Editor's Note: As to Cemetery Advisory Board, Ch. 240, Art. IV.
[Ord. No. 13-04 §1, 2-4-2013]
A.
Designated Cemetery. The City of Tipton shall hereby operate
and maintain the cemetery formerly known as the Tipton Masonic Cemetery
located on North Pacific Street in the City of Tipton, Missouri.
B.
Regulations.
1.
Trespassing and defacing property. It shall be unlawful
for any person to injure, deface or in any manner trespass upon any
cemetery or burying ground belonging to the City or to in any way
damage any monuments, gravestone, tree, shrub, flowers or any other
improvement placed thereon or therein by any person.
2.
Curfew. The curfew of a City-owned cemetery shall
be one (1) hour after sunset to one (1) hour before sunrise.
3.
Vehicles and machinery. No person shall operate
any vehicle or machinery off the designated roadways in a City cemetery
except mowers and grave diggers. No vehicles shall operate in excess
of ten (10) miles per hour.
4.
Firearms. No firearms shall be discharged at the
City cemetery except at military funerals or upon memorial occasions
conducted by responsible organizations.
5.
No obscene, profane, loud or indecent language shall be allowed in
the City cemetery at any time.
6.
Vegetation. No person shall pick flowers, break
or cut any flower, shrub or tree which is not his own grave in the
cemetery at any time.
C.
Sexton.
1.
Appointment. The Mayor, with the consent of a majority
of the members of the Board of Aldermen, shall appoint a suitable
person as cemetery sexton. The sexton shall serve at the pleasure
of the Mayor and Board of Aldermen and shall hold such office until
his successor is appointed and qualified. Any salary paid to the sexton
shall be fixed by the Board of Aldermen.
2.
Duties. The sexton shall maintain a record of the
owner of each lot described in the current plat of the cemetery and
a record of all dead human remains buried in the cemetery. The record
should include the name of each deceased person buried at the cemetery,
the date of burial, the location of burial and if known, the name
and address of the funeral director who provided the service or the
final arrangements for the deceased person. The sexton shall cause
reasonable assistance to be provided to interested persons in locating
the place of burial of deceased persons whose remains are buried or
to be buried in the cemetery.
[Ord. No. 13-04 §2, 2-4-2013]
A.
Purchase And Certificate Of Grave Lot. The minimum purchase
shall be one (1) lot at a cost of three hundred dollars ($300.00).
A "lot" is defined as two (2) adjoining grave sites
comprising of any area of ten (10) feet by twelve (12) feet. Upon
the payment of the grave lot the Mayor shall issue a certificate of
such lot, which shall be attested by the City Clerk. Each certificate
shall list the name, address and phone number of such purchaser, as
well as the lot numbers and section of the cemetery and the date of
such lot was sold. The certificate shall also include a next of kin
or estate administrator.
B.
Ownership And Transfer. The lot owner may transfer ownership
to anyone after notifying the City in writing.
C.
Grave Dimensions. For the burial of a dead body, the grave
shall be a minimum depth of five (5) feet and of sufficient dimensions
to receive the casket and vault or other outside container and leave
at least twenty-four (24) inches between the top of the outside container
and ground level; except that a grave for an infant forty-eight (48)
inches or less in length need not be five (5) feet deep, provided
that at least twenty-four (24) inches of cover remains between the
outside container and ground level. For the cremated remains of a
dead body, the cremated remains shall be buried at a sufficient depth
so that the remains are buried at least twelve (12) inches below ground
level except for those remains buried in a container that is specially
designed to have a plaque above the remains situated at ground level.
No grave shall be dug that shall be of greater size than will fit
on a single burial space. In special circumstances, the sexton, with
the approval of the Mayor, may allow deviations from any requirement
of this Section so long as no other graves are harmed thereby.
D.
Grave Limits. There shall be no more than one (1) body
buried in one (1) grave space, except that an infant child may be
buried with its mother, if the overall height of the infant's casket
or vault does not exceed eighteen (18) inches; or in the case where
two (2) cremations are buried on the same lot.
E.
Placement Of Monuments, Foundations And Concrete Aprons.
1.
Monuments. There may be placed on each grave in
the cemetery owned and maintained by the City a stone, monument, or
marker in accordance with this Chapter. All monuments shall be placed
in line with other markers and in a position approved by the cemetery
sexton. Each marker or monument shall be placed on a cement base of
permanent construction which base may be established pursuant to specifications
of the City.
2.
Concrete aprons. Any permanent monument, tombstone,
headstone or any other type of permanent erection as allowed by the
City shall be placed upon and surrounded by a concrete apron of a
minimum width of four (4) inches outside the edge of each tombstone,
monument, permanent ornament, or other object allowed to be placed
on the cemetery lot with the exception that the sexton may waive the
requirement for the four (4) inch apron if existing stones on the
lot do not have such an apron or the appearance of the lot would be
adversely affected by the deviation from existing markers. The cemetery
sexton shall determine the depth of such apron from time to time.
3.
Foundations.
a.
Required. All monument work and grave markers of
every description shall have suitable foundations, which shall be
installed at the owner's expense.
b.
Specifications. All headstones shall be placed
on a concrete foundation with a minimum of eighteen (18) inches of
concrete, small footstones shall be placed on a concrete foundation
with a minimum of twelve (12) inches in depth, all monuments, benches
or other types of memorial serving a similar purpose shall be placed
upon a concrete foundation that has a depth at least equal to its
height and/or weight. Any and all situations may be determined by
the cemetery sexton as deemed necessary. No marker may be set until
the foundation has been approved by the cemetery sexton. Failure to
comply with this inspection procedure may result in removal of the
marker.
F.
Monument Removal. If any tombstone, monument or other like
structure shall fall into a state of dilapidation or decay, or shall
be determined by the City to be offensive or in any way injurious
to the appearance of the cemeteries, and no adequate provisions have
been made by the owner for repair and preservation of such structure,
the City shall have the right to remove the structure and to inter
any body contained therein in the earth upon the lot on which such
structure was located, maintaining such lot thereafter in good and
similar condition as done with other lots in the cemetery.
[Ord. No. 13-04 §3, 2-4-2013]
There is hereby established a fund for the preservation, care,
upkeep and adornment of the Tipton cemetery. The fund may acquire
by gift or donation, money or property which shall be credited thereto.
[Ord. No. 20-01, 3-2-2020]
A.
All
burials must be approved by the City. The City may accept a burial
request on proper written authorization of the grave or lot owner
of record. If there are written instructions to the contrary on file
with the City, the City may exercise its best judgment as to which
request or instruction shall govern and shall not be liable for any
error in judgment arising out of its decision in the matter. The City
may accept from the lot or grave holder an electronic document for
interment authorization.
B.
The
City shall not be responsible for any order given by telephone, any
mistake occurring as to the size of the casket, or as to the particular
location where interment is to be made. The City reserves the right
to make an equitable charge whenever additional labor costs result
from such mistakes.
C.
The
City shall be in no way liable for any delay in the interment of a
body where a protest to the interment has been made, or where the
rules and regulations have not been complied with, or where said rules
and regulations shall forbid such interment or where interment is
prevented or delay is occasioned by request or order of lawful authority.
The City reserves the right, under such circumstances, to place the
body in a receiving vault or other suitable place until rights have
been fully determined. Any protest will be required to be in writing
and filed in the City Clerk’s office.
D.
Only
machines approved by the City shall be used for burials. Any person
may open a grave manually for cremation.
E.
The
City reserves the right to delay interment due to unforeseen circumstances
such as extremely inclement weather.
F.
A one-time
fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall be collected by the funeral
home for the leveling and seeding of a casket burial. A one-time fee
of fifty dollars ($50.00) shall be collected from the person requesting
permission to bury cremation remains for the leveling and seeding
of such burial.
[Ord. No. 20-01, 3-2-2020]
A.
The
casket may not be opened at any time within the Cemetery without the
express permission, and in the presence of the City. The City reserves
the right to refuse permission to anyone to open the casket or to
touch the body without the consent of the legal representative of
the deceased or without a Court Order.
B.
Footstones
or site reservation markers must be at ground level.
C.
No
benches, coping, curbing, fencing, hedging, borders, enclosures, cans,
glass or clay containers of any kind shall be allowed around the lot.
The City reserves the right to remove same if so erected, planted
or placed.
D.
No
tree, bush, shrub, or flower, vine or any other plant shall be planted,
transplanted, seeded or installed within the confines of the Cemetery.
The City may remove any such item without notice. The cost of removal
may be charged to the lot holder.
E.
All
flowers placed on graves must be in a permanent vase or placed up
on the stones, except for the week prior to Memorial Day weekend and
two (2) weeks following. All flowers not in permanent vases or on
the stones will be discarded.
F.
Any
other items not mounted on the stones are prohibited except for the
week prior to Memorial Day weekend and two (2) weeks following.
[Ord. No. 20-01, 3-2-2020]
A.
In
the event of death of a lot holder, any and all privileges of said
lot holder in respect of any graves in which interment shall not have
occurred other than that for his/her interment shall pass in the following
manner:
1.
The surviving spouse of the lot holder shall have a first right of
interment of his/her remains in the lot.
2.
If the lot holder filed written instructions with the City as to
which member or members of his/her family shall succeed to the right
of said lot, said instructions will be recognized by the City and
will be followed if in the judgment of said City such instructions
are definite, reasonable and practicable, subject however to the right
of interment of the surviving spouse. Any such instructions shall
be documented.
3.
The City shall be the sole judge as to whether or not written instructions
shall be valid or sufficient, and if valid and sufficient instructions
are so filed and are in conflict with the terms of a Last Will and
Testament bearing a later date, then the City upon written notice
of the existence of any such Last Will and Testament, will recognize
the provisions thereof, but only if such provisions shall not be in
conflict with these regulations and subject always to the right of
interment of the surviving spouse.
4.
In order for interment rights to pass by last Will and Testament,
the said Last Will and Testament must specifically mention the bequest
or devise of interment right. Interment rights will not pass under
the residuary clause of a Last Will and Testament.
5.
In the absence of valid and sufficient written instructions filed
with the City by the lot owner or in the absence of a specific disposition
of the lot holder’s rights by a Will duly probated, the rights
of interment, subject to the right of the surviving spouse, shall
devolve as follows:
a.
To the children of the deceased lot holder;
b.
If there be no such children, to the father and mother of such deceased
lot holder, or to the survivor of them;
c.
If there be no such children, father or mother, to the brothers and
sisters of the deceased lot holder;
d.
If there be no surviving children, father, mother, brothers or sisters
of the deceased lot holder, then, subject to the right of the surviving
spouse to interment in one (1) grave, all burial rights in graves
of the lot holder in which interment shall not have occurred shall
terminate and revest in the City.
6.
If one (1) common owner of burial rights in a lot shall be interred
therein and shall be survived by a spouse, such spouse shall be first
entitled to burial in an adjoining grave if there be one (1) in the
commonly owned lot.
7.
Subject to the rights of a surviving spouse set forth above, common
owners shall be entitled to burial rights in the commonly owned graves
in the order of their death.
8.
In a conveyance to a husband and wife as joint tenants, each joint
tenant has a vested right of interment in the lot conveyed.
9.
In any event, the City shall be the final judge as to rights of succession
and its finding shall be final and binding upon all persons whomsoever.
[Ord. No. 20-01, 3-2-2020]
If the City determines that the owner of burial rights for any
grave be dead and that there is no surviving spouse and that there
are no persons entitled to succession as provided in this Section
and if there be no interment in any such grave, then all burial rights
to such grave theretofore outstanding shall cease and same shall revest
to the City. In making such determination by the City, it shall be
entitled to rely absolutely on any document in the files of the Bureau
of Vital Statistics of the State of Missouri or upon any document
to be found in the office of the Clerk of the Probate Court of the
County in which such grave is situated. Lacking any such document,
the City shall use ordinary means to determine the facts to enable
it to make its determination.
[Ord. No. 20-01, 3-2-2020]
A.
The
following rights and privileges are hereby expressly reserved to the
City:
1.
To resurvey, enlarge, diminish, replat, alter, in shape or size,
or otherwise to change all or any part or portion of the Cemetery
or to abandon for Cemetery use any unused part of the Cemetery.
2.
To lay out, establish, close, eliminate, or otherwise modify or change,
the location of roads, walks or drives, provided ingress and egress
to and from any lot is preserved or is allocated to the lot holder.
3.
Easements and rights-of-way over, across and through all said Cemetery
premises for the purpose of installing, maintaining and operating
pipe lines, conduits or drains for sprinklers, drainage, electric
or communication lines or for any Cemetery purpose.
4.
No easement or right of interment is granted to any lot holder in
any road, drive or walk within the Cemetery, but such road, drive
or walk may be used as a means of access to the Cemetery and its buildings
as long as the City devotes such road, drive or walk to that purpose.
[Ord. No. 20-01, 3-2-2020]
A.
Idling,
loafing, loitering or any boisterous demonstrations within the Cemetery
or any of its buildings are prohibited.
B.
Throwing
of rubbish on roads, driveways, paths, walks or any part of the grounds
or in the buildings is prohibited. Receptacles for waste material
are located at convenient places.
C.
Picnicking
or partaking of any refreshment by visitors within the Cemetery is
prohibited.
D.
No
one shall be permitted to peddle flowers, plants or any other article
or item, or to solicit the sale of any commodity whatsoever within
the Cemetery.
E.
No
signs, notices or advertising of any kind shall be allowed within
the Cemetery except those placed by the City.
F.
Animal
waste shall be properly disposed of.
[Ord. No. 20-01, 3-2-2020]
A.
All
grading, landscape work and improvements of any kind and all care
of lots shall be done, and all trees, shrubs and herbage of any kind
shall be planted, trimmed, cut or removed solely by the City.
B.
All
improvements or alterations of lots in the Cemetery shall be under
the direction of and subject to the approval of the City; and, should
they be made without its written consent, said City reserves the right
to remove, alter or change such improvements or alterations at the
expense of the lot holder.
C.
No
workmen other than employees of the City will be permitted to work
in the Cemetery unless authorized by said City. However, lot holders
may have certain work done in accordance with the Cemetery rules and
regulations at their own expense upon application to the City.
[Ord. No. 20-01, 3-2-2020]
The City shall not be liable for loss or damage from causes
beyond its reasonable control, and especially from damage by an act
of God, the elements, earthquakes, war, common enemy, air raids, invasions,
insurrections, riots, order of any military or civil authority, thieves,
vandals, strikers, malicious mischief makers, explosions, unavoidable
accidents, or any cause similar or dissimilar beyond control of the
City whether the damage is direct or collateral. In the event it becomes
necessary to reconstruct or repair any section or lot, including graves
or any portion or portions thereof in the Cemetery. The City may direct
that the repairs be made and charge the expense against the lot and
to the lot holders of record.
[Ord. No. 20-01, 3-2-2020]
A.
All
monies collected are used for Cemetery purposes to provide general
care. Care and maintenance necessitated by natural growth and ordinary
wear, and includes cutting of lawns, and the cleaning and maintenance
of roadways, walks, and buildings, provided there are sufficient funds
for these purposes.
B.
The
City will not be responsible for the maintenance, repair or replacement
of any memorial placed or erected upon any lot; nor the doing of any
special or unusual work in the Cemetery; nor does it mean the reconstruction
of any granite, bronze or concrete work on any section of the lot
or any portion or portions thereof in the cemetery, injured of damaged
by any cause, direct or indirect, beyond the City’s control.
C.
The
City may never bind itself to any special agreement for “future,”
“permanent,” or “perpetual” care, by the terms
of which it will be required to expend more than the income from any
deposit in a fund for such care, plus the amount or value of the deposit
of the principal of such deposit is to be made available for such
care.
[Ord. No. 20-01, 3-2-2020]
A.
Monument
dealers shall abide by all the rules and regulations of the Cemetery.
B.
The
location and position in which a monument is to be placed or erected
on a lot shall be entirely subject to the approval and under the supervision
of the City.
C.
A monument
shall not be any wider than the grave site it will be placed upon,
and shall not be taller than forty-two (42) inches, not including
the apron.
D.
Independent
contractors engaged in placing or erecting monuments or other structures
are prohibited from scattering their material over adjoining lots,
or from blocking roads or walks, or from leaving their material on
the grounds longer than is absolutely necessary.
E.
Damage
done to lots, walks, drives, trees, shrubs or other property by independent
contractors, dealers, or their agents, shall be repaired by the City.
The cost of such repair shall be charged to the responsible party.
F.
The
City reserves the right to stop all work of any nature, whenever,
in its opinion, proper preparations therefore have not been made;
or when work is being done in such a manner as to endanger life or
property; or when there is evidence of misrepresentation; or when
any reasonable request on the part of the City is disregarded; or
when any person employed on the work violates any rule of the City.
G.
Soliciting
memorials sales or memorial work within the Cemetery is not permitted.
