The Eureka Springs Cemetery Commission continues to consider policy changes in the wake of a controversy involving the installation of a monument to Confederate soldiers.
The commission, now comprising just three members after two members recently resigned, held a workshop Thursday, July 6, to review proposed changes to cemetery rules and regulations.
Among the changes included in a draft presented by commissioner Glenna Booth are stipulations regarding the placement of monuments in the cemetery.
“Monuments are intended to mark the location of those buried in that specific plot,” Booth’s draft says.
The draft goes on to state that no permanent fixture or grace decoration of any kind “shall be installed/planted/placed in the cemetery without a Request for Approval of Permanent Fixture form approved by the Cemetery Superintendent or his representative,” with the quoted portion being new language.
The draft goes on to state that the cemetery superintendent may defer approval of “unusual or very large fixtures” to the cemetery commission, which also may require the removal of any monument installed without prior written approval.
Commission chair L.B. Wilson said he would like to develop criteria for acceptable structures, noting that “one of the attractions to our cemetery is the fact that we have had in the past a flexible policy, where people could demonstrate their mourning on an individual basis.”
Also included in the draft is language regarding permanent fixtures that Booth said was suggested by city attorney Forrest Jacobi.
“There shall be no decoration, adornment, use of monument, inscriptions, or plantings except as expressly permitted under these rules,” that section of the draft states. “The right is reserved by the Cemetery Commission to enter upon any lot and prohibit, modify, or remove any object, adornment, monument, inscription, planting, or other work done contrary to the rules.”
Booth clarified that rules changes, including the language suggested by the city attorney, will not allow the cemetery commission to take action regarding the Confederate monument.
“Now this will not be retroactive,” she said. “You can’t regulate things that are already in existence at the time the change occurs. So this will not cover the monument. You can’t go retroactive.”
Because the July 6 meeting was a workshop, the cemetery commission could not vote on the proposed rules changes. The commission was expected to vote on the issue at its regular meeting Wednesday, July 12, after deadline for this issue of the Times-Echo.
