[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Board of the Township of Cannon 10-19-1996 by Ord. No. 96-7; amended by Ord. No. 2010-5; Ord. No. 2012-3. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
This chapter shall be known and cited as the "Cannon Township Cemetery Ordinance."
A. 
A cemetery lot shall consist of four or more spaces.
B. 
A burial space shall consist of a land area four feet wide and eight feet in length.
C. 
A columbarium niche consists of a twelve-inch-by-twelve-inch recessed compartment in a columbarium in a Township cemetery. Unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, for purposes of this chapter, including but not limited to §§ 155-3, 155-4, 155-5 and 155-9 of this chapter, the term "burial space" shall include a columbarium niche, and placement of cremains into a niche shall be considered a burial.
[Added 8-26-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-4]
A. 
All such sales shall be made on an approved form which grants a right of burial only and does not convey any other title to the lot or burial space sold. Such form shall be executed by the Township Clerk.
B. 
Burial rights may be transferred only by endorsement of an assignment of such burial permit form issued and approved by the Township Clerk, and entered upon the official records of the Clerk. Upon such assignment, approval and record, the Clerk shall issue a new burial permit to the assignee, and shall cancel and terminate upon such records the original permit thus assigned. Proof of such transfers should be recorded in the Clerk's office.
A. 
Each burial space shall be determined by a fee structure established by the Township Board.
B. 
The charges shall be paid to the Township Treasurer.
C. 
The Township Board, by resolution, may periodically alter the foregoing fees to accommodate increased costs and needed reserve funds for cemetery maintenance and acquisition.
A. 
The opening and closing of any burial space, prior to and following a burial therein, and including the interment of ashes, shall be at a cost to be determined from time to time by resolution of the Township Board, payable to the Township.
B. 
No burial spaces shall be opened and closed except under the direction and control of the cemetery sexton. This provision shall not apply to proceedings for the removal and reinterment of bodies and remains which matters are under the supervision of the local Health Department, as a result of a court order.
[Amended 8-26-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-4]
A. 
All markers or memorials must be of stone or other equally durable composition.
B. 
All markers or monuments must be located upon a suitable foundation to maintain the same in an erect position.
C. 
The footing or foundation upon which any monument, marker or memorial is to be placed shall be approved by the Township sexton. All foundations shall be two inches larger per side than the base of the marker.
D. 
Engraving of the columbarium niche door will be by a qualified company approved by the Township, at the expense of and paid for directly by the responsible party. Engraving shall be uniform in style and may contain only the name or names of the persons whose cremains are interred therein, their date of birth and death, any symbol of the person's faith, one line of additional text, and, in the case of a veteran, service information consistent with Veterans Administration regulations for grave markers. No other special artwork, colors, plaques, flower holders, or other attachments are permitted on columbarium doors.
A. 
Only one person may be buried in a burial space except for a mother or father and infant, two children buried at the same time, or two cremains.
B. 
A minimum of 36 hours' notice shall be given in advance of any time of any funeral to allow for the opening of the burial spaces.
C. 
The appropriate permit for the burial space involved, together with appropriate identification of the person to be buried therein, when necessary, shall be presented to either the cemetery sexton or the Township Clerk prior to interment. Where such permit has been lost or destroyed, the Township Clerk shall determine if the person has the legal right to be buried in the burial space before any interment is commenced.
D. 
Cremains placed within a columbarium niche shall be in a suitable container. Up to two containers of cremains may be placed within the same columbarium niche if space permits. Nothing else shall be placed within a columbarium niche.
[Added 8-26-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-4]
[Amended 8-26-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-4]
A. 
No grading, leveling, or excavating upon a burial space shall be allowed without the permission of the cemetery sexton or the Township Clerk.
B. 
No shrubs, trees, or evergreens of any type shall be planted without the approval of the cemetery sexton and the Township Clerk. Any of the foregoing items planted without such approval may be removed by the Township or the cemetery sexton.
C. 
The Township Board reserves the right to authorize the removal or trimming of any tree, plant or shrub located within the cemetery in the interest of maintaining proper appearance and the use of the cemetery.
D. 
Mounds which hinder the free use of a lawn mower or other gardening apparatus are prohibited.
E. 
The cemetery sexton shall have the right and authority to remove and dispose of any and all growth, emblems, displays or containers that are determined to be unsightly, a source of litter, or a maintenance problem.
F. 
Landscape materials (i.e., bark mulch, stone) other than earth or sod are prohibited unless approved by the sexton and the Township Clerk.
G. 
All refuse of any kind, including dried flowers, wreaths, papers, and flower containers, must be removed or deposited in trash receptacles located within the cemetery.
H. 
All flower arrangements and other grave decorations shall be removed by October 31, annually. Christmas decorations shall be removed by the following May 1, annually.
I. 
Lighting of any type is prohibited, except one solar light per monument is allowed year round.
J. 
Flags for veterans and flowers may be placed at the base of the columbarium. Nothing may be attached to the face of a columbarium niche.
Upon approval of the Township Board, the Township may repurchase any cemetery lot or burial space from the owner for the original price paid the Township upon written request of said owner or his legal heirs or representatives.
The Township Clerk shall maintain records concerning all burials, issuance of burial permits, and any perpetual care fund, separate and apart from any other records of the Township, and the same shall be open to public inspection at all reasonable business hours.
All burials shall be within a standard steel or concrete vault installed or constructed in each burial space before interment.
A. 
The cemetery shall be open to the general public during the daylight hours.
B. 
No person shall be permitted in the Township cemeteries at any time other than daylight hours, except upon permission of the Township Board or the sexton of the cemetery.
[Added 8-26-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-4]
A. 
Burial space rights sold after December 31, 2019, and remaining vacant and unused 40 years from the date of their sale shall automatically revert to the Township in accordance with the following procedure:
(1) 
Notice shall be sent by the Township Clerk by first-class mail to the last-known address of the last holder of burial right of record informing that person of the expiration of the forty-year period, and that all rights with respect to said burial spaces or columbarium niches will be forfeited if that person does not affirmatively respond, in writing, to the Township Clerk within 60 days from the date of the mailing of their desire to retain said burial rights.
(2) 
Should no written response to the notice indicating a desire to retain ownership of the rights to the burial spaces or columbarium niches be received by the Township Clerk from the last holder of record of burial rights, or his or her legal representatives, within 60 days of the date of mailing of the notice, absolute ownership of the lots or burial spaces shall vest with the Township and the rights of the holders of the burial permit shall be deemed to be terminated.
(3) 
Notice of this forfeiture procedure shall be included on the application for a burial space.
B. 
The Township shall have the right to correct any errors that may be made in making interments, disinterments or removals, or the description, transfer or conveyancing of burial rights by substituting in lieu thereof the rights of burial or interment in similar location as far as possible, or as may be selected by the Township, or by refunding the amount of money paid on account of the purchase of burial rights. In the event such errors shall involve the interment of the remains of any person, this Township reserves and shall have the right to remove and transfer such remains so interred to another location of equal value and similar location within the cemetery or columbarium.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Original Sec. 13, Violations and penalties, which immediately followed this section, was repealed at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. II). See now Ch. 70, Violations and Penalties.