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Resident urges village to include cemetery donation notice with water bills
Summary
A resident asked the village board to allow a volunteer cemetery group to include a donation insert with the village's semiannual water bills to help cover mowing and upkeep of a historic cemetery. The board voted to add the insert to billing and encouraged digital donation options.
A resident appealed to the village board to help sustain a volunteer-run historic cemetery by allowing a donation notice to be included with the village's semiannual water bills. The resident said the group has no steady income, relies on volunteers for mowing and weed-whacking, and had three burials last year.
“We're all run by volunteers and really don't have any income,” Resident (S3) said, describing the difficulty in covering routine maintenance and the special challenges of the cemetery's oldest sections. Board member (S4) suggested including a QR code or PayPal link on a billing insert to make donating easier: “And the only thing I see with this 0.5 sheet is that if you had a QR code or PayPal, you would get donations a lot faster.”
Members discussed past efforts (scouts, community service and occasional contractor work), noted the cemetery contains veterans including Revolutionary War soldiers, and flagged that older graves and roots make mechanical mowing difficult. Resident (S3) said the group had investigated options including PayPal and prior mailings but had not used GoFundMe.
A motion to add the donation notice to the semiannual water billing was made and seconded; the board voted by voice and the motion carried. Board members encouraged the residents to prepare a short write-up on the cemetery's history and to pursue digital donation options to increase response.
