All persons and lots within the City cemetery shall be subject to the provisions of this article, to all other provisions of this Code, and to all applicable rules and regulations.
[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Commission of the City of Fennville as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 2-21-2005 by Ord. No. 212 (Ch. 22, Art. III, of the 1992 Code of Ordinances)]
A.
All sales of cemetery lots shall be for cash. Except in cases of a death covered by insurance and the next of kin requests such insurance cover the cost of the grave and perpetual care, the City has full power to levy such cost against the policy.
B.
The City Commission shall fix the price of cemetery lots; the City Clerk shall make the sale of all lots. The schedule of prices for lots may take into account a difference in location within the cemetery. The schedule shall contain a difference in prices to purchasers who reside within the corporate limits of the City or those who pay property taxes therein, and all other purchasers.
No sale of lots or burial spaces shall be made, except to purchasers who, at the same time, pay the amount required as a contribution into the perpetual care fund. The amount of payment so required shall be established from time to time by the City Commission. No burial will be allowed on any lot, the full purchase price for which has not been paid, nor shall any burial be allowed on any lot against which there is any charge for care or improvements until such charges are paid.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
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 City Clerk.
B.
Burial rights may be transferred only by endorsement of an assignment of such burial permit form issued and approved by the City 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.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
For every lot purchased a cemetery certificate is issued which shall be serially numbered; shall particularly describe the lot, or lots or portion thereof, conveyed; shall convey only the rights of burial of human bodies therein; shall prohibit the sale, gift, or other assignment thereof except to the City of Fennville or its successors, who shall be obligated to pay for such lot the sum originally paid for it; shall provide for inheritance of such rights by heirs at law asserting any rights of burials by reason of inheritance satisfactorily prove their rights of inheritance and record same with the Clerk; shall be executed on behalf of the City by the Clerk. Said purchaser shall receive a written list of by-laws pertinent to the cemetery regulations.
The City Commission is authorized to promulgate such rules and regulations which it deems appropriate concerning marker, decoration of lots and such other matters which the City Commission deems pertinent to the care and good order of a City cemetery. The City Commission may amend, revise, repeal, add to, delete from or repromulgate its own rules and regulations.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
The City Superintendent, or their designee, shall see that the provisions of this article, as well as all applicable rules and regulations, are complied with, that order is maintained, and that the best interests of a City cemetery are preserved and protected. To that end, the City Superintendent is authorized to make such exceptions to the rules and regulations which the City Superintendent deems necessary to meet emergencies not covered by the provisions of this article or the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this article. The City Superintendent shall report all such exceptions to the City Commission.
A.
No fences or posts marking lot lines shall be erected, no change in ground level shall be made, nor shall any plantings be made on any lot in order that the landscaping scheme of the cemetery shall be preserved.
B.
The City Superintendent shall empower the workers that the City Superintendent supervises to take the responsibility for the removal of any and all floral arrangements the City Superintendent deems necessary, in order to preserve the landscaping schemes of the cemetery.
C.
No glass containers or artificial flowers or decorations held together with wire or metal, excluding those floral arrangements left temporarily after a burial, shall be used at or placed on a graveside in the City cemetery.
A.
No monument or marker of any type, other than a tablet lying not above ground level, shall be erected in any lot lying north of the most northerly drive of the cemetery.
B.
No marker may be placed on any lot if there are any charges due or outstanding on the purchase of such lot or the grave opening performed by the City.
No burial shall be allowed on any lot unless such burial shall be made with the use of a cement vault or cement liner of the type and make to be approved by the City Commission.
The City Clerk shall keep a register and record of all interments made in the cemetery, which record shall disclose the name of the deceased at the time of their death, place of birth if known, occupation, the cause of death, the name of the undertaker officiating and the type of vault or coffin used, which records shall be public records.
The City Commission shall have the power to receive in trust, money or property by way of gifts, grants, devises or bequests for cemetery purposes; to invest the same as provided by law, and to expend the interest earned thereon, after fulfillment of conditions express in said gifts, grants, devises or bequests, for the improvement of the cemetery.
A.
The City and/or a City cemetery shall not be held responsible for damages by the elements, acts of God, common enemies, thieves, vandals, strikers, malicious mischief makers, explosions, unavoidable accidents, invasions, insurrections, riots or the order of any military or civil authority, whether the damages be direct or collateral.
B.
All non-City employees working in a City cemetery shall be fully responsible for any damage done by them or their agents. Upon completing their work, such non-City workers must immediately remove all tools, equipment and debris from a City cemetery, and must repair any damage done to the cemetery grounds.
Interments, disinterments, removals or cremation interment services are prohibited on Sundays or any of the following holidays: New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Eve. Should any such holiday fall or be legally observed on a Saturday or Monday, funerals shall be conducted on the last business day preceding or first business day following such observance; provided however, if an interment must be made on Sunday or a holiday because of health department requirements, religious tenets, or if for any other reason, prior approval shall be obtained by the City Superintendent, and an additional fee recommended by the City Commission shall be added to the regular interment charge.
Notice of an interment, including the exact location of the grave, must be given to the City Superintendent by 3:00 p.m. the day prior to a scheduled interment, and by 12:00 noon on the day prior to a Saturday interment. Saturday interment, an additional fee has been approved by the City Commission and will be added to the regular interment charge.
Special cases may arise in which the literal enforcement of a provision or a rule or regulation promulgated pursuant to this article may impose an undue and unnecessary hardship. Notwithstanding any such provision to the contrary, the City Commission, after due consideration, may make such exceptions, suspensions, or modifications of any applicable provision as it deems appropriate. Any such exception, suspension or modification shall not be construed as affecting the general application or the intent of these provisions and/or any rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this article.