Bluff public hearing advances draft to create municipal cemetery board, sexton position

Bluff town staff presented a draft ordinance Oct. 28 to create a Bluff Cemetery Board and a cemetery sexton position to manage operations and allow the town to collect fees for a recently used plot currently administered by San Juan County.

The draft ordinance would establish the board’s structure and basic operating procedures — hours, plot sizes and internal conveyance rules — and enable the town to update its fee schedule to formally collect burial fees. Staff said the parcel that is the primary focus is a 112-by-8-foot section in the town’s northwestern cemetery area; ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and survey work are under way to determine if usable cemetery land extends farther west.

The ordinance, as presented, would not address the historic Pioneer Cemetery or the adjacent plots that remain under San Juan County control; staff said the town intends to pursue paperwork to transfer responsibility for the specific recent burial area once surveys and resolutions are complete. Staff also said San Juan County commissioners are on board with a transfer in principle but that formal transfers require additional paperwork and mapping.

Josh Ewing, who identified himself as the incoming mayor, thanked staff for the amount of work put into the town’s suite of ordinances and suggested the town hold an informal public open house so residents can review long draft documents in more detail than a three-minute public-comment slot allows. “I will admit that this was the ordinance that I spent the least amount of time on … but what really did strike me is the amount — crazy amount — of work that you all have gone to put this together,” Ewing said.

No council or Planning & Zoning vote on the cemetery ordinance was recorded during the hearing; the item remained in public hearing status and written comments will be accepted until 5 p.m. Nov. 7, 2025 (office@townofbluffutah.gov).