RULES AND REGULATIONS

LAKEVIEW CEMETERY

Effective Date January 1, 2004



SECTION 1: PAPER WORK AND PROCEDURES

1. Business Dealings - All cemetery business, lot purchase, interments, disinterments, foundations and monuments must be directed through the Village office.

SECTION 2: LOT PURCHASE AND INTERNMENT FEES

1. Cemetery Fees: The Village Council establishes the resident and non-resident fees for those matters involving lot purchase, internment, disinternment
as well as other fees associated with the Lakeview Cemetery. The Village reserves the right to amend the fees as needed.

2. Fees may be amended by the Village Council as deemed necessary at any properly posted Council meeting.

SECTION 3: SUPERVISION OF CEMETERY

1. The Village reserves the right to compel all persons entering onto the cemetery grounds, to obey all rules and regulations adopted by the Village Council.

2. Rules and regulations may be amended and/or revised by the Village Council as deemed necessary at any properly posted meeting.

3. The Village shall not be financially responsible for any damage to lots, structures, objects, or the flowers or articles removed from any lot.

4. The Village Council reserves and shall have the right to correct any error that may have been made making the internment or disinterment.

5. Special cases may arise in which literal enforcement of a rule may impose unnecessary hardship. The Village Council, therefore, reserves the right, without notice, to make an exception, suspension or modification in any rules when, in its judgement, it shall be reasonable.


SECTION 4: CEMETERY LOTS

1. Definitions:

a. “Resident” is a person currently residing in the corporate limits of the Village, is listed on the current Village Tax and/or Voter Registration Rolls or was prior to death.

b. “Non-Resident” (NR) is a person who is not currently living within the Village limits or not listed on the current Village Tax and Voter Registration Rolls or was not immediately prior to death.

c. “Resident Non-Taxpayer” is a person currently residing in the corporate limits of the Village but is not listed on the current Village Tax Roll.

d. “Immediate Family” is a resident’s spouse, son(s) or daughter(s) who are currently residents of the Village and reside at the same address.

2. Cemetery lots are obtained through the Village of Lakeview Administration office. Persons desiring to purchase a lot will be invited to visit the Cemetery to determine an area and possible site of choice. After the agreement on location has been made and the purchase price has been paid, a deed of internment will be issued. No internment shall take place until such transactions have been settled to the Village’s satisfaction.

3. Resident will not be allowed to purchase more than two lots, (four grave sites per lot); non-resident will not be allowed to purchase more than one lot, provided however for good cause shown, the Village may grant an exception to this limitation in order to accommodate immediate family members of the purchaser.

4. Residents are not allowed to purchase lots for non-residents. Residents are allowed to purchase lots for immediate family.

5. Reserving lots or sites will not be allowed. Lots must be paid in full at the time of transaction and prior to burial taking place.

6. All agreements for the purchase of interment rights must be on an approved form. The form must be signed by an authorized agent of the Village. Agreements not signed, not on approved forms or verbal will not be recognized by the Village.

7. The sale or transfer of any lot or site by owner is not allowed. Lots will be sold back to the Village for the purchase price; portions of lots (sites) will be pro-rated based on purchase price of the lot; then may be resold at current prices. The Village has the right to refuse to purchase back or allow transfer of a lot or site. A refund of purchase price is at the sole discretion of the Village.

8. Ownership of a Deed of Internment may be disposed of as outlined by a will in accordance with Michigan State law.

9. No one shall be buried in any lot or site, not having an interest therein, except by written consent of all parties concerned with the lot and by approval of the village.

10. Lot and Site Purchase:
a. A Resident may purchase a lot (not more than two lots, four sites per lot) for the Resident cost. Lot purchase must be for the resident and/or immediate family.

b. A Non-residents (NR) may purchase one lot for the NR cost. Requests for purchase will be made to the Village. The Village reserves the right to discontinue the sale of cemetery lots or sites to a NR to preserve available sites for Residents. Requests for additional lot or site purchases will be reviewed by the Village.

c. Single graves may be sold from lots designated for that purpose. In no case will full lots or double sites be spilt for a single grave unless said site has been designated for that purpose. Single sites will be filled in regular order.

d. The Village Council establishes the fees for the interment sites and reserves the right to change the fees.


SECTION 5: INTERMENT, DISINTERMENT RIGHTS AND PROCEDURES

1. Burial Fees; The Village establishes the resident and non-resident fees for interment and disinterment. The Village reserves the right to amend the fees as needed.

2. Notice of burial; The Village will receive a forty eight (48) hour notice prior to any interment. During winter months (November through April) the Village will receive a seventy two (72) hour notice. The Public Works Director may consider special requests for burial times.

3. Number of Burials on one Site; The burial of two bodies in one grave shall be permitted if it is two infants in vaults no longer than 24 inches, or two separate cremated remains, or one casket and one cremation may be permitted on one site.

4. Cremations; All interments of non-cremated or cremated remains will require a permanent enclosed vault, steel, concrete, copper or fiberglass. Where one or multiple cremations are to be placed in one site, the cremation vault will require exterior numbers or letters which can be used to identify the remains.

5. Contents; No interments other than human remains can be placed in any burial lots.

6. Sunday and Holidays Internments; No interment or disinterments shall be allowed on Sundays or on the following holidays: New Years Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and when any of the above mentioned holidays falls, or are legally observed, on a Saturday or Monday, except with prior consent of the Village.

7. Off Hour Internments; The Village reserves the right to charge the Saturday or off hour internment fee if preparations must be made during other than normal business hours or internment completion occurs after 3:00 PM.

8. No liability; Under no circumstances will the Village assume or be deemed to assume responsibility for errors made in opening graves in response to instructions received by telephone.

9. Gravesite layout; Gravesites will be measured and laid out, before burial, by the Public Works Department.

10. Excavating Site; Gravesites will be excavated only by the Public Works or an authorized contractor of the Village.

11. Disinterments: Disinterments must have the proper authorization provided to the Village and copies provided for the files. Approval must be received prior to disinterment taking place. The person requesting the disinterment must sign a disinterment request and pay the applicable fee. The requester is also responsible for the hiring of an authorized approved company to remove the vault. The Village will supervise all disinterments. The Village and/or it contractors are the only authorized individuals to perform the excavation. If the site is no longer of use to the owner, the owner may apply to the Village to sell back the site at the original purchase price.


SECTION 6: Monuments and Foundations

1. Foundations will not be placed until lot owner has paid for the foundation. Arrangements for foundations will be made through the Village Administration Office.

2. All foundation will be poured by Village personnel under the direction of Public Works Director at the expense of the lot owner.

3. No monuments will be placed on a site until the monument’s foundation has been placed by the Village.

4. Foundations will be charged by the square inch of surface area. The foundation will be poured a minimum of 6” deep and one inch in length and width larger than the monument.

5. Payment, will be based on the price established by the Village, per square inch of the foundation. Foundations thicker than 6” up to 12” will be charged an additional fee. Two times the current square inch price.

6. No foundations will be poured during the winter months (November 15th – April 15th) or when the ground or air temperatures are not conducive to do so. Foundations will be poured at discretion of the Village and require a 30 day scheduling period after payment has been received.

7. No heavy trucks or equipment will be permitted in wet weather. The Village reserves the right to refuse stone or monument work to be conducted at any time until the ground and roads are thoroughly settled, stable and in good condition.

8. No monument or marker shall be placed upon a grave space unless the space has been purchased and the foundation has been placed.

9. No monument will exceed the maximum size of 14” wide x 42” long x 36” tall.

10. Monument orientation shall have the inscription facing west unless previous orientation has been established in the same block. All monuments shall be placed in line with established orientation and at the head of the grave.

11. No field stones shall be permitted for markers.

12. The construction of mausoleums are not permitted in the cemetery.









SECTION 7: ADDITIONAL RULES

All persons are reminded that the grounds are sacred. The cemetery is devoted to the burial of the dead and that provisions and penalties of the law, as provided by Michigan State law and the Village of Lakeview will be strictly enforced. The object of these rules is to have grounds that will be easily cared for and will not pose a problem or danger to those visiting, working and maintaining the cemetery.

1. The Village shall have the authority to enter upon any lot or site to remove anything objectionable or that was placed contrary to the rules and regulations of the cemetery.

2. The Village is not responsible for theft or damage to anything on sites or grounds.

3. No trees of any kind to include evergreens will be planted or permitted in the plotted sections. No shrubbery or ornamentals of any kind will planted or permitted in the plotted sections. Any large ornamental donated trees may be placed at the direction of the Director of Public Works at a location around the fringe of the cemetery.

4. The Village shall trim or remove any dead, damaged, unsightly, overgrown, hazardous, or unauthorized trees, shrubs, vine, flowers or plants.

5. No rose bushes shall be placed or planted on grave site.

6. Flowers will be regulated and placed in urns or planters only.
A) Flower container can project no further than eighteen (18) inches from each end of the headstone and must be contained within the grave site.

7. Planters will be allowed as long as they are not glass, ceramic or clay. They must of a weight that can easily be moved by the grounds keeper but not light enough to blow away.

8. No planter, box, basket or vase can weigh over twenty pounds when full. If found in violation they will be removed without prior notice.

9. Unsightly, damaged or broken containers, urns, vases, baskets or loose artificial flowers shall be immediately removed and disposed of by the Village.

10. No digging of holes to plant flowers or to hold flowerpots and other containers is permitted. No arrangements secured with wire or wire objects of any kind will be permitted.

11. Site owners who plant flowers and then fail to have them properly watered, trimmed and free of weeds, are hereby notified that the Village reserves the right to remove neglected plants from vases, urns, and containers as soon as they become objectionable.

12. Plot Modification: Any plot modifications including stonework or other grave markings must have sexton’s approval. No enclosures of any kind, i.e., fence coping, edging, or ditch shall be permitted on any lot or site. Grave mounds will not be allowed. No site shall be raised above the established grade of the land. No rocks, stones, chips, bark, statues, figurines, bird baths, benches or decorations shall be permitted on a grave site and will be removed and disposed of immediately without prior notice.

13. No boxes, shells, toys, sprinkling cans, receptacles or similar articles or artifacts are permitted on any site.

14. No wooden or cast iron benches are allowed.

15. No wooden or wire trellises.

16. Shepherd Hooks or Arches for hanging baskets are allowed. The hooks will have to be directly adjacent to either end of the foundation, with the basket hanging directly over the monument. The hooks must be of the single pole type and only one hook per monument. All hooks must be made of a minimum of ½” steel and be kept painted, any hooks that become rusted and unsightly will be removed without notice.

17. Winter blankets or wreaths may be placed no sooner than November 1st and must be removed by April 15th, so that grounds can be prepared for Memorial Day. Artificial flowers and other items of decoration must also be removed by April 15th. Unauthorized items will be removed by the Village without prior notice and disposed of.

18. Authorized items may be placed beginning May 15th. Unauthorized items placed in the Cemetery, shall be removed by the Village without prior notice and disposed of.

19. The cost of removal of prohibited items may be charged to the owners of the lot.

20. No person shall be permitted to use profane or foul language, or in any way disturb the quiet and good order of the cemetery.

21. No person or persons shall be allowed to carry or discharge firearms in the cemetery. Military honor guards and law enforcement agencies are excluded from this prohibition.

22. No person is allowed to enter or exit the cemetery except by public access points.

23. Speeds of over 10 MPH are not allowed.

24. No person shall ride or drive upon the lawns. All terrain vehicles and other recreational vehicles are not allowed on the cemetery grounds.

25. No one shall be allowed in the cemetery other than during daylight hours.

26. Dogs and pets are permitted on the grounds only if properly secured and or leashed with pet waste being properly disposed of.

27. No drugs or alcohol consumption is permitted on cemetery grounds.

28. No children under 18 will be permitted in the Cemetery unless attended by an adult person who will be responsible for their actions.





Ed Winter, President

Wally Delamater, Clerk
I hereby certify the foregoing to be a true copy of an policy duly adopted at a regular meeting of the Village Council of the Village of Lakeview held on November 10, 2003.

Wally Delamater, Clerk
Introduced: September 8, 2003
Adopted: November 10, 2003
Effective: January 1, 2004