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Gage County hears public support and concerns for reinstating Pioneer (Pleasant Hill) cemetery
Summary
At a Sept. 4 public hearing, applicants seeking reinstatement of a long‑abandoned Pioneer (Pleasant Hill) cemetery described restoration plans, forming a cemetery association and establishing a perpetual care fund; an adjoining landowner raised concerns about locating unmarked graves.
The Gage County Board of Supervisors opened a public hearing Sept. 4 on Special Use Permit No. 2024‑4, a request to reinstate a Pioneer cemetery (known locally as Pleasant Hill). Planning & Zoning recommended approval and presented background on the property's maintenance history and the applicants' compliance with state statute requirements.
Leanne Bogart, one of the applicants, testified she and other volunteers have formed a cemetery association and intend to repair fences, reestablish the boundary, clear debris and pursue restoration of gravestones and markers. Bogart said the last burial in the cemetery was 1906 and the site was abandoned in 1977; she told the board the association has nine active members and will file its organizational documents with the county clerk upon approval.
Bogart described plans to establish a perpetual care and maintenance fund and to delay reopening the cemetery for new interments until it is presentable. She also described marker rules the group will follow, including requirements for concrete bases at ground level for permanent markers.
A nearby landowner, Margaret Haath, spoke in favor of cleanup but urged caution about allowing new burials without complete records: “how do they know where people are buried?” She said vandalism and missing markers in other local cemeteries raised risk concerns about disturbing unrecorded graves.
Planning & Zoning staff advised the board the application pertains to the recorded parcel indicated in the permit and that property‑line disputes would remain private matters between landowners; the board does not resolve private boundary disputes in the special use permit process. P&Z reported a 6‑0 recommendation for reinstatement at the committee level.
The public hearing closed at 9:29 a.m. after testimony; the board indicated the item will return as an action item at the customary two‑week follow up (target date discussed as Sept. 18).
