Mount Pleasant reviews cemetery and park improvements; staff to seek bids and lock options

Mount Pleasant city staff discussed moving a war memorial and flagpole, finishing a new cemetery restroom, creating parking, and tying irrigation and an older well into the cemetery and adjacent park systems during the work session.

City staff said the restroom project at the cemetery is nearly complete — plumbing and power work remain — and that a parking pad has been built in front of the new facility. Staff asked the council whether to install automatic locks or open the restroom only for funerals and Memorial Day weekend; they were directed to get prices for locks and report back. Staff also said they would get three paving bids and pursue a contractor mobilization to secure a better price when paving crews are already in the area.

The discussion matters because the restroom and associated parking will change how people access the cemetery and adjacent park facilities, and the council considered vandalism and public-safety trade-offs in deciding whether to leave facilities open full-time. Staff raised concerns about high-school students and vandalism in the park; council members said timed or event-based access could limit nighttime problems.

In the body of the meeting staff reported a range of related site improvements under consideration or already underway: moving an existing memorial and the flagpole closer to the new restroom, installing new roads and a sprinkler system in an undeveloped section of the cemetery, and building gravel parking (staff said four spaces would likely be sufficient). The city has asked a contractor identified in the discussion as JBB to provide a cost estimate for new roads and irrigation. Staff also asked whether to move a second memorial—referred to as a “doughboy”—along with the flagpole if the council approves relocating the first memorial.

Staff discussed an older well near the cemetery and whether reclassifying it as an irrigation well would remove a 100-foot grading restriction tied to source-protection rules; reclassification could permit grading or relocation of cemetery infrastructure nearer the well. Staff estimated the well yields about 60 gallons per minute and suggested running it for several days could “clean it up” and restore higher flow, with the goal of tying that well into the cemetery and park sprinkler systems. Staff said current flows through a hydro installation near town are reduced (they estimated about 7 cubic feet per second at a reduced nozzle setting) and that irrigation season typically begins April 15, which affects timing for any tie-ins.

Staff also reported finishing cleanup work at the cemetery — removing old floral arrangements, completing building repairs and installing a new equipment deck — and said wood chips for playgrounds will be ordered via requisition at a later meeting.

The council asked staff to obtain cost estimates for the parking paving, gather three contractor bids, and return with pricing for locking hardware and options to control restroom access. Staff said they would follow up with JBB on road and sprinkler cost estimates and would coordinate schedules with paving contractors to reduce mobilization costs.

Notes: The discussion included citizen-safety and maintenance trade-offs, but no formal motions or votes were recorded on these items during the work session.