Cemetery concerns arrive at Afton council

AFTON - The quality of the cemetery board was called into question during Afton City Council’s meeting on May 14. Multiple concerned citizens arrived at the city council, packing the small space available to capacity.

One main concern involved lacking public information available about the care of local Greenlawn Cemetery. Citizens who claimed to have attended the cemetery board meetings complained about missing procedure regarding continued care of the cemetery, specifically about recent spray and lawn care that were never discussed during board meetings.

The care for Greenlawn Cemetery has been a concern since the previous caretaker retired two years ago. Currently, mowing is outsourced to a different company and the lone city maintenance employee, Jesse Shade, will work on specific tasks the city assigns him.

Many graves have planted decorations of peony flowers, which require care to make sure they aren’t growing into the surrounding plots. Spraying is one way this can be mitigated.

The type of chemical used for the most recent round of spraying is unknown, sparking the increased attendance for the council meeting. The timing for spraying was said to be wrong as well, with the citizens group claiming that spraying should happen in the fall, when the peonies typically go dormant.

Another concern was raised regarding the approval of one new member to the board, citing her familial relationships with other members of the board. Hannah Jackson was set to be approved by the council but was denied following concerns raised by Afton citizens about bias with her sister on the city council board and her father on the cemetery board.

“On the cemetery board, in the past we’ve had one family dominate it,” said one citizen. “I think we need a little different blood in there, I’d hate to see that happen again.”

“When there’s two or three related people, it felt like there was no need for the unrelated people to vote,” said another citizen. “Unrelated people bring different ideas to the table, brings diversity, it makes a stronger council if you have different ideas.”

Additionally, another member of the board, Jacob Walter, was called into question about his current residency. Walter had said he would be leaving the city of Afton and moving to Des Moines, which would require him to resign from the cemetery board. As of the city council meeting on May 14, this has not been received.

Confusion over procedure expanded into the city council audience, with some perspectives on current care being contradictory. Conflicting claims about the quality of care the cemetery received during Mother’s Day highlighted a greater issue about information being made available to the public and the citizens group’s validity during the city council meeting.

Criticism of the cemetery board has recently increased, causing resignations of board members who had long-standing tenure. Pressure from locals have caused rising tension among board members.

Gary Clear, the head of the cemetery board, gave a few comments defending the board’s choices, finding faults with the citizen group’s concerns.

“People say things, and they don’t realize what they’re talking about,” said Clear.

During the city council meeting, while councilmember Kristie Nixon, who is the city council representative for the board, was explaining to the audience about cemetery board procedures, an audience member interrupted, criticizing Nixon.

“You have influence, you’ve been running the meetings,” said the audience member.

“I am not running the meetings,” said Nixon. “Gary Clear is, and if you would read the minutes, you would know that, that’s what’s in there.”

Clear, as a representative of the cemetery board at the city council meeting, criticized the city council for making decisions based on the comments made by the citizen group.

“You guys, all of you, chose to listen to this group,” said Clear. “That’s where you guys did not back the board that you appointed. Don’t appoint a board if you’re not going to back them.”

The city of Afton is accepting volunteer applications for the cemetery board position that has not been filled. An application can be found on their website at aftoniowa.com and should be filled out and turned in at Afton City Hall by noon on Friday, June 7.