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Blufftown moves forward with cemetery survey RFP after SHPO grant; title and record gaps flagged
Summary
Councilmember Lynn DeSosa told the Blufftown Council June 24 that the town will publish an RFP for a cemetery survey backed by a $10,000 SHPO (State Historic Preservation Office) grant and a $2,500 local match.
Councilmember Lynn DeSosa briefed the council on an ongoing effort to formalize Blufftown Cemetery operations and records, saying the town received a Historical Preservation Office grant and will publish an RFP for a survey: “we got the grant from, SHPO from this the Historical Preservation Office of 10000. We have 2,500 on the match,” she said.
Staff said the RFP will go to the local paper for about a month to solicit firms for the survey and mapping work. Council discussion emphasized that the parcel work done to date covers the county-owned section and a private foundation parcel (Hole in the Rock), but not the area where burials by the (now non-existent) Bluff Cemetery district occurred. That un-surveyed section has no recorded map, meaning the town lacks a definitive legal boundary for many burial plots.
The lack of clear title lines and documentation has operational consequences: funds held at a local bank (Zion) for cemetery proceeds are not in a town-controlled account, and no town-issued “certificate of burial” records many existing plot claims. Councilmembers said legal review will be necessary once the survey defines burial locations so titles can be cleaned up; that work will likely require coordination among the town, San Juan County and the Hole in the Rock foundation. Robin Bond and Mark Bond were cited as long-time local volunteers who have helped mark burials but do not substitute for a legal survey.
Town staff described practical next steps: publish the RFP, hire a surveyor to map burials, then use the survey to resolve title and recorded-document questions with county counsel and other landowners. Staff said the goal is to complete the project by Dec. 31, 2025, though council members acknowledged that numerous technical and legal steps remain. The council requested volunteers from the community to help with historical research and documentation and asked staff to circulate the RFP and a draft cemetery ordinance to council members for comment before further legal drafting.
