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Parks department adopts consolidated cemetery policy; staff to publish available plots and operating procedures
Summary
The board approved a new Cemetery Policies and Procedures policy (13260), consolidating existing decoration rules into a broader procedures document. Staff said White Oak plots are available and that they are auditing Rose Hill records to publish available spaces; visiting hours were set by usage analysis at roughly 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
The Bloomington Board of Park Commissioners on Thursday approved a consolidated Cemetery Policies and Procedures policy intended to clarify management, visiting hours, plot records and procedures for the city-managed cemeteries.
Amy Linebeck, operations coordinator, outlined the policy package and said the new policy 13260 is an external-facing document that describes cemetery locations the department manages, who is responsible for care and how operations are conducted. The policy folds a prior decorations policy into a larger procedures document that captures detailed operating practices.
Linebeck told commissioners the department is preparing a public list of available plots. “Yes. We have lots of plots available in White Oak,” she said. She added that many people prefer Rose Hill; staff are reviewing records to identify plots that are truly available and will publish that information.
On visiting hours, staff said they used cellular location data to determine peak visiting times and proposed hours roughly between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. to better reflect respectful, daylight usage of cemetery spaces. Linebeck also said the department researched requests such as above-ground mausoleums and determined they will not allow new above-ground mausoleums at this time.
The board approved the new policy and elimination of the older decorations policy by voice vote. Linebeck said the department will continue refining the full procedures document and encouraged feedback from commissioners.
