The Eureka Springs Cemetery Commission’s Rules and Regulations Committee held preliminary discussions regarding possible changes to cemetery rules on Friday, June 23.

The committee — composed of cemetery commissions Glenna Booth, David Danvers and Robert Tollett — took no action, but plans to meet at least twice more before making recommendations to the full commission.

Any changes to the cemetery rules will have to be approved by the commission as a whole.

Cemetery Commission chair L.B. Wilson appointed the committee members at the commission’s June 14 meeting, when commissioners discussed a Confederate monument that has been installed in the cemetery.

Wilson said at the June 14 meeting that all cemetery rules were followed in the installation of the monument, which was erected on a plot owned by Carroll County resident Koltin Massie.

Wilson indicated that commissioner Bruce Wright, recently the cemetery superintendent, was involved in approving the monument and monitored part of its installation.

Wilson said installation of the monument was “maneuvered in a way” to meet cemetery guidelines.

Massie is commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans Seaborn Jones Cotten Camp in Eureka Springs.

Massie has also placed flags on the graves of Confederate veterans in the cemetery. Under a 2020 compromise, the cemetery commission agreed to allow placement of the flags so long as family members of the deceased veterans do not object.

At the June 23 meeting, Booth presented Danvers and Tollett with suggested revisions to the cemetery’s existing rules, emphasizing that the document is only a draft to be used as a starting point for discussions.

Among the changes suggested by Booth were requiring that specifications for monuments over three feet in height be submitted for approval by the cemetery commission and that individuals or groups wanting to place flags or plaques on graves not under their ownership must first obtain permission from the commission.

Booth said she’d like to “move some of these decision-making things on to the commission as a whole instead of burdening just the superintendent.”

Another suggested change would give the cemetery commission the authority to “discontinue maintenance on any gravesite that is not easily accessible or has become a safety issue.”

That section of Booth’s draft goes on to state that the commission “may correct any safety problem with any gravesite resulting from complaints from the public.”

The word “safety” is added to the cemetery’s existing rules in Booth’s draft.

“I think this is a big point that levies authority on the commission,” Danvers said. “ … This is big, in my opinion, especially in light of this controversy that we’ve got going on with the monument. And the commission may correct any problem with any gravesite resulting from complaints from the public. That right there has a lot of teeth in it for the commission to step forward and put an end to the issues and problems and things that go beyond, you know — I’ve got the right to stop maintenance on any gravesite. So somebody’s out there doing maintenance on a gravesite …” At that point, Tollett interjected.

“No what this refers to is …,” Tollett said before Danvers cut him off.

“Timeout,” Danvers said. “I’m talking. I know exactly what you think it refers to, and this is why we’re discussing this, because it refers to a lot of the …” Tollett interjected again, telling Danvers: “Well, that’s your opinion.

“This is what we’re going to get legal opinion, on that point right there,” Danvers said.

“Oh, absolutely,” Tollett replied.

“And so, because the cemetery commission, we reserve the right to stop maintenance,” Danvers said. “… Somebody’s out there maintaining and upgrading and adding plaques and doing all kinds of things to a monument or any gravesite that is not easily accessible or has become a safety issue. The commission — that would be, with a quorum — may correct any problem with any gravesite resulting from complaints from the public. I like the way that is.”

“That’s why it adds ‘safety’ problem,” Booth said.

“It’s ‘safety’ problem that she’s added there, not any problem,” Tollett said.

“I know that, yeah,” Danvers replied. “And I’m disagreeing, actually, with that, because that takes some teeth out of any implication you call a safety issue in the long term in daylight hours, what that monument can bring in here, all the riffraff and people that have a perfect right to do that, but it’s a rallying point. It’s, to me, a safety issue. But I don’t think safety issue needs to be in there. … Why would we want to limit ourselves in power to come together and act, and or react, appropriately?”

Tollett said he disagreed with Danvers’ interpretation of the proposed rule change.

Tollett said the proposed change deals with “accessibility and something that’s preventing the mowers or the weed-eaters from getting there.”

“That’s your interpretation. I see that,” Danvers replied.

Booth said she agreed with Tollett.

“I don’t think this paragraph gives us the right to discontinue maintenance, I think means …” Booth said.

“Our mowing and weed-eating and such,” Tollett said.

“I see that,” Danvers said. “There are intents. The intent of this cemetery is to bury people. And people have just (said) ‘Oh well, hell, I’m buying a lot and by God, I own it. There’s nothing you can do about it. Now I’m going to put up a monument.’ So right here, that’s that person’s interpretation to do that. And we’ve had legal opinions and everybody signed off and technically it was according to the law, right? But not according to the spirit of this cemetery.”

“Well, that’s your interpretation,” Tollett said.

“Exactly,” Danvers replied.

Danvers went on to refer to “the malicious intent of buying an interment lot and never putting a body in there, because you weren’t really doing that.”

“That’s not true if you’re referring to Kolt’s monument, because he has told me he’s going to be buried there,” Tollett said.

Both Booth and Tollett said they believed Danvers had strayed off topic.

“OK. OK,” Danvers said. “I just want it known for the record that I am not in favor of removing power from the cemetery commission by adding the word ‘safety’ in there,” Danvers said.

The committee went on to discuss other suggested changes on a variety of issues. Booth said the committee likely will need two more meetings to finalize recommendations to take to the full commission at its August meeting. Committee members agreed to schedule their next meeting for 9 a.m. Monday, July 10, at the cemetery office.

— Eureka Springs Cemetery Commission member David Danvers