(A) Control. The cemetery grounds owned by the city shall be supervised by the Cemetery Superintendent, subject to the supervision of the Parks and Recreation Director and the control of the City Council.
(B) Rules; regulations. The following rules and regulations for the care and management of the cemetery grounds are hereby adopted.
(1) Sale by Cemetery Superintendent. Interment spaces in the cemeteries shall be purchased from the Superintendent, or his or her designees, who shall keep plats of the spaces and furnish necessary information with regard thereto.
(2) Sale by owner. Persons purchasing interment spaces in the cemeteries shall have the spaces they purchase secured to them, their family and heirs, for an interment place and for the interment of such other persons as they may choose to admit, but the owner of any space cannot make a conveyance thereof to any person without written approval of the city.
(3) Payment for interment spaces. Full payment for interment spaces, including perpetual care, is to be made in advance to the City Clerk, who shall issue a certificate for the same.
(4) Transfers. All transfers or subdivisions of cemetery interment spaces shall be by certificate from the city, which shall be recorded with the City Clerk in a record kept for that purpose.
(5) Survey of interment spaces. No interment space in the cemeteries shall be sold until it has been surveyed and platted, or otherwise designated, and the plat or designation has been approved by the City Council.
(6) Grade of lots. The grade of avenues, walks and lots shall be established by the Council, and no lot shall be filled above the established grade.
(7) Payment. No improvement will be allowed upon any interment space or interment made therein until full payment has been made therefor.
(8) Corners marked. All lots shall bear one iron corner marker with the number of such lot marked thereon.
(9) Erection of monuments. The proprietor of each gravesite shall have the right to erect any proper headstone, monument or memorial thereon, subject to the approval of the Superintendent.
(10) Planting on gravesites. No trees, shrubs or other plantings may be planted by the gravesite owner. Such plantings may be done only by cemetery personnel under the direction of the Superintendent. No trees, shrubs or other plantings may be removed by the gravesite owner without prior approval of the Superintendent.
(11) Enclosures on gravesites. Enclosures around gravesites are not permitted, and the Superintendent is authorized to remove any enclosure heretofore erected, if desired by the owner, and to remodel the gravesite in conformity with these regulations, at the expense of the owner.
(12) Foundations and construction.
(a) The foundations for all monuments, markers or other aboveground structures, except veterans’ plaques issued by the United States Veterans’ Administration, permitted at the Municipal Riverside Cemetery and the North Lawn Cemetery shall meet the following specifications:
1. Foundations shall be constructed of solid stone or concrete, either precast or poured in place;
2. Foundations for markers or comparable small structures shall be constructed on a bed of sand or pebbles and shall be not less than four inches in depth;
3. Monument foundations shall be not less than 12 inches in depth of poured concrete, if capped with a precast foundation, or not less than 16 inches in depth, if constructed entirely of poured concrete;
4. The top surface of all foundations shall be level; and
5. The surface area of each foundation shall be of sufficient size that the foundation extends not less than five inches in all dimensions from the monument, marker or other structure.
(b) All monuments, headstones, statuary or other memorials erected in the cemeteries shall be of real stone, marble, bronze or other material equally substantial and desirable, in the judgment of the Superintendent, and shall be kept in good condition and repair.
(c) Construction of foundations shall be accomplished by or under the direction of the Superintendent. Persons and corporations regularly engaged in and experienced in the construction of monument foundations may construct such foundations in the municipal cemeteries, but such construction shall be subject to the inspection and approval of the Superintendent. The Superintendent shall cause the location of all foundations to be staked or marked, and all construction shall be contained within the designated area.
(d) 1. Any person or corporation permitted to construct foundations or to perform other work in the municipal cemeteries shall, in consideration of the city’s grant of access, bear full responsibility and liability for any damage occasioned to any property within the city arising out of the contractor’s activities. Private contractors shall hold the city, and any lot owner, harmless and free from all costs, loss or expense, including attorney fees, with regard to any personal injury or property damage arising out of the activities of the private contractor.
2. Before being permitted to perform construction activities in the cemeteries, each private contractor shall provide to the city a certificate of insurance issued by a liability insurance company authorized to do business in the state, which certificate shall confirm that the contractor has general liability insurance in force providing limits of coverage of at least $300,000 for any personal injury or property damage arising from a single event or occurrence.
(13) Removal of unused material. Material for stone or marble work will not be allowed to remain in the cemeteries longer than shall be strictly necessary, and refuse or unused material must be removed as soon as the work is completed. In case of neglect, such removal will be made by the Superintendent at the expense of the interment space owner and the contractor, who shall be severally responsible.
(14) Hedges, fences and the like. Hedges, fences and wooden trellises are prohibited.
(15) Removal of unsightly trees. If any trees or shrubs situated upon any lot shall by means of their roots, branches or otherwise become detrimental to adjacent interment spaces or avenues, or become unsightly or inconvenient to passersby, it shall be the duty of the Superintendent to enter upon such interment space and remove such trees and shrubs or such parts thereof as are detrimental, unsightly or inconvenient. If any interment space or structure thereon becomes unsightly through neglect of the owner, it shall be the duty of the Superintendent to enter upon such interment space, to put the same in proper order and repair, and to make a reasonable charge for the removal of such structure, trees or shrubs, and the repairs on any interment space, which charge shall be paid by the interment space owner when notified; and until such charge shall be paid by such interment space owner, he or she shall be barred from further use of said interment space.
(16) Superintendent to control all work. All workpersons employed in the construction of vaults or tombs, erection of monuments and the like shall be subject to the control and direction of the Superintendent. All materials brought into the cemeteries to be used in improving lots must be transported and deposited within the cemeteries in such manner as the Superintendent may direct, and all earthwork and rubbish accumulated in improving such lots must be removed under his or her direction, at the expense of the proprietor of such lot, and any workperson failing to conform to this regulation will not be permitted afterwards to work in the cemeteries.
(17) Soliciting and advertising prohibited. The soliciting for contracts or orders for monuments, headstones, memorials or other work will not be allowed in the cemeteries. Signs, notices or advertisements of contractors, stonecutters, undertakers or any other person will not be permitted upon or within the cemetery grounds.
(18) Care of lots supervised. All work in the care of lots shall be done under the supervision of the Superintendent. The avenues and walks will be kept in good condition and the lots clean, but any extra care or work, such as planting trees, cultivating flowers or other extraordinary work on lots, will only be done at the owner’s expense and under the direction of the Superintendent.
(19) Opening interment spaces. Interment spaces shall be opened and closed only by the Superintendent or his or her designated representative. Excavation in gravesites for the placement of vaults shall be not less than five feet in depth, and there shall be at least two feet of earth cover over all vaults. No mounds shall be raised upon any gravesite above the natural surface of the ground. Whenever interments are to be made, the Superintendent shall be given eight working hours’ notice during summer months and 12 working hours’ notice during the winter months in order that he or she may have interment spaces in readiness.
(20) Charges. The City Council shall have the power to enact a schedule of charges for the opening and closing of graves and other cemetery services and permits.
(21) Permission for interment. No grave will be opened upon any lot, or interment allowed, except upon order or permission of the owner of said interment space.
(22) Compliance with law prior to interment. No interment will be permitted in the cemeteries, nor in any vault therein, unless the Superintendent is furnished with evidence showing full and complete compliance with the law governing and relating to interments.
(23) Human remains only. Only the remains of human beings may be interred in city cemeteries. Interment of the remains of pets or other animals is not permitted.
(24) Interments permitted. In any single gravesite, the following interments are permitted:
(a) A typical interment of the remains of one human being with a casket and vault;
(b) Two infants or a parent and infant; contemporaneous interments in a single casket. The term infant shall be a human being not more than six months in age;
(c) The cremains of no more than two human beings in separate containers and vaults; contemporaneously interred;
(d) Cremains may be interred in combination with the cremains of another human being. The combined cremains interred shall be considered two burials; no other burial in the gravesite will be permitted. Any disinterment shall be a mutual disinterment of the combined cremains;
(e) The cremains of two human beings in separate containers are permitted in a mausoleum space. Combined cremains shall be interred contemporaneously; and
(f) There are three types of columbarium niches available at Riverside Cemetery, a single space and two types of double spaces. Only the remains of a single human being may be placed in a single niche. The remains of two human beings may be placed in either type of double niche. Combined cremains shall be interred contemporaneously.
(25) Disinterment. No disinterment will be allowed without the special permission of the Superintendent, and such disinterments shall be allowed only when he or she has been furnished with proof that the law governing disinterments has been fully complied with.
(26) Funeral processions. All funeral processions, or other processions, while within the grounds, will be subject to the direction and control of the Superintendent. Undertakers must arrange the time of funerals as to be out of the grounds before dark.
(27) Visitors. Visitors will be allowed access to the cemeteries at all proper times, and must observe all rules now in force or that may be adopted for the regulation of the grounds.
(28) Injury to flowers and the like. Visitors must keep on the avenues or walks and not pluck or injure flowers, plants, shrubs or trees, nor remove anything from the grounds.
(29) Vehicles in cemeteries. Motor vehicles and bicycles operated on cemetery grounds shall be restricted to a speed not greater than 15 mph. Vehicles shall be operated with due care and only upon cemetery avenues. Snowmobiles and other recreational vehicles, except bicycles and motorcycles, are prohibited on cemetery grounds.
(30) Horses not permitted. Horses will not be permitted in the cemeteries, except in a funeral procession.
(31) Shooting in cemeteries. Shooting shall not be allowed, and no firearms shall be permitted within the grounds, except at military services.
(32) Children alone not permitted. Children 12 years of age and under will not be permitted upon cemetery grounds, unless accompanied by a parent or guardian.
(33) Dogs not permitted. Dogs are not permitted within the grounds.
(34) Waste and refuse. No person will be permitted to throw any wastepaper, tin cans or other refuse upon the grounds of the cemeteries.
(35) Liability for loss of items. The city shall not be liable for loss of planters, containers, flowers or any other type of memorial.
(36) Appeals. Any person aggrieved by a decision or action of the Superintendent shall have the right, upon proper notice to the Superintendent, City Council and other interested persons, to be heard before the Council, which shall determine the propriety of such decision or action by the Superintendent. This provision shall not affect the exercise of any other legal rights held by persons so aggrieved.
(37) Extra work on interment space. Owners of interment spaces may have extra work or repairs done upon their spaces by leaving a written order with the Superintendent justifying the work they wish to have performed. The owner will be given an estimate of the cost of such work and, upon the payment thereof in advance, the work, insofar as it is consistent with the rules and regulations herein adopted, will be performed. In the event the cost of the work exceeds the estimate, the owner will be billed for the excess.
(38) Other rules. The City Council shall have the power to alter avenues and walks and to make such other rules and regulations as it may deem requisite and proper.
(39) Vaults. All interments in interment spaces shall be accomplished by the placement of a vault made of concrete, metal or other suitable material approved by the Superintendent.
(40) Columbariums. Columbariums shall remain sealed or locked at all times except for inurnment services or except as prearranged with the Cemetery Superintendent. The sealing or locking mechanism to secure the columbarium shall be approved by the Superintendent. The Superintendent will be the sole keeper of columbarium access devices. No key locks shall be permitted.
(C) Enforcement of rules. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent to enforce the rules and regulations provided herein.
(Prior Code, 5-4-3) (Ord. 605, passed 5-17-2004; Ord. 790, passed 10-5-2015; Ord. 810, passed 4-17-2017) Penalty, see § 10.99