The City Manager or his designates shall be vested with the authority to generally supervise the operation of all Municipal Cemeteries in the City. The City Manager or designee may hire such personnel as shall be authorized by the Governing Body as it deems necessary to carry out the purpose and intent of this Chapter.

Each Municipal Cemetery shall have one person to be designated by the City Manager as Sexton, whose duties shall be to oversee the day-to-day operation and maintenance of cemetery grounds.

(Code 1982; see also 2-201; Code 2015; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

A.    All Municipal Cemeteries shall be open for the conduct of business between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

B.    It shall be unlawful for any person to enter any Municipal Cemetery or to drive any motor vehicle or park any motor vehicle in such cemeteries between sunset and sunrise. Any person upon such premises between sunset and sunrise shall be guilty of a class C misdemeanor; provided, however, that authorized city personnel may enter such cemeteries during otherwise prohibited hours.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

No burial shall take place on Sundays or holidays except at a time of catastrophe, disaster or epidemic. A current list of recognized holidays shall be maintained by the City Clerk. For good cause and to avoid undue hardship, the City Manager or designee, in consultation with appropriate City staff, has the authority to make reasonable exceptions to the burial regulations.

(Code 1982; Code 2015; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

All caskets shall be placed inside vaults, or grave liners. Vaults shall be of concrete, steel, or other approved permanent construction material. The use of fiberglass and wooden vaults is prohibited.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

All monuments and stones shall be set on concrete footings. The measurements of the foundation excavations shall be eight inches wider than the width of the memorial or marker and eight inches longer than the length of the memorial or marker so that a concrete apron of four inches will extend beyond the entire length and width of the memorial or marker after it has been installed. This includes any vase or urn that is integrated as a part of the monument.

Foundation excavations for memorials or markers which will lie flat with the ground surface shall be dug at a depth of no less than ten inches and the depth must be consistent throughout the excavation, including the area to be excavated for the concrete apron.

Foundation excavations for an upright memorial or marker shall be approximately one-half the height of said upright memorial or marker, with a maximum depth of eighteen inches.

Piers approximately seven inches in diameter and ten inches deep shall be sunk below the base of the foundation excavation. Piers must be located on the sides of the excavation in approximately the center. In addition, if the lid of the vault is below the base of the foundation excavation, two additional piers shall be sunk, each approximately seven inches in diameter from the vault.

The excavation, and all piers dug from the base shall be filled with cement and finished.

The general location of all stones or monuments on any gravesite shall be located and placed as directed by the Sexton. The party desiring to install a memorial or marker shall give a minimum of three days’ notice to the cemetery sexton. Flags will be placed out for up to five days. All monuments and foundations shall be entirely within the boundaries of a particular burial space. All stones and monuments cannot be set until a stone setting permit is acquired. Such stone setting permit shall be issued by designated city personnel in the Business Office in the City Hall. A fee for such stone setting permit shall be determined from time to time. All foundation excavations shall be inspected by cemetery personnel prior to pouring concrete. All foundations must be wet set. A final inspection will be completed once the memorial or marker has been set to determine that it was installed properly. If upon inspection, the installation of the memorial or marker deviates from the specifications set forth, the Sexton will give notice to the installer requiring corrections needed to comply. All stones and monuments may be realigned or relocated by the Sexton and his or her designee and is also authorized to repair and reset bases and stones as the need requires. All urns shall be installed in concrete and aligned with the head stones. Surface mausoleums shall not be permitted.

New stones or stones which are reset and which are provided under Federal application for Veterans of the United States Armed Forces may be set according to the Veterans Association Guidelines.

Cleaning, maintaining, and resetting of Veterans’ stones are all permissible with the specific prior approval of the Public Works Director or his or her designee.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21; Ord. 4108-03; Ord. 4112-23)

Any temporary markers placed at grave sites which do not conform to the requirements for monuments and stones as set forth in Section 7-105 of this article may be permanently removed by authorized City personnel if not replaced by a permanent stone or monument within one year after closing of the gravesite so marked.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

In the erection of monuments, tombs or other structures in municipal cemeteries, a place will be designated by the Sexton for the deposit of building materials and implements, which shall not remain longer on the grounds than is actually necessary; and should such implements or materials be left on the grounds, the Sexton shall cause such materials to be removed to some suitable place at the owner’s cost. All workers employed in construction upon the lots and grounds of such cemeteries shall be subject to the control and direction of the Sexton. Any workers failing to conform to this section and the other requirements of this article shall not thereafter be permitted to work on such grounds.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

All decorations must be placed upon the actual monument. Items may not be placed on the base pad.

Decorations are the responsibility of those who place them and may be left indefinitely.

Decorations shall be allowed outside of the monument only on the holidays of Easter, Mother's Day, Father's Day and Memorial Day. The cemetery staff will remove and dispose of all decorations left outside of the monument one week after each of these holidays or at such times the cemetery staff determines necessary to maintain the cemetery.

One shepherd hook with a single hook per grave space is allowed including temporary markers. It must be mounted on the side of the monument in the grass or mounted in the base as long as it is in a sleeve to a1low for easy removal by cemetery staff if necessary for maintenance.

Decorations not conforming to these guidelines shall be removed by cemetery staff.

Wreaths Across Franklin County wreaths will be allowed without regulation.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21; Ord. 4108-23)

No person shall be authorized to plant a tree, shrub, or plant upon any gravesite. All spreading plants, vines or rose thorn bushes shall be prohibited. All small shrubs and live flowers that have been previously approved by the Sexton for planting shall be maintained by the lot owner, and any small shrubs shall be pruned or cut back to maintain a reasonable size on an annual basis by the owner. The Sexton shall have the authority to trim or remove any shrub or planting which may be diseased, dead, or not properly maintained.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

A. The lots in said cemeteries shall not be used for any other purpose than as a place for the burial of human remains, and all interments and lots shall be restricted to the immediate family of the owner or members of his household, unless special permission has been obtained in writing from the lot owner, in which case such written permission shall be attached to the certificate of interment. A burial space is set aside for interment of the remains of one human. Upon the burial of one (whole) human remains in a given space, no other interments shall be authorized in that space unless approved by the City Manager or designee. Two (2) cremated human remains may be interred in one space.

B. For good cause and to avoid undue hardship, the City Manager or designee, in consultation with appropriate City staff, has the authority to make reasonable exceptions to the interment regulations.

(Code 2015; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

Fences, hedges, curbing and enclosures of any kind around lots are strictly prohibited.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

If any monument, effigy or any structure whatever or any inscription be placed in or upon any lot which shall be determined by the Sexton to be improper or offensive or injurious to the appearance of the surrounding lots or grounds, the Sexton shall report the same to the City Manager and, if after due investigation, the same is found to be improper, offensive or injurious, the City Manager or his/her designee shall order the owner to remove such improper, offensive or injurious subjects or inscriptions and if the lot owners neglect or refuse within thirty (30) days after receiving notice or order of removal to remove the same, then the City Manager or his/her designee shall cause the same to be removed.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

The purchase price for lots and burial spaces in municipal cemeteries shall be determined and fixed by resolution of the Board of Commissioners and no interment shall be permitted or deed delivered until such purchase price has been paid in full. All graves shall be opened and closed by persons employed by the City and the charges therefore shall be determined and fixed by the Board of Commissioners.

(Code 1982; 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

No lot owner shall be allowed to sell or convey his lot or any part thereof by gift or otherwise unless such conveyance is filed of record in the Office of the City Clerk before such transfer shall become effective.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

No body, after being interred in the cemetery, shall be removed from the cemetery or from one burial place therein to another in such cemetery without permission having been first obtained from the Sexton. The charges for disinterment shall be twice that of regular interments.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

Whenever an interment is contemplated, timely notice thereof shall be given to the Sexton and the following information shall be given: name of deceased, name of owner of the burial space on which interment is to be made and legal description of such burial space. No burial will be permitted until a proper burial permit, as set forth by Kansas Statutes Annotated, is filed with the Sexton.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

It shall be unlawful for any person operating a motor vehicle in a municipal cemetery to exceed a rate of speed of ten miles per hours (10 mph), which shall be the speed limit.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

A.    It shall be unlawful for any person to walk over, upon or across or drive over, upon or across any lot or burial space in municipal cemeteries except as is required by City personnel to maintain such cemeteries. Walking over a grave in a direct route to visit another is permissible.

B.    A violation of this section is a Class C misdemeanor.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

The Board of Commissioners shall establish from time to time by resolution fixed charges to be imposed and collected for services performed by the City in City-owned cemeteries.

(Code 1982; Ord. 4083-21; Ord. 4090-21)

All pets must be leashed in the cemetery and waste cleaned up (pet stations are provided at cemetery entrances).

(Ord. 4090-21)