Columbus is in the final stages of a resolution regarding control of the Columbus City Cemetery.
The Columbus Board of Public Works and Safety has approved a joint resolution that transfers the power of overseeing the cemetery to the board of works but still maintains the parks department’s oversight of the cemetery’s daily operations.
Last week, the Columbus City Council approved an ordinance to transfer management of the cemetery to the city’s board of works. The city’s parks board will vote on the same joint resolution in August.
Mary Ferdon, city executive director of administration and community development, said while the parks department already manages and maintains the cemetery with guidance from the City Cemetery Advisory Committee, records are lacking regarding the arrangement.
“Neither the parks department nor the clerk/treasurer’s office could find documentation — that probably existed at one time but we have not been able to find it — which really shows who is ultimately responsible for decision-making for the cemetery, though historically the parks department has managed it, because it has been right next door,” Ferdon said in an earlier interview.
Parks department city attorney Mike DeArmitt advised that after solving the documentation problem, the city would be able to move forward on addressing issues with the cemetery, such as finance, maintenance and legal ownership of lots.
“The goal is not to change responsibilities,” Ferdon said. “We still want the parks department to oversee the cemetery.”
There will be two main changes to the cemetery if the joint resolution is passed, Ferdon said. The first is that any citizen wishing to appeal a decision or policy made by the cemetery advisory committee will bring their case to the city’s board of works. The second is that informal city policies regarding the cemetery will become formalized after approval by both the board of works and the parks board.
The city also has future plans to pursue the creation of an endowment for the cemetery, as it is a popular historical site, she said.
“I think most burials happen at other cemeteries now, but many of the founding fathers and mothers of Columbus and Bartholomew County are buried there,” she said. “The goal will be to try to establish an endowment so that we can maintain some of the structures that people enjoy seeing.”
