West Oak Grove Cemetery leaders ask Oak Grove to consider municipal takeover

Representatives of the West Oak Grove Cemetery Association urged the Oak Grove City Council on Nov. 10 to begin a formal dialogue about transferring the cemetery to municipal control.

Michael Sharkey, the cemetery's attorney, and Marie McCallum, the association president, told the council the association's volunteer board is elderly and has trouble finding new volunteers to sustain operations. Sharkey said the board is not asking because of shortfalls: the association has about $100,000 in checking and, at current pricing, roughly $1,900,000 in future plot inventory.

"We have about $1,900,000 of inventory," Sharkey said, presenting the association's August letter and a history of the grounds. He said the cemetery includes 158 known veterans and noted the association has hired a third'party gravedigger who works across a dozen cemeteries.

Sharkey pointed the council to Minnesota's public cemetery statute as the statutory route for a transfer: "There is a structure by which a cemetery can turn itself over to the municipality," he said, and offered the association's help to ease a transition and train city staff on records and operations.

Council members pressed for clarifying details, including the cemetery's annual operating costs, the time required for routine maintenance, whether grave plots are surveyed and staked, and which parcels are occupied. McCallum said sales have generally kept the cemetery solvent and that the board has begun updating records, creating a mailing list and sending proxies to owners for votes. She said the group did not bring annual cost figures to the meeting but would provide them at follow-up.

City Attorney Joe Sathy and other staff asked the association to provide property restrictions, recorded plats and any documents required by county or state authorities so staff can evaluate legal, fiscal and operational implications. Mayor Rolfe and council members repeatedly said they appreciated the presentation but wanted more detail on staffing hours, immediate costs to city departments, and long'term liabilities before considering acceptance.

Sharkey and McCallum said the board members are willing to advise the city through a transition and that the sexton and gravedigger have committed to remain available. "We want this to happen, but we're completely realistic about it too," Sharkey said, adding that the association sees the city taking the conversation early as a way to avoid future decay and blight. The council asked staff to gather the association's records and follow up with the board.

What happens next: City staff will request the association's financial statements, operating-cost breakdowns, property restrictions and plats; the council indicated it wants those details and a time-and-cost estimate before deciding whether to accept a municipal takeover.