Committee weighs help for ownerless Saunders Cemetery, asks staff for a plan

Residents and committee members described Saunders Cemetery as a historic, ownerless burial ground in the Scottish Highlands area with roughly 25 burials, including Hobart Saunders and descendants. A local descendant said family members have maintained and paid to mow the site but that a recent windstorm required nearly $10,000 in cleanup to remove fallen trees and haul debris.

Committee members and staff confirmed the city’s review of deeds found no clear private owner. Staff advised that the state maintains a registry of graveyards but does not assume maintenance responsibility; the state generally treats responsibility as resting with descendants. Committee members said five or six small cemeteries in Hendersonville lack a clear owner.

The committee discussed options including a one‑time cleanup by public works for ownerless sites, asking existing landscape contractors to amend current contracts for occasional maintenance, using county inmate labor for short tasks, and pursuing volunteer stewardship by neighborhood groups or descendants. Members emphasized they were not asking the city to take ownership of any cemetery and that any sustained maintenance program would need clear policy, funding and possibly staffing adjustments.

The committee asked staff to prepare a plan for the midyear budget cycle outlining options for interim cleanups and longer‑term maintenance of identified ownerless cemeteries and to pursue volunteers and contract amendments as appropriate. The committee noted concern about liability if a hazardous tree or other danger exists and directed staff to include those risk assessments in the plan.