CHAPTER 28

CEMETERY BOARD OF TRUSTEES

28.01    CEMETERY BOARD.  A Cemetery Board of Trustees (hereinafter referred to as the “Board”) is responsible for the maintenance and operation of the municipal cemetery known as Graceland Cemetery, to provide grounds for human interments.  The Board also advises the Council from time to time on the need for additional cemetery facilities.

28.02    BOARD ORGANIZATION.  The Board consists of three (3) members who are residents of the City, appointed by the Mayor with the approval of the Council, for overlapping six-year terms.  The Chairperson is chosen from and by the members of the Board, and he or she serves in that capacity for a term of two (2) years.  Members serve without compensation, but they may receive reimbursement for their actual expenses.

28.03    DUTIES.  As a part of its duties for the maintenance and operation of Graceland Cemetery, the Board oversees the cemetery properties and the hiring and discharge of personnel working on cemetery properties, subject to the limitation of expenditures for salaries and supplies, contracts and capital outlays set forth in the annual budget provided by the Council for cemetery operations.  The Board may appoint a caretaker who shall have authority to order supplies at the direction of the Board, consistent with the procedures established by the Council for all departments of the City, and payments will be made by warrant/check written by the Secretary of the Board for invoices submitted and approved by the Board.

28.04    REPORTS.  The Board shall make written reports to the Council of its activities from time to time as it deems advisable or upon Council request.  Its revenues and expenditures shall be reported monthly by the Secretary of the Board to the Council in the manner of other departmental expenditures, and a copy shall be included in the Finance Officer’s report to the Council.

28.05    RULES.  The Board has the power to make rules and regulations for the use and operations of the cemetery, subject to the approval of the rules by the Council.

28.06    VETERANS.  Any veteran, as defined in Section 35.1 of the Code of Iowa, or a resident of the State who served in the armed forces of the United States, completed a minimum aggregate of ninety days of active Federal service and was discharged under honorable conditions, who is a landowner or who lives within the City shall be allowed to purchase an interment space and to be interred within the cemetery.                                       (Ord. 07-105 – Dec. 07 Supp.)

(Code of Iowa, Sec. 523I.304)