Town seeks to solve issues with cemetery layout

The original footprint of the Moorcroft Cemetery has been losing its footing for some time and as the remaining pinned plots are sold on the southwest pie-shaped corner, the issue is coming to a head.

"It's been an ongoing issue for this town for a long time," Mayor Ben Glenn brought the subject up at a recent meeting. "We've had two different engineers at our cemetery and everything's off just enough to make it a real mess. I would like us to not keep putting this in the background, though, I'd really like to get this cleaned up and done."

Public Works Director Cory Allison further explained the "mess" in which the town is becoming involved, saying, "Some of those last pins...[were] actually supposed to be more on the road, so those last ones are off by a couple foot through there. If we're going to use them, we're going to have to repin them."

According to HDR Engineering's Heath Turbiville, “The only thing truly platted is the old section.”

As the pins were continued from the original section through changing topography and without further surveying over the years, the measurements are now significantly off, a few even double pinned.

A couple of months ago, Allison had to do something he never thought he would have to do.

“We had to split a family; there’s nothing worse – after somebody dies, we have to call the family and say, ‘hey, we split this up’…it’s just a bad deal. You sell them in [the clerk’s office] and then you go out there and look at it and you can’t put them where you sold them – it doesn’t match at all.”

To rectify this problem, the town had set aside $20,000 last year, but the project was not initiated. The mayor suggested moving forward now, “I think we need to go ahead and get this project kicked off the ground and get it pinned. The confusion that comes with this process…it shouldn’t be this difficult.”

Turbiville has agreed to survey the recently acquired acreage along the north side of the cemetery and will simply add the correction of the southwest area to the work.

As the $20,000 will not be enough to cover the entire amount needed to correct the old pinning in the lower southwest section and pin the north acreage, Clerk/Treasurer Cheryl Schneider was asked for suggestions as to other moneys available and advised using part of the Specific Purpose funding.

With a plan to hand, the group discussed improving the southwest area during this time, Allison advocated pinning only two more rows and “leave that bottom for other things.” One idea for that area is a space for guest parking.

Glenn agreed, “We need more parking in there. I think what we’re doing out there is great and I asked for another aerial view of it so we can all look at it. I would like to just come two blocks to the south, keep utilizing that and then, move our focus up.”

Turbiville explained that, with the coming endeavor, the engineers will provide Moorcroft’s council an up-to-date map of the cemetery as there have been significant changes since the last mapping of the area, “So that you have something clean and all together.”

A question of which area to pin first was presented. Councilman Rob Stewart summed up his thoughts on the matter: “Maybe getting that new part pinned and then…we can at least get that pie shape straightened out [and] we have something up there that’s going to be legit.”

Glenn disagreed, “There’s still quite a section, though, to that southwest section we still need to sell so I’d like to fill that first and then we can move on.”

Allison suggested waiting for a few months and then, if needed, the northern area can be opened for purchase.

Turbiville was asked to return with a timeline to the July 26 meeting.