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DIVISION 1. - GENERALLY#
Sec. 18-329. - Definitions.#
The following words, terms and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the meanings ascribed to them in this section, except where the context clearly indicates a different meaning:
Lot includes the partial lots or single graves in the municipal cemetery.
Lot owner or purchaser and grave owner or purchaser mean the owner or purchaser of burial privileges or the collateral right of use of any burial lot evidenced by a deed or burial right for a described lot or by proved and recognized descent or devise from the original owner.
(Code 1981, § 8-201)
Sec. 18-330. - Name.#
The burial ground of the town shall be known and designated by the name of "Minersville Town Cemetery."
(Code 1981, § 8-202)
Sec. 18-331. - Cemetery provisions.#
All cemeteries owned and/or maintained by the town or which may hereafter be acquired by the town wherever situated are hereby declared subject to the provisions of this article.
(Code 1981, § 8-203)
Sec. 18-332. - Burial of indigents.#
(a)
The town council may, by resolution, designate a portion of the municipal cemetery to the burial of indigents. Whenever it is made to appear to the mayor by proof submitted to him by the clerk/recorder that any person who has died does not have an estate sufficient to pay the purchase price of a lot in the cemetery, and that the nearest relative or representative of such deceased person desires to have the body of such deceased interred in the cemetery, the mayor may grant burial space for such deceased person at the request made to him by the clerk/recorder.
(b)
The mayor shall communicate his decision to both the clerk/recorder and the cemetery superintendent. The mayor shall give report of his decision, whether affirmative or negative, to the town council at its next regular meeting. All strangers without funds or other persons who may die in the town may be granted the privilege granted herein.
(Code 1981, § 8-291)
Secs. 18-333—18-352. - Reserved.#
DIVISION 2. - CEMETERY SUPERINTENDENT#
Sec. 18-353. - Position created.#
There is hereby created the position of cemetery superintendent.
(Code 1981, § 8-211)
Sec. 18-354. - Duties.#
The cemetery superintendent shall have the general supervision and administration of the municipal cemetery, including, but not limited to: (1)
Recommending to the town council such additional rules and regulations as may be necessary for the operation, maintenance, use and protection of the cemetery;
(2)
Subdividing the cemetery into lots and grave sites;
(3)
Maintaining a record of the location of the graves and preventing any lot from being used beyond its capacity;
(4)
Keeping in proper repair the enclosure around the cemetery and preventing its being entered by animals and, so far as practical, preventing the destruction or defacing of any tablet or marker placed or erected therein;
(5)
Keeping a duplicate plat of the cemetery and, at the request of any person wishing to purchase any of the lots or parts of lots, pointing out any of the lots or parts of lots for sale; and upon disposal of any lots or part thereof, notifying the clerk/recorder of such fact. The clerk/recorder shall, after payment of the lot price has been received in the treasury, issue a certificate of burial rights which shall describe the lot or grave to which the right to burial is granted. The certificate shall be signed by the mayor and the clerk/recorder;
(6)
Opening any graves in the cemetery upon application to him being made by the clerk/recorder or by any person having the right to make such application and being responsible for closing all graves;
(7)
Removing floral pieces or displays left on any grave as deemed necessary to the appearance of the cemetery, but such floral pieces or displays shall not be removed sooner than seven days after original placement except in an emergency;
(8)
Keeping the streets, alleys, walks and avenues in the cemetery in good order and unobstructed; and
(9)
Erecting a suitable marker firmly set upon the northwest corner of each lot with the number of the lot inscribed thereon and which location shall be shown on the cemetery records.
(Code 1981, § 8-212)
Secs. 18-355—18-381. - Reserved.#
DIVISION 3. - CEMETERY REGULATIONS#
Footnotes:
--- (1) --- State Law reference— Cemetery lots, proceeds of resale, U.C.A. 1953, § 8-5-5; cemetery perpetual care trust fund, U.C.A. 1953, § 10-5-119; cemetery purchase and operation, U.C.A. 1953, § 10-8-62; burial of deceased, U.C.A. 1953, § 10-8-63.
Sec. 18-382. - Burials.#
Before any deceased person is buried in the town cemetery, a permit properly issued by the registrar of the registration district in which the death occurred or, in the absence of such registrar, a permit duly issued by the state division of health or other authorized person shall be required by the cemetery superintendent. After burial, the cemetery superintendent shall endorse upon the permit a description of the location where the deceased is buried and shall enter all of the information contained in the permit in the cemetery records.
(Code 1981, § 8-22)
Sec. 18-383. - Burial permit.#
It shall be unlawful for any person to bury the body of a deceased person in the town cemetery without first obtaining a certificate of burial right for the lot used or producing satisfactory evidence of a right to burial based on a properly acquired certificate of burial right.
(Code 1981, § 8-222)
Sec. 18-384. - Registration of burials.#
Before any deceased person may be buried in the town cemetery, the relatives or person having charge of the deceased shall provide the clerk/recorder with a written statement which shall be filed by the clerk/recorder, which statement shall contain, if known, information about the deceased regarding his or her name, when and where born, the date and cause of death, the name of the attending physician, date of burial, name of cemetery and the description of the location of the grave.
(Code 1981, § 8-223)
Sec. 18-385. - Burials and disinterment.#
(a)
It is an infraction for any person to:
(1)
Disinter any body buried in any cemetery, except under the direction of the cemetery superintendent who shall, before disinterment, require a written permission from both the town health officer and the owner of the lot or his or her heirs, which written authorization shall be filed and preserved in a record kept for such purposes; and
(2)
Disinter or remove the body of a person who has died from a contagious disease within two years after the date of burial, unless the body was buried in a hermetically sealed casket or vault and is found to be so encased at the time of disinterment.
(b)
It is an infraction to inter anything other than the remains of human bodies in cemeteries.
(c)
It is an infraction to bury the body of any person within the town except in the town cemetery or a private cemetery, unless by special permission of the town council under such rules and regulations that it may prescribe.
(Code 1981, § 8-224)
Sec. 18-386. - Vaults required.#
(a)
Unless in writing waived by the cemetery superintendent, it shall be unlawful for any person to be buried in the cemetery unless the casket shall be placed in a vault that is brick-lined or made of concrete, fiberglass, steel, or of such other material approved by the town council, substantially constructed and covered with a similar durable material.
(b)
No wood shall be used as a permanent part of the construction of any part of the vault.
(Code 1981, § 8-225)
Sec. 18-387. - Religious and fraternal organizations.#
The town may contract with religious and fraternal organizations to designate a reasonable portion of the cemetery in which burials may be restricted to members of such religious and fraternal organizations and their families.
(Code 1981, § 8-226)
Sec. 18-388. - Sale subject to rules.#
Every lot or single grave sold is subject to rules and regulations that have been or may be adopted. The rules and regulations shall be subject to such changes as are found necessary for the protection of lot owners, the remains of the dead and the preservation of the cemetery.
(Code 1981, § 8-227)
Sec. 18-389. - Care reserved.#
The town reserves the right to enter upon any grave and to perform all work necessary for the care and upkeep of all lots and graves in its cemeteries.
(Code 1981, § 8-228)
Sec. 18-390. - Orders and responsibilities for errors.#
Under no circumstances will the town assume responsibilities for errors in opening graves when orders are given by telephone.
(Code 1981, § 8-229)
Sec. 18-391. - Traffic rules.#
(a)
The provisions of the town's traffic ordinances relative to the operation of vehicles and conduct of pedestrians shall be in effect in the cemetery, except as herein otherwise modified by this article.
(b)
It shall be unlawful for any person to ride or drive within the town cemetery at a speed greater than five miles per hour.
(Code 1981, § 8-230)
Sec. 18-392. - Animals prohibited.#
No animal shall be allowed in any cemetery except in the confines of a vehicle and must be at all times retained within the confines of said vehicle while the vehicle remains in the cemetery.
(Code 1981, § 8-232)
Sec. 18-393. - Decorum.#
Cemetery grounds are sacredly devoted to the interment and repose of the dead. Strict observance of decorum due such a place shall be required of all persons.
(Code 1981, § 8-233)
Sec. 18-394. - Injury to cemetery property prohibited.#
(a)
It is a Class B misdemeanor for any person to tie or attempt to tie any horse, animal or motor vehicle to any monument, gravestone, tablet, marker, tree, shrub, fence or enclosure on the premises of the cemetery for the purpose of injuring, defacing or attempting the removal of same.
(b)
It shall be an infraction for any person to injure, deface, break, destroy or remove any headstone, tombstone, monument, tree, shrub or any other property in the cemetery.
(Code 1981, § 8-234)
Sec. 18-395. - Landscaping by private persons.#
Except as provided by the rules and regulations of the town council, it shall be unlawful for any person to erect or maintain any fence, corner post, coping or boundary of any kind, to plant any vegetation upon any lot, street, alley or walk in the cemetery or to grade the ground or land thereof. The cemetery superintendent shall, whenever required, furnish the true lines of any lots according to official survey, shall prevent and prohibit any markings of the same except by official landmarks, and shall prevent and prohibit any grading thereof that might destroy or interfere with the general slope of the land.
(Code 1981, § 8-235)
Sec. 18-396. - Placement of markers.#
It shall be unlawful for any person to erect, place or cause to be placed any marker or monument on any lot in the cemetery in violation of the rules and regulations promulgated by the town council regarding the placement, construction, and design of all such markers.
(Code 1981, § 8-236)
Sec. 18-397. - Additional rules and regulations.#
(a)
The town council may promulgate by resolution such additional rules and regulations concerning the care, use, operation and maintenance of the cemetery as it shall deem necessary.
(b)
The mayor may from time to time as the town council deems necessary direct and publish a booklet of rules and regulations for the convenience of the purchasers of lots in the municipal cemetery. Such rules and regulations shall constitute a part of the terms and conditions under which owners and users may utilize the cemetery and shall form a supplement to this article after they have been adopted as official by resolution of the town council.
(c)
Any changes in the rules and regulations shall be adopted by the town council before such changes shall be official.
(Code 1981, § 8-237)
Secs. 18-398—18-407. - Reserved.#
DIVISION 4. - FEES AND CHARGES#
Sec. 18-408. - Collection of fees.#
The clerk/recorder, and such other persons as the town council may designate, are hereby authorized and required to collect in advance prices and fees for the opening and closing of graves or other services which shall include, but not be limited to, properly disinterring bodies and properly restoring the earth and grounds, recording each burial, disinterment or removal, and raised monument privileges. The fees shall be such amounts as are determined by the town council from time to time by resolution.
(Code 1981, § 8-241)
Sec. 18-409. - Fee to be paid for opening grave.#
(a)
No grave shall be opened in the town cemetery until payment of a fee for the labor and expense in so opening the grave shall be paid.
(b)
The presentation of a receipt from the clerk/recorder or person designated by the town council when presented to the cemetery superintendent shall be authority to open a grave for the burial of a deceased person. However, upon a contract being entered into between any mortician and the town wherein the mortician agrees to be responsible and liable for fees for the opening of a grave, and wherein that mortician will be personally liable for such fees and for perpetual care payments, the clerk/recorder or authorized person may give the cemetery superintendent authority to open graves without the presentation of a receipt from the clerk/recorder or authorized person.
(Code 1981, § 8-242)
Sec. 18-410. - Purchase price and fees.#
The town council shall from time to time by resolution fix the size of lots, the price at which burial rights shall be sold and the fees which shall be charged for the various cemetery services to be provided.
(Code 1981, § 8-243)
Sec. 18-411. - Fees, rates and charges.#
All cemetery fees, rates and charges, including cemetery lots, are on file in the clerk/recorder's office.
(Code 1981, § 8-203)
Secs. 18-412—18-428. - Reserved.#
DIVISION 5. - LOT SALES AND CARE#
Sec. 18-429. - Sale.#
(a)
The clerk/recorder, and such other person as the town council may designate, is hereby authorized to sell the use of lots in the cemetery for immediate burial purposes only and to collect all sums arising from the sale. The clerk/recorder shall keep a complete record of all sales, which record shall describe the location of the lot purchased and the price paid therefor. The clerk/recorder or designated person shall deliver to each purchaser a certificate of burial rights for each lot purchased, which certificate shall, among other things, describe the location of the lot, the purchase price, and the type of maintenance services which are to be provided (e.g., perpetual care, prepaid continued maintenance), or currently paid services.
(b)
A certificate and rights to burial shall be exempt from execution, taxation or assessment for care and maintenance from and after full payment of the purchase price. Payments made pursuant to this section shall not be construed to be in payment for cemetery services other than perpetual care or prepaid maintenance.
(c)
Perpetual care or prepaid continued maintenance shall be deemed to include seeding the grave with grass, and watering and cutting the grass. No other services are included.
(d)
No other improvements, changes, or services, except perpetual care or prepaid continued maintenance, shall be made on any lot without the certificate holder or his heirs first submitting to and receiving from the cemetery superintendent written approval for such improvements, changes or services, which improvements, changes or services shall be subject to the rules and regulations promulgated by the town council.
(Code 1981, § 8-251)
Sec. 18-430. - Contracting for perpetual care.#
(a)
No grave shall be hereafter opened in the cemetery until perpetual care upon the lot where the grave is to be opened shall have been contracted for with the town, or perpetual care thereon paid. Should it be the desire of any person to have a grave opened and the body interred therein and perpetual care shall not have been previously contracted for or paid in full for the lot therein, the person may either pay the full purchase price for perpetual care or enter into a contract wherein payment shall be agreed.
(b)
The agreement shall provide for a down payment in the amount of 20 percent of the total purchase price of the cost of the lot, and shall further provide for the payment of monthly installments over a period not to exceed 20 months. The monthly installments shall be in the amounts equal to the balance of the contract divided by the number of months which the contract is to run, plus two months' extra payment to pay for the privilege of making the payments in installments or six percent of the balance, whichever is less.
(c)
The installment contract for perpetual care of or purchase of a lot with perpetual care shall provide for collection by the town in event of a default and such collection shall be by civil action, and the defendant therein shall pay cost of collection, together with a reasonable attorney's fee to the town, and shall also pay interest at the rate of eight percent per annum upon the past-due installments. All installments shall immediately become due upon the default of any of the installments; provided, however, that when perpetual care for any lot in the municipal cemetery or portion thereof has not been paid for a period of ten years, then, and in such an event, the unused portion of the lot shall thereafter escheat to the town, and the title thereof shall revert to the town, which shall thereafter have the right, option, and privilege to sell and dispose of unused cemetery property, as is in this article provided, upon condition that the town shall thereafter maintain perpetually without cost of fee the portion of the lot occupied by a grave prior to the date when the remaining property escheated to the town.
(d)
The town shall have power to fix, by resolution, a fee from any person now owning a cemetery lot or portion thereof for the annual maintenance and care thereof. Such fee shall be on file in the town clerk/recorder's office. The fee shall continue to be paid until such time as a further or additional interment shall be made on the lot, at which time the provisions of this division relating to perpetual care and maintenance and to payment of fees and costs pertaining thereto shall take effect and apply.
(Code 1981, § 8-261)
Sec. 18-431. - Care included.#
The essential perpetual care that the town agrees to give shall consist of care of the cemetery generally, and shall include, but is not limited to, mowing of all lots and graves at reasonable intervals, resodding, seeding, and filling in sunken graves, sodding the surface of the graves to lot level, removing dead flowers and trimming trees and shrubbery when necessary, raking and cleaning the lots and straightening of tilting stones or markers, but shall not include repairing or replacing markers or memorial structures of any nature, except when the need for repair or replacement is directly caused by the town.
(Code 1981, § 8-262)
Secs. 18-432—18-447. - Reserved.#
DIVISION 6. - PERPETUAL CARE FUND#
Sec. 18-448. - Created.#
(a)
There hereby is established a perpetual care fund according to the laws of the state and this article. All funds received from the sale of perpetual care services shall be placed in a special perpetual care fund, invested in compliance with the laws of the state and used for the purposes herein provided.
(b)
The income from the perpetual care fund shall be used to pay the upkeep and development of the cemetery. The town may borrow from the fund from time to time, but any funds borrowed shall be repaid to the fund with interest thereon at the prevailing rate paid by the town to borrow funds from commercial lenders.
(c)
If the town borrows from the fund, it shall pay into a fund for the operation of the cemeteries the interest accrued upon money annually. Should it be found that the interest returned upon the perpetual care fund shall be more than is required to pay for the operation and upkeep of the municipal cemetery, then the surplus shall be added to the principal amount of the perpetual care fund herein created, and shall be so handled until changed by resolution to provide for the use of such accumulated interest.
(Code 1981, § 8-271)
Sec. 18-449. - Duties of treasurer.#
It shall be the duty of the treasurer to keep an accurate record of the perpetual care trust fund account, including investments, to see that the principal portion thereof is properly invested in accordance with resolutions of the town council and the laws of the state, and to advise the mayor when funds are available for investment in the amount of $1,000.00 or more. The mayor shall advise the town council of the availability of such funds.
(Code 1981, § 8-272)
Sec. 18-450. - Duty of town council.#
It shall be the duty of the town council, when funds are available for investment, to direct by resolution all purchases of securities for the perpetual care fund or to name a suitable trustee for such investment.
(Code 1981, § 8-273)
Sec. 18-451. - Income.#
All income from investments held in the perpetual care fund shall be quarterly credited to the cemetery maintenance fund for use in providing the perpetual care as required herein.
(Code 1981, § 8-274)
Secs. 18-452—18-467. - Reserved.#
DIVISION 7. - NONPERPETUAL CARE LOTS#
Sec. 18-468. - Maintenance charges on lots without perpetual care.#
(a)
Every lot for which perpetual care has not been purchased and with reference to which the owner has established a right to directly provide for maintenance and care, notwithstanding the provisions of section 18-389, shall be maintained and cared for to the extent and in accordance with the standards established by the town council for care and maintenance of all lots of the cemetery.
(b)
In the event that the owner fails to provide the requisite care and maintenance for nonperpetual care lots, the cemetery superintendent shall furnish care and maintenance at rates established by the town council.
(c)
All such charges shall become a personal liability of the owner of the lots and, in addition thereto, shall constitute a lien against the lots upon the basis of which the town council may cause the burial rights therein to be forfeited and said rights to revert to the town.
(Code 1981, § 8-281)
Sec. 18-469. - Reversion of nonpaying lots.#
(a)
When any owner of any lot or portion of a lot in the cemetery shall have failed to pay the cost of services rendered by the town or its employees in watering, beautifying, maintaining or caring for any lots or portions thereof in the cemetery for which perpetual care has not been purchased in accordance with the provisions of this article, and such failure to pay has continued for a period of six months, the town may pursue collection of such costs in a court of law. A court action may be pursued for the purpose of seeking judgment against the owner and thereafter attaching any of the assets of the owner including an attachment of the lots or portions of lots upon which the owner has failed to make payment for maintenance service.
(b)
As an additional remedy, or in lieu of seeking collection in a court of law, the town may cancel the owner's certificate or deed representing rights to burial on the unoccupied lots or portions of lots and causing ownership of lots or portions thereof to revert back to the town by following the procedure set forth in this division.
(Code 1981, § 8-282)
Sec. 18-470. - Procedure for reversion of lot to town.#
(a)
The town may terminate the owner's right to use of unoccupied lots in the cemetery when there has been a six-month failure to pay the costs of maintenance provided by the town in the following manner:
(1)
The town council shall fix a time and place of hearing before the town council at which the owner shall be given the opportunity to present good cause as to why his right to future use of the lot involved shall not be terminated and as to why the ownership of the lot or portions of the lot shall not revert back to the town for resale by it;
(2)
A notice of the time, place, and purpose of the hearing to forfeit the owner's interest in the lot or parts of the lot shall be given by personal delivery of a written notice of the time, place, and purpose of the meeting of the town council or by mailing a copy of the notice to the last-known address of the owner;
(3)
In the absence of an ability to make personal delivery of the written notice to the owner, a notice of the hearing to forfeit rights to said lot or portions of the lot shall be published at least once in a newspaper having general circulation in the county. The publication shall be made at least three weeks prior to the date of the hearing;
(4)
If the owner is known to be deceased, then mailing of notice or delivery of notice shall be made to the last-known addresses of any known heirs;
(5)
Copies of the notice shall also be posted in a conspicuous place in the offices of the town; and
(6)
At the time and place set for the hearing before the town council, the town council shall give the owner an opportunity to be heard, a right to present witnesses, and to submit evidence showing cause why the lot or portions of the lot shall not be forfeited to the town.
(b)
After due consideration of all the facts presented at such hearing, the town council may order, if it finds that there has been a failure to make payment of such costs or if no satisfactory arrangement has been proffered for making the immediate payment of such costs, that the lot or portions of the lot shall revert to the town for resale and that all of the rights and privileges of the owner in the lot are terminated.
(c)
Thereafter, the town may make sale of the lots in the same manner as it makes sales of all other lots within the cemetery.
(Code 1981, § 8-283)