[Ord. No. 1595 §1, 11-27-1996]
There shall be a public cemetery to be known as the City of
Richmond Memory Gardens Cemetery consisting of such lands as the Mayor
and City Council shall from time to time provide.
[Ord. No. 1595 §2, 11-27-1996]
A.
The
Mayor of the City of Richmond shall appoint, with the advice and consent
of a majority of the City Council, a Cemetery Board, who shall have
special charge of the cemetery and its appurtenances and shall supervise
and direct the Cemetery Director, with the assistance of the City
Administrator, all cemetery work and the care and improvement of said
cemetery.
1.
The Mayor of the City of Richmond shall appoint with the advice and
consent of the City Council three (3) people who are residents of
the City of Richmond, Missouri, to act as trustees for the City of
Richmond Perpetual Care Cemetery Fund, along with the City Administrator
as an ex officio member. A minimum of one (1) member of the trustees
shall be a City Council person at the time of his/her appointment
as a trustee. The terms of office of the initial Board of Trustees
shall be as follows:
a.
One (1) member for a term of one (1) year.
b.
One (1) member for a term of two (2) years.
c.
One (1) member for a term of three (3) years and thereafter at the
expiration of each term, each trustee shall hold office for a period
of three (3) years or until his/her successor is appointed and qualified.
d.
The City Administrator shall serve as ex officio member at the will
of the Mayor.
2.
It shall be the duty of the Board of Trustees of the City of Richmond
Perpetual Care Fund to make the investments required by the terms
and conditions of the ordinance and to pay over to the City of Richmond
not less frequently than quarterly the income generated by the Perpetual
Care Fund for the purposes established by this Chapter and no other
purposes. An annual report of all expenditures and income together
with all assets shall be made by the said Board of Trustees to the
City of Richmond and all records shall be and remain the property
of the City of Richmond, Missouri, and subject to the audit powers
of the City of Richmond, Missouri.
3.
The Board of Trustees file an election with the State of Missouri
Division of Professional Registration and will notify the Division
upon appropriate forms of the election of the City of Richmond to
maintain an endowed and/or perpetual care cemetery. The City shall
comply with all requirements of the Division as per the Revised Statutes
of Missouri as currently exist and/or as they may hereafter be amended.
[Ord. No. 1595 §3, 11-27-1996]
There is hereby established the office of the City Cemetery Director, who shall be appointed by the Mayor with the consent and approval of a majority of the City Council, who shall serve until such time as his/her services are terminated by a majority vote of the City Council or until his/her successor is appointed. Said Director shall report to and be responsible to the City Administrator as outlined in Sections 103.090 and 103.100 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Richmond; and shall be at least twenty-one (21) years of age at the time of his/her appointment, and shall hold such qualifications or experience as the Mayor and City Council deem necessary and proper to perform the obligations of operations of the City cemetery. Removal of said Director shall be in accordance with Section 115.050 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Richmond, Missouri.
[Ord. No. 1595 §4, 11-27-1996]
The Director shall have general charge of the cemetery and its
appurtenances, keep the same clear of all weeds, rubbish, tall grass
and other such matters tending in any way to distract from the beauty
of said cemetery. He/she shall dig or have dug under his/her supervision
all graves to be prepared for burials in said cemetery; and shall
fill or supervise the filling of all graves, keep the graves filled
and do such other work as may be directed by the City Administrator
or ordered by the Cemetery Board.
[Ord. No. 1595 §5, 11-27-1996; Ord. No. 1612 §1, 5-14-1997; Ord. No. 1697 §1, 12-8-1999; Ord. No. 1730 §1, 10-11-2000; Ord. No. 1894, 11-12-2003; Ord. No. 2226, 9-27-2011; Ord. No. 2290 §I, 6-11-2013; Ord. No. 2569, 4-26-2022]
A.
There
are hereby established fees for burial services and marker placements
within the City Cemetery known as Richmond Memory Gardens. Said fees
are detailed in the City's Comprehensive Fee Schedule, held on file
in the City offices.
1.
Grave Openings And Closings.
a.
Adults are required to have full-size caskets with appropriate vaults.
Said grave openings are forty (40) inches wide by eight (8) feet and
are dug to a depth of six (6) feet.
b.
Children (less than an adult) are required to have grave openings
of forty (40) inches wide by six (6) feet long and dug to a depth
of six (6) feet.
c.
Infants are required to have grave openings of forty (40) inches
wide by the necessary length upon provided information and dug to
a depth of six (6) feet. Infant burials shall not be allowed across
the head of a burial space.
d.
Cremation burials are required to have grave openings of twenty-four
(24) inches square at a depth dug at six (6) feet. A concrete box
or approved vault must be used.
e.
There shall be allowed only one (1) person per burial space, regardless
of age or size with the exception of cremation. There shall be allowed
one (1) cremated burial and one (1) standard burial per burial space.
There shall also be allowed two (2) cremated burials, per burial space.
f.
Approved vaults shall be required on all burials within the cemetery
known as Richmond Memory Gardens.
[Ord. No. 1595 §6, 11-27-1996]
The Mayor and City Clerk shall act as agent of the City of Richmond
in the sale and conveyance of all cemetery lots and burial spaces,
which shall be conveyed by certificate of Quit-Claim Deed signed by
the Mayor and countersigned by the City Clerk, with the Seal of the
City affixed thereto, specifying that the purchaser to whom the same
is issued is the owner of the burial spaces or lots described therein,
which said lot or spaces shall be described by Section (garden), lot
number and space number as laid down on the official map (plat) of
said cemetery and its additions, all as per plat on file at the office
of the Recorder of Deeds of Ray County, Missouri; recorded as Richmond
Memory Gardens on or about June 28, 1956, together with other subsequent
rules and filings of record. The purchaser of a burial space or lot
in the City cemetery purchases only burial rights on that space; the
City reserves control of all the cemetery property. Owners of burial
spaces or lots shall abide by and be governed by the rules and regulations
which are now in effect or which may be enacted in the future.
[Ord. No. 1595 §7, 11-27-1996; Ord. No. 1827 §1, 4-29-2002; Ord. No. 2569, 4-26-2022]
A.
The
City Council of the City of Richmond, Missouri, hereby establishes
the sale price of graves as set forth in the City's Comprehensive
Fee Schedule, held on file in the City offices.
B.
Four
(4) burial spaces shall make up one (1) lot. Burial spaces shall be
sold in reduced proportions to the amount of burial spaces purchased,
up to twenty (20). Any burial spaces purchased over twenty (20) shall
revert to the cost associated to the purchase of the first (1st) burial
space. Burial space sale prices shall be reviewed by the Cemetery
Board on an annual basis with recommendations for increases or decreases.
By a majority vote of the Council members an adjusted price may be
offered for specific dates.
[Ord. No. 1595 §8, 11-27-1996]
A.
The
City of Richmond hereby establishes a fund for the preservation, care,
upkeep and adornment of such cemetery, such fund to be known as "The
City of Richmond Perpetual Care Cemetery Fund", and the City of Richmond
is hereby authorized and the officials are empowered to accept and
acquire by gift or donation, money or funds to be placed to the credit
of such Perpetual Care Cemetery Fund.
1.
All proceeds received as a result of the court order of the Circuit
Court of Ray County, Missouri, in Case CV390-226CC dated November
14, 1996, shall be placed in such City of Richmond Perpetual Care
Cemetery Fund and shall be subject to the restrictions hereinafter
imposed upon such fund.
2.
The officers of the City of Richmond shall also deposit into such
fund a portion of the income derived from the sale of burial spaces
or lots in such cemetery at a rate of fifteen percent (15%) of total
sale price of the burial spaces or lot(s) upon receiving the purchase
price in full of said burial spaces or lot(s) in accordance with Chapter
214, RSMo.
B.
All
such monies and funds placed in the City of Richmond Perpetual Care
Cemetery Fund shall be invested from time to time in bonds of the
United States Government or of the State of Missouri or may be placed
in any bank or savings and loan association which is authorized to
do business in this State so long as the funds so deposited are protected
by Federal Deposit Insurance. The income therefrom shall be payable
over to the City and shall be expended by the City of Richmond for
the preservation, upkeep, care and adornment of such cemetery, for
the repurchasing of cemetery lots previously sold, and for no other
purposes whatsoever. The principal of said Perpetual Care Cemetery
Fund shall not be encroached upon for any purpose whatsoever and no
money shall be transferred out of such Perpetual Care Cemetery Fund
except for the purposes of being invested as provided in this Section
and for repurchasing of cemetery lots previously sold.
C.
The
City Council hereby empowers the City Officers of the City of Richmond,
Missouri, to accept gifts and donations to such fund and all such
gifts or donations so accepted shall be placed into the City of Richmond
Perpetual Care Cemetery Fund. Such additional funds and/or donations
shall be invested as otherwise provided in this Chapter.
[Ord. No. 1595 §9, 11-27-1996]
A City cemetery burial space or lot shall be used for the purpose
of interment for human remains only; and the certificate of sale shall
vest in the purchaser, his/her assigns, a right of fee simple to such
burial space lot, to be used for the purpose aforesaid, subject to
the rules and regulations recommended by the Cemetery Board and appropriately
approved by the City Council.
[Ord. No. 1595 §10, 11-27-1996]
Certificates of sale (Quit-Claim Deed) of cemetery burial spaces
or lots shall be entitled to be recorded in the office of the Recorder
of Deeds of Ray County, Missouri, without further acknowledgement,
and such description of burial spaces or lots shall be deemed and
recognized as sufficient description thereof. The City Clerk of the
City of Richmond upon receiving the full sale price of any and all
burial spaces or lots shall cause a Quit-Claim Deed to be executed
by the Mayor and shall see that all deeds are properly recorded in
the office of the Recorder of Deeds of the County of Ray at an expense
of actual cost of recording fees to be paid by the purchaser.
[Ord. No. 1595 §11, 11-27-1996]
No certificate of sale (Quit-Claim Deed) of any burial space
or lot in the City cemetery shall be delivered to any person until
he/she shall have first paid the price of said burial spaces or lot.
No grave shall be opened or burial made in the City cemetery unless
proof of purchase and/or full payment made for said burial space or
lot is first received.
[Ord. No. 1595 §12, 11-27-1996]
A.
The
City Clerk shall keep a complete and accurate record of all burials
made in the City cemetery. He/she shall provide a suitable book or
books for that purpose at the expense of the City and shall record
therein the name of every person whose body is buried in said cemetery,
with the date of the burial of such person, and recording the exact
location of burial of each person by section, lot number, and burial
space number of the grave of such person. Such record shall be and
remain a permanent record of all burials made in the cemetery and
give accurate information of the exact location of burial of each
and every body therein interred and shall be accessible by all members
of the Board of Trustees during normal business hours.
B.
The
Board of Trustees shall be responsible for complying with any requirements
of Section 214.320, RSMo., as herein exists or as hereafter may be
amended. The City of Richmond officials shall ensure the compliance
of the Board of Trustees by annual audit as part of the normal City
audit at least on an annual basis.
C.
In
the event of the deposits into the Endowed/Perpetual Care Fund required
by Chapter 214, RSMo., in general, and Sections 214.270 — 214.410,
RSMo., in particular, are less than the total sum required to be set
aside and deposited as such sections currently exist, or as may hereafter
be amended by the State legislature, the City of Richmond shall correct
such deficiency by depositing not less than twenty percent (20%) of
the deficiency each year for five (5) years and shall file on such
forms as may be provided by the Division of Professional Registration
a statement outlining the date and the amount of the deposits made.
All funds held in the cemetery's Endowed/Perpetual Care Fund shall
continue to be used for endowed care of the cemetery. It shall be
included in the duties of the Board of Trustees in their investment
of the funds of the Endowed/Perpetual Care Fund to exercise due diligence
and care and ordinary prudence, intelligence and discretion as an
ordinary person would employ comparable with a view to the permanency
of investment considerations including the probable safety of the
capital investments, the production of income and depreciation of
capital investments. The trustees' duties shall include maintaining
the records of accounting and for investment of monies deposited by
the City of Richmond into the Endowed/Perpetual Care Fund. It shall
otherwise comply with the requirements of Section 214.330, RSMo.,
the same being incorporated by reference herein. The Board of Trustees
shall further have the right to require the contribution to the Endowed/Perpetual
Care Fund or to a separate memorial fund for each memorial or monument
installed on a grave in the cemetery and the provisions of Section
214.335, RSMo., are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
D.
Due
to the unique nature of the receipt of Endowed/Perpetual Care Funds
into the original deposits to the City of Richmond Perpetual Care
Fund, and pursuant to court order from the Circuit Court of Ray County,
Missouri, in case CV390-226CC, the City of Richmond shall be under
the same conditions and have the same authority as would have existed
had the former corporate entity, Richmond Memory Gardens, Inc., existed
and still owned the real estate which was purchased by the City pursuant
to a judicial sale under the authority of a constructive trust upon
the real property of that now defunct corporation in said cause. The
City of Richmond shall not have authority to use the Endowed/Perpetual
Care Fund for any purposes except such as are authorized currently
by Chapter 214, RSMo., the whole of which as may be applicable to
the City is hereby incorporated by reference herein, as it currently
exists or as it may hereafter be amended by the State legislature.
The City of Richmond may apply to the Circuit Court relating to the
use of principal of such funds; however, the fund is intended to be
a Perpetual Care Fund and is restricted by the court's order to be
and remain a segregated fund that the income only shall be available
for use by the City of Richmond. The members of the Board of Trustees
shall serve without compensation except by separate ordinance and
in no event shall any funds from the Endowed/Perpetual Care Fund be
used to provide for such compensation of the trustees as may be fixed.
E.
It
is the purpose of the Mayor and City Council of the City of Richmond
in the adoption of this Chapter to provide for the perpetual care
of the City of Richmond Memory Gardens Cemetery and to provide security
to the residents of Richmond and to the families of the person who
have already been interred upon the real estate recently purchased
by the City of Richmond relating to such cemetery. The City Council
hereby deems such purposes to be a general public purpose and further
desires to provide for the security of the City of Richmond Endowed/Perpetual
Care Fund and finds that the restrictions imposed by the ordinances
are reasonable, necessary, and will serve the best interest and general
welfare of all the citizens of the City of Richmond in particular,
the welfare of all residents of the area together with the families
of those interred at the cemetery in general.
[Ord. No. 1595 §13, 11-27-1996]
Hereinafter all burials made in the City cemetery shall be made
in a metal or other approved permanent box. Vaults meeting industry
guidelines may be used. Any vault or box not meeting industry standards
shall only be used with the consent of the Cemetery Board. The vault
size shall be determined by the size used of the casket, not to exceed
the size of each burial space within the cemetery, which is forty
(40) inches wide and nine (9) feet long, with a full lot size of one
hundred sixty (160) inches wide with a length of nine (9) feet.
[Ord. No. 1595 §14, 11-27-1996]
It shall be unlawful for any person to enter upon the premises
of the City cemetery between the hours of 10:00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M.,
unless such person shall first have obtained permission from the Cemetery
Director, Mayor or a Cemetery Board member in writing prior to entering
upon the property.
[Ord. No. 1595 §15, 11-27-1996]
It shall be unlawful to maliciously or purposely break, deface or destroy any grave, gravestone, memorial, shade tree, ornamental tree or shrub within the bounds of the City cemetery, or whoever shall break open or leave open any gate, or shall break down, burn or in any way destroy or damage any fence or property belonging or appertaining to the cemetery, shall be guilty of a violation of Section 215.360 of the Code of Ordinances of the City of Richmond, Missouri.
[Ord. No. 1595 §16, 11-27-1996]
A.
No
stones, monuments or upright ornamentation, other than approved vases
on flat markers, shall be allowed within the City cemetery. Only flat
markers made of marble, bronze, granite or other pre-approved materials
shall be used as permanent grave markers within the cemetery.
Foundations for flat markers shall be:
1.
Either made of granite or concrete. Granite to be a minimum of three
(3) inches thick concrete to be mixed one (1) part cement, two (2)
parts sand, and three (3) parts rock, and shall be thoroughly mixed,
and shall be a minimum of four (4) inches thick.
2.
Either foundations used shall extend two (2) inches wider on all
sides than the marker.
3.
All foundations shall be so placed as to raise the marker to the
existing ground level.
4.
All foundations shall be the size of the full dimensions of the marker
with the extension in Subparagraph (2) above on all sides.
[Ord. No. 1595 §17, 11-27-1996]
On all graves, foundations shall be installed by monument people
according to the City's specifications, or by the Cemetery Director
upon special arrangements approved by the Cemetery Board.
[Ord. No. 1595 §18, 11-27-1996]
[Ord. No. 1595 §19, 11-27-1996]
It shall be unlawful for any lot owner or his/her agent to construct
improvements or ornaments on lots or otherwise encroach on the streets
or passageways.
[Ord. No. 1595 §20, 11-27-1996]
No lot shall be filled to a greater elevation than three (3)
inches above the established or natural grade.
[Ord. No. 1595 §21, 11-27-1996]
It shall be unlawful to plant or grow trees of any kind, shrubs
or vines on any grave lot in the cemetery. No fences or enclosures
around cemetery burial spaces or lots shall be permitted.
[Ord. No. 1595 §22, 11-27-1996]
The City reserves the right to enter upon any cemetery lot and
change the surface level thereof to conform with the surrounding ground
and to do any such work considered to be for the betterment of the
cemetery as a whole.
[Ord. No. 1595 §23, 11-27-1996]
The City shall take reasonable precautions to protect cemetery
lot owners and the property rights of owners within the cemetery from
loss or damage, but the City expressly shall not be liable for loss
or damage beyond its control and particularly from damage caused by
the elements, an act of God, common enemy, thief, vandal and the like,
whether the damage is direct or consequential.
[Ord. No. 1595 §24, 11-27-1996; Ord. No. 1697 §2, 12-8-1999; Ord. No. 2478, 3-26-2019; Ord. No. 2570, 4-26-2022]
A.
Placement
of plantings, statues, jugs or bric-a-brac, including, but not limited
to, freestanding wreaths, hanging baskets, grave blankets or items
of any description placed on burial spaces or lots within the City
Cemetery is prohibited except at otherwise provided in this Section
and may be removed by the City at any time.
1.
Floral arrangements are limited to one (1) arrangement per marker
and must be used in a vase that is integral with the marker.
2.
Graves with no marker or bronze vase may use one (1) arrangement
that is not anchored to the ground or the marker.
3.
The placing of vases, shells, toys, metal designs, ornaments, chairs,
setees, glass, crockery, wood or iron cases, and similar articles
and materials hazardous to lawn mowers shall not be permitted and,
if so placed, the City reserves the right to remove the same at any
time.
4.
No holes are to be dug in the ground on any lot or burial space except
as authorized by the City in conjunction with burials and placement
of approved markers.
5.
Special arrangements will be permitted upon lots and graves at Christmas,
Easter, Memorial Day, and other special occasions authorized by the
City. If such special containers and arrangements are not removed
and retrieved within ten (10) days after said occasions, they may
be removed and disposed of at the option of the Cemetery Director.
6.
At times other than those specified herein, flowers are permitted
only in approved bronze memorial vase assemblies. Flowers in bronze
vase assemblies will be permitted to remain as long as they remain
in season and have not deteriorated and become unsightly as determined
by the Cemetery Director.
7.
The City reserves the right to remove any arrangement or container
that is determined to be unsightly by the Cemetery Director.
8.
No arrangement over thirty-six (36) inches in height is allowed.
9.
The City is not responsible for loss, theft, or damage to flower
arrangements or containers placed at grave sites.
10.
The City shall see that all flowers are removed from the cemetery
so the Cemetery Director may perfect a total cleanup two (2) times
a year on the following dates: beginning the second full week of March
and again the second full week of September.
11.
All grave blankets will be removed on or about February 1 of each
year. Failure to comply with the posted directions for removal shall
result in the City removing the objects of any description from the
property.
[Ord. No. 1595 §25, 11-27-1996]
A.
The
City shall in no way be liable for any delay in the interment of a
body in the City cemetery where a protest to the interment has been
made or where the rules and regulations of this Chapter have not been
complied with. The City shall be under no duty to recognize any protest
of interment unless the protest is in writing and filed in the office
of the City Administrator in a timely manner.
B.
The
City reserves and shall have the right to correct any errors that
may be made by the City in making interments, disinterments or removals
and in the description, transfer or conveyance of any interment property.
Such errors may be corrected by canceling such conveyance and substituting
and conveying such other property of equal value and similar location
as far as is reasonably possible, or may be selected by the City,
or in the sole discretion of the City by refunding the amount of money
paid on account of the purchase. If such error shall involve the interment
of the remains of any person in such property, the City reserves and
shall have the right to remove and transfer such remains so interred
to such other property of equal value and similar location as may
be reasonably substituted and conveyed in lieu thereof.
