Franklin park board to draft flagging-and-notice policy for shepherd's hooks at Green Lawn Cemetery after public comments

Franklin City Park Board members agreed on May 21 to draft a new policy to address safety risks from shepherd's hooks at Green Lawn Cemetery, after staff described several mower strikes and residents urged care before removing sentimental markers.

Parks staff told the board that cemetery crews documented numerous shepherd's hooks—staff estimated thousands amid roughly 15,000 headstones—and said some hooks lean into mower paths, leading to a “couple injuries a year” among maintenance workers. The staff presentation framed the issue as an operations and safety problem that needs a practical, fair approach rather than penalizing families that maintain hooks properly.

"Dale brought it to our attention that a lot of the shepherd's hooks out there are not maintained and they're hanging into the mowing path," a parks staff member said, describing photo documentation taken to show examples. The staff member proposed opening the issue to public comment and drafting a policy that would be posted for review before any final action.

During public comment, Kyle, who said his daughter is buried at Green Lawn, told the board removing hooks would be heartbreaking for many families and urged a notice-based approach. "If you don't fix this issue, we're going to fix it for you," Kyle said, and suggested a notice system that gives families time to repair or remove leaning hooks.

Other residents offered compromise measures: require a visible border around plots so hooks stay clear of mower paths, use lower or turned-in hooks, paint or mark hooks to increase visibility, or require that a hook have flowers or a flag attached to remain in place. Tom Wesnuski, who said he visits multiple graves, recommended shorter hooks that still allow flowers but reduce obstruction risk.

Board members and staff coalesced around a color-coded flagging and notice system as a workable compromise. The proposal discussed would tag out-of-bounds or unmarked hooks with a yellow flag as a first notice, switch to a red flag before removal, and allow a retrieval window (proposed 30–60 days) during which owners could claim marked hooks. Staff cautioned the department lacks capacity to store large numbers of removed hooks long term and said crews typically do not keep removed items for extended periods.

"We don't have the capacity to store 1,200 shepherd's hooks," a parks staff member said, urging a simple, practicable procedure tied to posted notices and online/social posts. Board members asked staff to draft a policy that incorporates height or border standards, the flagging/notice timeline, labeling of hooks so owners can identify theirs, and outreach steps such as social media and posted notices at the cemetery entrance.

The board directed staff to prepare a draft policy, circulate it among members, publish the draft for public comment, and revisit the item at meetings in June and July with a final rule change planned for August. No formal removal or enforcement action was taken at the May meeting.

What happens next: staff will draft the policy and post it for public feedback; the board expects to reconsider the item in June and July and aims for a final vote on the rule change in August.