The city of Dalton’s Public Works Department will be inspecting the grounds of the West Hill Cemetery next week and removing items from gravesites that are prohibited by city ordinance.
This effort is being made to ensure that the cemetery is in compliance with local ordinances and also to ensure the safety of maintenance personnel when mowing and maintenance work begins in the spring. Many of the prohibited items are a hazard when landscapers use lawnmowers and weedeaters in the cemetery. The cleanup work is scheduled for Jan. 16-19 and families have until then to remove any property from gravesites that is prohibited.
City ordinance 30-6 concerns what items are allowed to be left in the cemetery and what types of items are prohibited. The cemetery’s rules include:
• Artificial flowers. Artificial arrangements will be removed from the cemetery by the city after two months or when they become disarranged.
• Potted plants. Potted plants, as long as they remain in good condition, watered and taken care of by the owner of the lot, will not be removed by the city.
• New burials. When a new burial is made on any cemetery lot, all flowers will be removed after 10 days, except one or two artificial arrangements and one or two potted plants in good condition may be left subject to subsections (a) and (b) of the section in the ordinance.
• Seasonal arrangements. Seasonal arrangements such as Christmas, Easter, etc., wreaths and flowers will be removed after 30 days. If any lot has an abundance of flowers or wreaths that cause a maintenance problem to the lot, the cemetery sexton may remove those that interfere with maintenance.
• Permanent planting. No permanent planting of any kind is allowed. The city will do all planting of trees, shrubs, etc., as space allows.
• Containers. Only clay, plastic or recessable-type containers will be allowed for flowers.
• Removal of detrimental trees and shrubs. If trees or shrubs situated in any lot in the old section of the cemetery shall by their roots or branches become detrimental to adjacent lots or avenues or unsightly or inconvenient to visitors, it shall be the duty of the cemetery sexton and he shall have the right to enter the lot and remove the trees and shrubs or such parts thereof as he shall determine to be detrimental or unsightly or inconvenient.
The list of items that are not allowed includes “rocks, gravel, stones, blocks, bricks, wire, wire stands, signs, shells, crockery, glass, ceramics, figurines, toys or other materials deemed hazardous to personnel and maintenance equipment.”
City ordinance prohibits the permanent planting of any kind in the cemetery, all planting is handled by the Public Works Department.
Cemetery sexton Terrell Stallings said last year the most common violations present in the cemetery included some items you might not expect.
“Beer bottles, beer cans,” Stallings said. “Full bottles of beer are out there on headstones. (More common) we’re seeing glass, the little plastic edging that families put around the gravesites, and rocks and gravel.”
The sexton’s office can be reached at (706) 281-1245.