by the Clerk at his office in the City Hall and shall be properly filed for record in his care and custody. A copy of said plat shall be kept by the Sexton of the Cemetery.
Both plats shall show the lots which are sold and unsold and shall be kept up to date by the Clerk and the Cemetery Sexton respectively. Such records shall show the location of all lots and the respective price determined therefor. (Ord. 03-17-08-1, 3-17-2008)
(C) The sale of all lots of the cemetery shall be by deed from the City, by its Mayor or authorized designee, under his hand and the Corporate Seal of the City, and attested to by the Clerk and the signing, sealing, and delivering of the cemetery deed shall be acknowledged before an officer duly qualified and authorized to certify such execution of a deed as provided by law. No person, partnership, corporation, or other type of entity, either directly or indirectly acting through a trust or any other type of legal arrangement, may purchase or own an interest in more than one lot (8 burial plots) without first securing approval of the City's Corporate Authorities. In addition, sale of a lot by an owner(s) cannot be made without first securing approval of the City's Corporate Authorities. No such transfer is valid until entered on the cemetery records maintained by the City for the recording of deeds of conveyance for cemetery lots, and no such transfer of a lot by sale or otherwise by a lot owner will be recognized unless the City's Corporate Authorities have consented to the transfer. All transfers of ownership in lots will be subject to a fee pursuant to title 13, "Schedule Of Fees", of this Code, which must be paid to the Comptroller when the transfer is recorded. The cemetery grounds are exempt from taxation and liability of the lot owners for the payment of their debts. (Ord. 16/2017, 6-5-2017)
(D) Proper recording materials shall be provided by the City administration for the keeping of all records provided by the provisions of this chapter. Such records, when assembled in book or card form or any other method deemed desirable, shall be known as the cemetery record of deeds.
(E) The Cemetery Sexton shall have the right to determine what plants, shrubs, or trees, or anything of ornament may be planted or placed on or about the lots unless otherwise directed by vote of the City Council. All grading and improvement of lots, all excavations for vaults, the building of foundations, graves, or any other work if done for a consideration must be done as provided by the provisions of this chapter and as directed by the Cemetery Sexton. No person will be allowed to plant trees or shrubs on graves or lots and no tree or shrub shall be cut down, removed or trimmed, without permission of the Cemetery Sexton and all planting of flowers, watering, cutting and trimming the same, or special care of the grass shall be done under the supervision and authority of the Cemetery Sexton or his designee. All persons are forbidden to pick or cut flowers on any other lot than their own lot without special permission from the Sexton of the Cemetery.
(F) No fence, or enclosure of any kind, will be permitted on or about burial lots. The placing of boxes, shells, toys, metal designs and similar articles upon the graves or lots is inconsistent with the proper keeping of the grounds, and will not be permitted. Cornerstones shall be set on a level with the surface of the ground, and the Cemetery Sexton is authorized to take down and remove fences surrounding lots, and in exchange to give and set cornerstones properly marked, also to grade and improve such lots free of expense to owners. Where fences or other structures on any lot have, by reason of neglect, become objectionable in the judgment of the Cemetery Sexton, they are authorized to have the same removed, in which case the outline of the lot shall be preserved by cornerstones, or other proper landmarks.
(G) It shall be unlawful for any person or persons to do any labor in or about any lot or ground within the cemetery except by authority and under the direction of the Cemetery Sexton. (Ord. 03-17-08-1, 3-17-2008)
(H) Any work done by an employee of the City in the cemetery or elsewhere, including but not limited to, the moving of bodies, marking of graves or monuments, repairing markings on monuments, digging graves, setting vaults, or any other work in connection therewith, shall be billed by the Sexton in the name of the City against the person or persons ordering the same pursuant to title 13, "Schedule Of Fees", of this Code, and such bill shall be delivered to and collected by the finance authority designated for the collection and receipt of City funds. (Ord. 16/2017, 6-5-2017)
(I) The care of the grounds, setting of monuments, grave markers and care of graves shall be under the supervision of the Sexton and according to the regulations and specifications of this chapter and the policies adopted by the Corporate Authorities of the City.
(J) Any owner, or part owner, of a lot has the right to give permission, either in person or by a written order, for the burial of the remains of other than his immediate family in his lot, or portion thereof, but not for money or other consideration, or profit. (Ord. 03-17-08-1, 3-17-2008)