(A) Prospective purchasers of burial plots in the Mountain View Cemetery who can provide competent evidence and factually establish that they are a lineal descendant or sibling of a person buried in the Mountain View Cemetery; or who currently resides within a 30 mile radius of the Town of Keystone municipal limits; or if extraordinary and special circumstances are established and approved by the Keystone Board of Trustees, may purchase a burial plot by paying the required fee of $300 to the Town of Keystone.
(B) Any prospective purchaser, who fails to meet the criteria to purchase a burial plot at the discounted fee set forth in § 94.04(A), must petition the Cemetery Advisory Committee, subject to the final approval from the Keystone Board of Trustees, and upon the Keystone Board of Trustees approval, may purchase a burial plot by paying the required fee $1,500 to the Town of Keystone.
(C) Upon full payment of the required fees the Town Finance Officer shall issue to the purchaser an official deed for the burial plot. Re-sale of burial plots, unless to immediate family, is strictly prohibited. The town does not buy back burial plots. Burial plots may be donated back to the town.
(D) In addition to the power granted to the Town of Keystone in SDCL §§ 9-32-21 and 47-29-9, relating to the reselling of cemetery lots, the Town of Keystone shall have the right to discontinue all rights granted to a purchaser for any burial plot after a period of 30 years from the date of sale thereof, should the Board of Trustees, upon investigation, determine that the purchaser or owner thereof has not used the lot, or any part thereof, that the owner is deceased and that the burial plot will not likely be used as a burial place for the owner or purchaser or any lineal descendant or siblings.
(E) In the event that any such burial plot is reclaimed, inquiry shall be made to ascertain the names and addresses of the heirs or any of them, which can be obtained by the making of a reasonable inquiry and investigation, and notice shall be given to the heirs by mail, of the intention of the Town of Keystone to reclaim the property. Notice and transfer shall be in accordance with South Dakota law.
(F) In the event no heir of a deceased owner is located, notice of the reclaiming of the burial plot and the deposit of the money shall be published once a week for 3 successive weeks in the official newspaper for the Town of Keystone. It is the responsibility of the owner, purchaser or any member of their family to maintain updated contact information with the town. Any person who purchases any burial plot shall, by that purchase be deemed to have agreed, on behalf of himself or herself and his or her heirs and assigns, to hold the Town of Keystone harmless for any damages resulting from an inadvertent burial on the wrong burial plot, or for any damage to any stone, marker or other improvement placed on the burial plot so purchased.
(Ord. passed 12-20-2006; Ord. passed 10-21-2020)