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Council considers fee for cemetery probing; city expects burial‑license within 30 days
Summary
Council members discussed charging for cemetery probing when requests are not linked to an imminent funeral to recoup staff time, and staff said the city expects a revised burial license from the state within about 30 days, after which lot sales may resume.
Councilors discussed operational changes to cemetery services at the Aug. 11 meeting after staff reported repeated probe requests that were not tied to imminent funerals and consumed significant crew time.
Paul described multiple probe calls that consumed many staff hours and said the cemetery had spent "a better half of almost 19 hours" on several probes that turned out to be informal inquiries. Council members and staff discussed charging a fee for probing requests that are not connected to a scheduled funeral; the conversation referenced an estimated probe fee of approximately $50 and staff labor rates of roughly $55 an hour for two workers.
Staff also provided a licensing update: the cemetery administrator said the city is awaiting a revised license from the Illinois licensing authority (IDFPR) and expects the printed license in about 30 days; once the license is received the city expects to resume selling lots (funerals and services on previously purchased lots can continue before the license is printed). Council members said they would discuss fee structures and bring detailed proposals back to a future council or committee meeting.
No final fee schedule or ordinance change was adopted at the meeting; members asked staff to prepare options and cost calculations for council consideration.
