Kentwood City Clerk
Cemetary Information

CEMETERY RULES AND REGULATIONS

Pine Hill Cemetery

City of Kentwood, MI

Effective 07/20/99 in accordance with Ordinance 6-99.

***The "cemetery caretaker" used in this document shall mean the Superintendent of Public Works or in his absence the Cemetery Sexton.

SECTION I - CONDUCT OF PERSONS WITHIN THE CEMETERY.

Children - Children under 12 years of age, unless accompanied by an adult, are not permitted on cemetery grounds.
Flowers - All persons are prohibited from gathering flowers, either wild or cultivated, or breaking trees, shrubbery or plants, writing upon, defacing or injuring any memorials, fences or other structures within the cemetery grounds.
Loitering - Loitering is prohibited on the grounds, graves or monuments in the cemetery.
Soliciting - Peddling of flowers or plants or soliciting the sale of any commodity, other than by the cemetery caretaker, is prohibited within the confines of the cemetery.
Notices and Advertisements - No signs or notices or advertisements of any kind shall be allowed in the cemetery, unless placed by the cemetery.
Pets - No pets of any kind shall be allowed within the cemetery grounds.
Hours - No person shall be allowed in the cemetery from a period one hour after sunset and continuing to one hour before sunrise, without the prior written consent of the cemetery caretaker.
Funerals - Strangers are not allowed to approach the grave during a funeral.
Automobiles, Motorcycles, Bicycles - No bicycles, motorcycles, cars, trucks or other vehicles are permitted within the cemetery grounds except such as may be in attendance at funerals or on cemetery business.
Alcoholic Beverages - No alcoholic beverages are allowed in the cemetery.

SECTION II - WORK WITHIN THE CEMETERY

Ingress and Egress - A perpetual right of ingress and egress over all graves and areas within the cemetery shall be retained by the City for the purposes of operation and maintenance.
Damages - Any person, firm, corporation or agent thereof shall be held responsible for causing any damages within the cemetery, and shall be at all times under supervision of the cemetery caretaker.
Notice - The City shall receive not less than thirty-six (36) hours notice prior to any internment or dis-internment except with the prior written consent of the cemetery caretaker.
Sundays and Holidays - No internment or dis-internment shall be allowed on Sundays or on the following holidays: New Years Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day, and when any of the above mentioned holidays falls, or is legally observed, on a Saturday or Monday, except with the prior written consent of the cemetery caretaker.
No Liability - Under no circumstances will the City assume or be deemed to assume responsibility for errors made in opening graves in response to instructions received by telephone.
Location of Internment - When instructions for opening a grave are indefinite or for any reason the grave cannot be opened in the location specified the cemetery caretaker will have it opened at such a place on the lot as may seem best under the circumstances to avoid delaying funerals.
Memorial Work - All permanent headstones and monuments erected or placed in the cemetery shall be set upon a concrete foundation prepared by the cemetery with the following specifications:
1. Minimum depth of 2 feet.
2. At least as long and wide as the headstone.
3. At ground level or one inch below ground level.
Grave Grades/Mounds - No graves shall be filled above the established grade nor shall any graves be permanently mounded.
Headstone Size and Sections - The size of headstones or markers is not restricted in Sections 1, 2, 3 and 5. In all other Sections the headstones of the following sizes only are permitted:
0. For One Grave: 12" x 24"
1. For Two Graves: 12" x 36"
2. All markers are limited to 6" in height
Grave Openings - All graves shall be opened and closed by the cemetery caretaker.
Internment Criteria - Every internment of non-cremated remains shall be made enclosed in a concrete vault. The internment of cremated remains shall be at a depth of 18" to 25" with no vault. If there is to be one (1) burial of cremated remains in the grave, any ash container supplied by the crematorium may be used for the burial. If the maximum of two (2) burials of cremated remains are to be interned in the grave, the first container placed must be of a non-biodegradable, solid material for ease of location and structural integrity for placement of the second container. The second container may be of any material supplied by the crematorium.

SECTION III - CARE OF GRAVES WITHIN THE CEMETERY.

Cemetery Caretaker Directs Improvements - All improvements or alterations of property in the cemetery shall be under the direction of and subject to the consent, satisfaction and approval of the cemetery caretaker; provided that the cemetery caretaker shall have the right to remove, alter or change such improvements or alterations at the expense of the plot owner, or, in any event, at any time, in his judgment, they become unsightly or blighted.
Floral Maintenance - The cemetery caretaker reserves the right to remove all floral designs from the cemetery as soon as, in his judgment, they become unsightly, dangerous, detrimental or diseased, or when they do not conform to the standards maintained. The City shall not be responsible for the return of floral designs or their containers to the owners.
Acceptable Containers - Floral designs will be allowed on the grave area only if they are placed in metal baskets with handles or cement urns acceptable to the cemetery caretaker. Baskets or urns must be placed in line with headstones and must not extend onto graves other than the grave owners.
Planting - Nothing will be planted on the grave area without permission of the cemetery caretaker.
Special Care - Grave owners who desire special attention for their graves, other than perpetual care, such as special care for flowers, must make arrangements for such care with a person, firm or corporation not connected with the City.
Temporary Containers - Containers for floral designs are allowed temporarily following a funeral and during the two weeks before and after Memorial Day until, in the judgment of the cemetery caretaker, such design becomes unsightly to the eye. The City shall not be responsible for the return of floral designs or their containers to the owners.
Timetable for floral containers - Metal baskets or cement urns may be placed on graves during the two weeks prior to Memorial Day but must be removed two weeks after Memorial Day. The City shall not be responsible for the return of containers left on graves at other times than these.
Offensive Structures - If any monument, effigy or other structure placed upon any grave shall be determined to be improper or offensive by the cemetery caretaker, it shall be the right and duty of the cemetery caretaker to remove such structure.

SECTION IV - PAPERWORK AND PROCEDURES.

Business Dealings - All cemetery business must be directed through the office of the City Clerk. Visits at the cemetery to view gravesites for purchase will be arranged by the clerk's office. Purchases and other transactions must occur at the clerk's office or be conducted through a funeral home.
Transferring Ownership to Immediate Family - A Grave Purchase Record may be transferred within an immediate family (parent-child) at no cost. To complete this transaction either the Power of Attorney of the owner's estate or documentation from all children of the owner must be presented consenting to the transfer. The original purchase documentation must be provided and a new purchase document will be processed.
Transferring Ownership Outside of Immediate Family - Any transfer of a Grave Purchase Record not from parent to child will require a transfer fee. To complete this transaction the original owner, Power of Attorney for the owner's estate or all children of the owner must consent to the Grave Purchase Record Transfer.
Burial Permits - No internment will be allowed without a proper burial permit. The owner of the grave must also sign a Burial Authorization Permit.
Appeal Procedure - If any person shall feel aggrieved by any order or decision by the City Clerk's designee or authorized subordinate, that person may, within 10 days after receipt of such order or decision, appeal in writing to the Mayor. The Mayor may make such decisions as the Mayor deems in the public interest with the scope and intent of the cemetery rules and regulations, and such decision shall be final.

CEMETERY PROCEDURES

Pine Hill Cemetery

City of Kentwood, MI

1. Cemetery related phone numbers:

1. Primary number for cemetery business (698-9610)
2. Unlisted number at Pine Hill Cemetery (532-7915)

2. All calls from the public should be directed and handled at the main office.

0. Answer any questions regarding the cemetery.

1. Forward selected questions to the cemetery sexton.
2. Arrange appointments for families to view and select a grave.

3. Funeral Homes should first call the main office for notification of a burial.

0. This call will go to the switchboard number unless the notification occurs during non-business hours. In this event calls go to the pager number.
1. Specifics such as the name of the deceased, the grave to be used, the time of the internment and vault information should be obtained at this time.
2. Funeral Homes will have the cemetery and pager number to communicate other information to the cemetery sexton after the initial notification has been made.

4. Paperwork procedures.

0. All paperwork and processing of bills and payments should be handled at the main office. The cemetery sexton can receive payments for a grave at the cemetery, but all other paperwork must be completed at the main office.
1. A Grave Purchase Record will be produced and sent to the owner by the main office.
2. A Grave Purchase Record Transfer must be completed whenever ownership of a grave changes. If ownership passes from parent to child no fee will be charged, but in all other cases a fee will be charged. This Grave Purchase Record Transfer must be completed in the event that the owners listed on the Grave Purchase Record die.
3. A Burial Authorization Permit must be provided to us before an internment when an owner authorizes the burial of a non-family member in a grave they own.

5. Billing and payment information.

0. If families are making payment directly to the City they can pay at the main office or the cemetery if they are already there. Payment must be received before the work is completed and a receipt will be given to the family immediately.
1. In other cases we will bill the funeral home or foundation company when we receive the work order. The work can be completed before payment is received.

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