The following rules and bylaws shall be enforced by the Sexton of Cemeteries, or superintendent if there be no Sexton, and shall be applicable to all Kewanee and Wethersfield cemeteries.
(A) Prices. All prices are subject to change upon order of the City Council.
(B) Permits. Undertakers are required to present the regulation burial permit for interment of all bodies.
(C) Interments. All graves shall be opened and closed by the employees of the cemetery under the direction of the Sexton.
(D) Containers for flowers. Glass and all breakable containers are forbidden on lots. If placed there, they will be removed.
(E) Plants in pots. Lot owners must place all growing plants in pots. Do not set plants in the ground. Pots can be moved when the lot is mowed and replaced. The city cannot clip the length of the graves, and plants placed in the ground make this necessary more than two pots for each grave are not permitted.
(F) Perpetual care. All lots, spaces crypts, and niches are now sold only with perpetual care. The city urges all lot owners to arrange for this kind of care for their lots, spaces, crypts, and niches. The city calls the attention of lot owners who contemplate the erection of monuments and markers to Bylaw IX, governing the same.
(G) Records. The city is using the greatest care to make its burial records complete in the old part of the cemeteries there are many unmarked graves. Any information relating to these will be greatly appreciated and will aid the city in its work.
(H) Fees and costs. In the event the city incurs fees for an attorney to prepare or serve any notice, or to take any action or proceeding in law or in equity to enforce the rules, regulations, bylaws, or ordinances relating to the city cemeteries, the lot owner shall at once be liable to the city for reasonable attorney's fees and costs advanced.
(I) Bylaws.
“BYLAWS FOR THE CITY OF KEWANEE CEMETERIES
KEWANEE, ILLINOIS
Article I - Ownership
Every grantee in such deeds shall have the full legal ownership of his or her lot for the sole purpose of sepulture and interment under and in conformity with the laws of the State of Illinois, and the bylaws, rules and regulations heretofore made or hereafter to be made by the City.
Lots cannot be conveyed or transferred except with the consent and approval of and in the manner provided by the City, and no use, division, improvement, or adornment can be made which the City, by regulation, prohibits or deems improper or unsuitable. The owner of any lot may dispose of it or the use thereof by Will, and if the owner dies intestate, the lot and all the rights therein shall descend to his or her heirs in common in equal undivided shares. The heirs or devises of such descendant owners shall furnish and file for the record in the office of the City Clerk, full and suitable proof of their ownership and right to use such lot before such ownership and right shall accrue or be enforceable, and the ownership of and the right to use any such lots however acquired, shall be subject to the foregoing regulations and conditions.
Article II - Perpetual Care
All lots shall be sold with perpetual care. This shall include any lot to be resold if perpetual care has not previously been paid on said lot.
Article III - Conveyances
All conveyances of burial lots shall be executed in the name of the City, Kewanee, Illinois, and signed by the Mayor and attested by its City Clerk, with the corporate seal attached.
Article IV - Abandonment of Lots
Any lot or part of a lot for which perpetual care has not been provided and which has been abandoned and left uncared for and for which no annual charge for care and maintenance has been paid for a period of five (5) years, shall revert to the City, and the unoccupied portions of said lot or parts of lots may be re- sold by the City and conveyed in the same manner as herein provided for the sale of lots.
Article V - Burials
No burial will be permitted upon any lot or part of a lot against which there remains an unpaid claim for cost of said lot or care of same or labor performed by the cemetery employees, or for any expense incurred by said City for the care thereof that is unpaid for more than sixty (60) days.
All burials must be placed into a concrete vault consisting of concrete on four sides, top and bottom. Domes will not be permitted. All cremation ashes must be buried in concrete. Scattering ashes on, over, or under any land located in Kewanee's Cemeteries is prohibited.
Article VI - Lot Improvement
The superintendent shall have the charge of and direct all improvements in the cemetery, such as grading, trimming of trees and shrubs, and keeping the grounds in proper order.
All flowers, wreaths, memorials, etc. (either live or artificial) must be placed next to the headstone or monument so as not to interfere with mowing of the lot.
Flag Poles. Flag poles for display of the United States Flag shall be permitted on burial spaces if installed and operated in full compliance with the following regulations:
A flag pole shall be allowed only on spaces in which there is an existing burial.
The flag pole shall be located on the burial space on the north or south side of any existing marker, monument, headstone, and the like, so as not to create an obstacle for mowing or trimming of graves. The flag pole shall have a minimum six-inch concrete flange around it.
The flag pole shall be located on a burial space and shall not be located in an aisle-way, road, or other areas not specifically dedicated for burials.
Flag pole shall be made of non-ferrous metal.
Height of the top of the flag pole or any decorative end cap shall not exceed eight feet above ground level immediately adjacent to said pole.
The hardware for any flag lighting installed shall be mounted on the flag pole so as to not project over any other burial spaces, aisle-way or road, and so as to not interfere with mowing, trimming or grounds maintenance.
Only the flag of the United States shall be permitted to be flown on a flag pole erected in compliance with these bylaws.
The size of the United States Flag displayed on the pole shall not exceed three feet by five feet in dimension.
The flag pole shall be installed in such a manner as to allow its removal by cemetery staff to facilitate equipment access for burials, tree/brush removal, or other similar need.
The individual installing the flag pole shall be responsible for its maintenance and maintenance of the United States Flag displayed on said pole.
The sexton is hereby authorized to remove from display any United Stated Flag on a private burial space flag pole when said flag is tattered, faded, or otherwise damaged to the point where it can no longer be properly displayed.
Flag poles upon which no United State Flag has been displayed for over one year shall be removed by the sexton from the burial space and retained in storage for a period of one year from date of removal. Should the owner of the pole not claim said pole within one year of its removal, it shall be discarded.
Permission to install a flag pole shall be obtained from the city via a properly issued flag pole permit prior to installation of said flag pole. A permit for a flag pole for a United States Flag shall be processed in a like manner as that used for issuing stone permits as provided in § 92.08, with the exception that no fees shall be charged for the flag pole permit, and the flag pole shall be installed in compliance with this Article VI.
The owner of the flag pole shall be responsible for any damage to owners of other improvements on burial spaces or the city arising from the installation of said flag pole and flag.
No raised mounds will be permitted above the lot line.
No lot shall be filled above the established grade.
No fence, coping, nor enclosure of any kind will be permitted on burial lots.
All preparation of flower beds, planting and trimming of flowers and plants must be submitted to the superintendent for his approval; and all growing flowers and plants must be in pots. Boxes, shells, and similar articles scattered upon the grave and lawn are inconsistent with the proper keeping of the grounds and will not be permitted.
To prevent injury to monuments and adjoining lots, and to preserve the beauty of the grounds, no trees shall be planted upon the lots. Neither can any trees or shrubs be cut down, removed, or trimmed without the permission of the superintendent. Such work must be done by the employees of the cemetery.
The City reserves the right to remove any trees, shrubs, or plants now growing on lots.
The City has no wish to unnecessarily interfere with the taste or ideas of individuals in regard to the style of their improvements, but in justice to the interests of the cemetery they reserve to themselves the right given them by law of preventing or removing any structure or object which they deem injurious to the general appearance of the grounds.
Article VII - Transfers
No transfer is valid until entered on the cemetery records and no transfer of a lot, by sale or otherwise, by a lot holder, without the formal approval of the City will be recognized.
Article VIII - Additional Grave Digging Charges
These charges are contained in § 92.06 (B) of this chapter.
Article IX - Stones and Monuments
Monuments and headstones may be erected subject to the rules of the cemetery. They must be of granite with a granite base and of good material. Concord and New Weatherly, etc., are not permitted. Neither monuments or markers set in sockets will be allowed.
No headstone, double headstone, monument, marker or cornerstone shall be set until perpetual care has been paid in full on said lot or space.
No monument, stone, marker or corner stone shall be set until a permit for setting same has been issued by the City of Kewanee. Application for all stone setting permits shall be on forms provided by the City of Kewanee. The Sexton or his designee shall approve the stone setting permit when the application filed shows the work proposed conforms to the City Code. No stone setting permit shall be issued until the fee established for the work proposed on the permit has been paid to the City Clerk. The person or persons signing the application will be held responsible.
In blocks one through nine of Pleasantview Cemetery, blocks ten through twenty-five of South Pleasantview Cemetery, Kewanee Cemetery, Russian Cemetery, and Wethersfield Cemetery monuments, headstones, and double headstones as defined in § 92.08 may be placed above ground level. In block thirty-one of South Pleasantview Cemetery, monuments only, are allowed to be placed above ground level. In blocks twenty-six through thirty, and blocks thirty-two through thirty-seven of South Pleasantview Cemetery, all stones and markers shall be set flush with ground level.
Monuments shall be placed on the East side of the lot. Headstones shall be placed on the West side of the lot, with the exception that markers and flush headstones may be placed on the east side of the lot in connection with an infant burial or remains that are interred on the east side of a lot.
Article X - Waiver of Liability and Reservation of Rights
The City and cemetery employees reserve the right to correct interment errors and the same shall include, but shall not be limited to, the right to remove and reenter the remains in another lot. Lot owners, their heirs, personal representatives, successors and assigns waive all liability on the part of the City and the cemetery employees for such errors.
Article XI - Parties
These bylaws, rules, regulations and ordinances shall be binding upon the lot owner, and his or her heirs, personal representatives, successors and assigns.
Article XII - Rules and Amendments
The City reserves the right to establish such rules and regulations as are necessary to give full force and effect to the ordinances and bylaws relating to the City cemeteries and further reserves the right to amend the bylaws, rules, regulations and ordinances as it shall deem necessary.”
('71 Code, § 9-4-10) (Ord. 2561, passed 2-24-86; Am. Ord. 2796, passed 9-28-92; Am. Ord. 2917, passed 8-22-94; Am. Ord. 3019, passed 11-20-95; Am. Ord. 3239, passed 12-27-99; Am. Ord. 3738, passed 5-28-13) Penalty, see § 10.99