CHAPTER 5
CEMETERIES
Sections:
4-5-101 Interment to Be in Cemeteries.
4-5-102 Regulation of Burials.
4-5-108 Burial of Indigent Persons.
4-5-109 Additional Regulations.
4-5-101 Interment to Be in Cemeteries.
All human body or fetal remains shall be interred in accordance with Utah State Code.
(Ord. No. 13-2009, 07/07/2009)
4-5-102 Regulation of Burials.
Burials will be allowed in Springville cemeteries in accordance with Utah State Code.
(Ord. No. 13-2009, 07/07/2009)
4-5-103 Sexton.
The City shall employ a sexton who shall be under the supervision of the Director of Buildings and Grounds. It shall be the sexton’s duty to dig or cause to be dug all graves required for the burial of the dead in the City cemeteries. The sexton shall not inter or permit the interment of any body unless the burial rights for a plot have been fully paid, the fees have been paid to the City to open and close the grave, and the person arranging for such burial has the right to use the burial space.
(Ord. No. 13-2009, 07/07/2009)
4-5-104 Sexton’s Fees.
The City shall charge a fee for all services performed, which fee shall be for the use of the City. The fee for services rendered by the City shall be computed from a schedule of charges adopted by resolution of the City Council and made available for public inspection in the office of the City Recorder. All fees charged shall be paid directly to the City Treasurer, or the City Treasurer’s designee.
(Ord. No. 13-2009, 07/07/2009)
4-5-105 Permanent Records.
(1) A record of all interments made in the City cemeteries shall be kept, stating the name of the deceased person, place of death, date of burial, and the name and address of the funeral director, which record shall be delivered to and maintained by the Director of Buildings and Grounds or his designee and shall at all times be open to public inspection.
(2) A record, in a book to be kept for that purpose, shall be kept of all sales of burial rights, therein showing the number of the plot, block, and burial place, the date of sale, the person to whom sold, and the amount received for the same. The Director of Buildings and Grounds or his designee shall further keep a record of all transfers of burial rights which are properly made and filed in his office.
(Ord. No. 13-2009, 07/07/2009)
4-5-106 Burial Rights.
(1) Sale of Burial Rights. The Director of Buildings and Grounds or his designee is hereby authorized to sell to persons offering to purchase the same, burial rights in the various burial lots owned and held by the City. The City Council shall by resolution establish the selling price for burial rights therein, and such selling price shall include the necessary cost for future perpetual care and maintenance of such lot or burial place, which cost for perpetual care shall be separately stated and paid over to the Cemetery Trust Fund. The purchase price for burial rights shall not be construed to be in payment for services referred to in other Sections of this Chapter. Upon receipt of the selling price, the Director of Buildings and Grounds or his designee shall furnish the purchaser with a certificate of burial rights properly executed by the Director of Buildings and Grounds or his designee. Such certificate shall describe the location of the plot, where burial rights have been purchased, the name of the owner, the price paid therefor, and a statement that future perpetual care and maintenance has been paid for said plot.
(2) Forfeiture of Burial Rights. When any party(ies) has failed to pay to the Director of Buildings and Grounds or his designee the full purchase price for a lot or portion of a lot, together with the required sum of annual maintenance or perpetual keep thereof, for a period of two (2) years from the date of said sale, and who, after the Director of Buildings and Grounds or his designee has mailed notice to the last known address of said party or parties, shall fail or refuse to pay the same within thirty (30) days of the mailing of said notice, or if there is no last known address, within thirty (30) days after the last publication of such notice, once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a newspaper published and circulated in the City, then and in that event, said party or parties shall forfeit all rights and privileges to said burial rights, save and except only such portions thereof as are then actually used for the burial place of deceased persons. The City shall have the right to sell the unused portions of said lot or lots to compensate for the upkeep of the parts used.
(3) Transfer of Burial Rights.
(a) If the legal owner of burial rights for a cemetery plot wishes to transfer their burial rights to a different party, they will be assessed a fee from a schedule of charges adopted by resolution of the City Council.
(b) If the legal owner of burial rights for a cemetery plot wishes to relinquish their burial rights and transfer their burial rights to another vacant plot, they will be charged a fee from a schedule of charges adopted by resolution of the City Council.
(c) Legal ownership of burial rights for a cemetery plot must be established before a transfer of ownership, sale, or donation can be executed.
(d) The legal owner of burial rights for a cemetery plot may donate their burial rights for an unused plot back to the City or may sell their burial rights for a plot back to the City at one-half (1/2) of the original purchase price.
(e) If a plot has seen no activity for at least sixty (60) years from purchase date and still remains empty, the City may, at their discretion, try to contact surviving family members. If documented attempts fail or no surviving family members can be located, the City may resell burial rights for empty plots as provided by the Utah State Code.
(Ord. No. 13-2009, 07/07/2009)
4-5-107 Cemetery Trust Fund.
The City shall maintain a Cemetery Trust Fund which shall consist of all payments received by the City for perpetual care and maintenance of cemetery plots and such other sums as may be received as gifts or as may be directed to be paid into such fund by the City Council. The Cemetery Trust Fund shall be invested in such manner as the City Council deems advisable and may be commingled for investment if the income is divided in the proportion that each invested fund contributed to the sum invested. The income from the Cemetery Trust Fund shall be used solely for the general care, maintenance, and embellishment of the City’s cemeteries, and shall be applied in such manner as the City Council from time to time determines to be in the best interest of the cemeteries.
(Ord. No. 13-2009, 07/07/2009)
4-5-108 Burial of Indigent Persons.
The Director of Buildings and Grounds or his designee shall from time to time designate cemetery plots that shall be used for the burial of indigent persons. Burial of indigent persons in such plots may be approved by the Mayor or City Council.
(Ord. No. 13-2009, 07/07/2009)
4-5-109 Additional Regulations.
(1) Interment and Disinterment.
(a) All interments within any cemetery in the City shall be made in a burial vault constructed of concrete or other material which complies with the standards and specifications which are from time to time approved by the Director of Buildings and Grounds.
(b) Springville City’s responsibility for disinterment will be to expose the vault only. The removal and transportation of the vault will be the responsibility of the person arranging the disinterment.
(2) Headstones and Other Monuments.
(a) All headstones and other grave markers placed in the City’s cemeteries shall be of such size, material, and configuration as the Director of Buildings and Grounds shall require. All headstones, markers, and monuments will remain private property. The City shall have no duty or obligation to maintain, clean, or repair the same. Springville City shall not be liable for damage or deterioration of any such marker that occurs as the result of maintaining the cemetery, including, but not limited to, irrigation, mowing of grass, and snow removal.
(b) Placement of all monuments, headstones, and other approved markers shall be under the direction of the sexton. Any company or person wishing to place a monument must contact the sexton for permission before arriving at the cemetery.
(c) The sexton will find and mark all proper monument locations. Any company or person wishing to place a monument may only do so in the marked location.
(d) To prevent damage to the cemetery grounds, monuments, headstones, and other approved markers will not be placed from November 1st through March 1st. The sexton may, at his discretion, disallow placement of monuments at any time due to weather or soil conditions. In extraordinary circumstances, a written appeal for placement may be made to the Director of Buildings and Grounds.
(e) It will be the responsibility of those requesting interment to ensure that all necessary headstones, markers, and monuments are removed to facilitate digging the grave. All necessary headstones, markers, and monuments must be removed within a minimum of twenty-four (24) hours prior to the requested time of interment. Springville City will not replace any headstone, marker, or monument after interment is complete. Replacement of headstones, markers, or monuments must be performed by a monument company and under the direction of the sexton.
(3) Vehicular Traffic in Cemeteries.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to drive a motor vehicle upon any cemetery lot, back over the grave, cut corners, or drive such vehicle upon any part of the cemetery which is not an established roadway, but this Section shall not apply to the sexton and other City employees in the discharge of their duties, or monument companies under the direction of the sexton.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to drive a motor vehicle within the City cemeteries at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard to the actual and potential hazards then existing. Where speed limits are posted, it shall be unlawful for any person to drive a motor vehicle in excess of the posted speed limit.
(c) Whenever signs have been installed by the City directing traffic to proceed in one (1) direction only upon any street in the City cemeteries, it shall be unlawful for any person to disobey such signs and drive a motor vehicle in the opposite direction.
(4) Defacing or Removing Property from Graves. No person shall injure, deface, take, or carry away from any grave or plot, any monument, marker, tree, shrub, flower, ground, or any other property or ornament in the City cemeteries, except with written permission of the Director of Buildings and Grounds.
(5) Planting in Cemeteries.
(a) All trees, shrubs, flowers, or other vegetation planted in the cemetery shall only be planted in conformance with the City’s policy.
(b) The sexton may remove any plant from the cemetery at any time at his discretion.
(c) The sexton has no responsibility to locate or contact family members, or other parties, before removal of any plant materials.
(6) Trespassing Animals. It shall be unlawful for the owner, agent, caretaker, or other person or persons in charge of livestock to allow or negligently permit animals to run at large or trespass on cemetery grounds.
(7) Additional Rules and Regulations. The Director of Buildings and Grounds may prepare additional rules and regulations for the operation of the City cemeteries which are not contained in this Code.
(Ord. No. 13-2009, 07/07/2009)