The rough draft for the ordinance regarding Pioneer Cemeteries in Muscatine County was sent back to the county attorney for revisions Monday, June 26.
Muscatine County Attorney Jim Barry was asked by the supervisors to draft an ordinance that would address private burials and Pioneer cemeteries in Muscatine County, Barry said. He has identified 10 Pioneer cemeteries in the county. He hasn’t been able to identify two locations of the cemeteries yet.
“This is an effort for the county to take over the responsibility to care and maintain these cemeteries, which Iowa law requires us to do,” Barry told the supervisors.
The county ordinance follows what the Iowa code says but allows for Pioneer cemeteries on private property to be taken care of by the landowner, he added.
Whoever the county has taking care of the Pioneer cemeteries, the maintenance agreement and monument preservation would need to be figured out, Barry said. The county could designate a commission for this but lately getting volunteers to fill commissions has been difficult.
Barry suggested the county provide the funding for maintenance and preservation efforts, which would be compensated by the township trustees, he added.
If the supervisors decided to move forward with this draft of the ordinance, a public hearing would be needed. Barry would send letters to all the landowners involved, letting them know when that was. The supervisors would also be required to have three readings of the ordinance.
The county can’t tax for these services according to the Iowa Code, Barry said. The township trustees can but the county would have to use money from the general fund to maintain the Pioneer cemeteries.
Supervisor Nathan Mather asked Barry if there was anything in the Iowa code making it mandatory for counties to take care of the Pioneer cemeteries. Barry replied there is a part of the Iowa code that says if the county is notified of a cemetery needing maintenance then it’s up to the county do so.
Mather asked Barry how would the code apply to someone wanting access to a Pioneer cemetery on private land.
“The code says you need to be a relative,” Barry replied. “The code lays out a process by which you notify the owner if you want to (visit) the cemetery. You give them 10 days notice. The owner can agree to that or disagree to that.”
If the owner disagrees to that date then another date would need to be set up for the relative to visit the cemetery, he added.
Mather asked Barry how an individual who buys property gets record of a Pioneer cemetery that may be on their property? Barry said he isn’t sure if the Pioneer cemeteries are in the abstracts but the assessor’s office has locations for the cemeteries they are aware of. This is why the county would have to notify the landowners about these cemeteries.
Mather asked Barry about who is liable if a family member goes to visit one of the Pioneer cemeteries on private land and has an accident.
The landowner would be liable for accidents that may happen getting to the Pioneer cemetery, Barry replied.
Supervisor Jeff Sorensen said one of his questions he had about the ordinance draft is it didn’t defined what access is or what is expected of the landowner.
Barry’s understanding of the state code is the property owner didn’t have to make the Pioneer cemetery accessible.
Mather asked Barry what the county would be responsible for as far as maintenance goes. Barry said the county would generally be in charge of mowing or repairing fences at the Pioneer cemeteries. The bigger issue would be if tombstones would need to be replaced.
Chick asked Barry if the tombstones were to break would the county be liable to replace them? Barry said he interpreted the county having to repair the tombstones but not replace them.
Chick asked Barry to add wording to the county ordinance draft what kind of damage would be required for a headstone to be replaced. Chick also asked if Barry could also add wording about the county using grave markers instead of tombstones when the original tombstone has to be replaced.
Barry said he would work on making the changes to the draft and would present them to the supervisors next week for review.