(A) Flowers/plants in pots or urns and wreaths or wired decorations may be placed above the ground and in line with markers or monuments (not in front or back of stone). Only two pots or urns per grave site. No glass containers of any nature allowed. One shepherd hook will be allowed in line with the grave monument or behind it parallel and next to the concrete foundation. Spring/summer flowers are the responsibility of the party who placed them in the cemetery and must be removed by October 1 of each year for the clean-up of leaves. Grave blankets and wire tie downs are the responsibility of the party who placed them in the cemetery and must be removed by that party by April 1 of each year. All decorations remaining will be removed by the cemetery personnel. Any burial in the month of March of the respective year is exempt from April 1 deadline for removal of memorials. Spring cemetery cleaning is done by the cemetery personnel beginning April 8 and fall cleanup will begin October 15 of each year. If decorations are in violation of the above rules, they will be removed from the grave.
(B) No grading, leveling or excavating within a cemetery shall be allowed without the prior permission of the sexton or the Township Clerk. Furthermore, no trees, shrubs, landscaping or similar plantings shall occur without the prior permission of the sexton or the Township Clerk.
(C) No flowers, shrubs, trees or vegetation of any type shall be planted outside of an urn. Any of the foregoing items planted without township approval will be removed by the sexton.
(D) The Township Board reserves the right to remove or trim any existing trees, plants or shrubs located within a cemetery in the interest of maintaining proper appearance and the use of the cemetery.
(E) Mounds, bricks, blocks, mulch and any borders that hinder the free use of a lawn mower or other gardening apparatus are prohibited.
(F) Surfaces other than earth or sod are prohibited.
(G) Except for markers, memorials, flowers and urns expressly allowed by this chapter, and veteran flags as authorized by law, no other item (including, but not limited to, ornaments, signs, trellises, statues, benches, landscaping, bricks, stones, grave border materials or other structures) shall be installed or maintained within a township cemetery, nor shall any grading, digging, mounding or similar alteration of the ground or earth occur except as authorized by this chapter or by the township.
(Ord. 21, passed 7-13-2015)