An update on the cemetery bills going through the state legislature from the INPCRP Coordinator Lois Mauk Randy Klemme -----Original Message----- From: Lois Mauk <LawOfficeInformationSystem@worldnet.att.net> To: INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com <INPCRP-L@rootsweb.com> Date: Thursday, January 28, 1999 11:12 PM Subject: [INPCRP-L] Belated Report on Senate Committee Hearing 1/27/99 >This is my belated report on our appearance before the Senate Committee on >Governmental and Regulatory Affairs on Wednesday, January 27, 1999: > >I was joined in Indianapolis by Ron Baldwin and his wife Mary Jane, David >Foster and Jack Eaton. Also there was Bill Shaw, the Indianapolis Star-News >reporter who wrote last year's "Death of a Cemetery" story. > >There were about 40 people crammed into a room better suited to hold 30 or >so. We were permitted to testify with respect to both Senate Bills. > >Senator Paul opened the discussion by commenting that he was inspired to >draft the bill after attending the funeral of a friend and being surprised >at the declining condition of the cemetery where the friend was buried. He >mentioned that the cemetery was in desperate need of "rehabilitation" but >that the cemetery association was without funds to do the work needed. >Obviously, this was an "active" cemetery as the friend's burial was taking >place there and the cemetery had an association to help take care of it. > >I suspect that that situation is similar to many happening here in the >state. The site is associated with a church or other group, there is a >loosely-organized association which keeps an eye on it, they have a small CD >in the bank and use the interest on that CD to pay for keeping the grass >mowed. There are no funds available for stone repair, removing trees, etc. >The same scenario is playing out all over the state. > >I suspect, however, that the cemetery is on "private" property, not owned by >the state, the county, the township or the city. In which case, I question >whether the cemetery Senator Paul was trying to help would even be eligible >for the funding to be provided by SB 178. > >When called to speak, I told them that rehabilitation funds were, in fact, >desperately needed by Indiana's cemeteries but that they were needed even >more so by Indiana's abandoned and neglected pioneer cemeteries, especially >the poor forgotten ones on private property. We explained to the Senators >that, by reliable estimates, 70 to 90 percent of all of Indiana's cemeteries >are in fact small private cemeteries established in the early to mid-1800s >on private property. > >They did not understand what I meant when I referred to most of these being >on land that was never "deeded out" of the main tract. I told them about >our blacktopped cemetery down here in Clark County and that it was legal to >pave these occupied graves because taxes were "assessed and paid" on the >property. > >I'm still hoping I didn't come across as a blithering idiot when I spoke >concerning SB 178. I got very nervous and seemed to lose the ability to >read. :-{ I did have the presence of mind to deliver to the Committee >copies of the 600+ petition signatures. At the last minute, I grabbed a >couple of pictures of "typical" abandoned and neglected Indiana pioneer >cemeteries out of my briefcase. I wanted them to have SOME idea of what we >were talking about. > >Ron reported that, of the 300 cemeteries identified to date in Monroe County >(Bloomington), only TWELVE of them are on "public" land, owned or controlled >by the county, cities or townships. The rest are on private land and, as >such are not eligible for care by township trustees. > >We talked to them about the blight of these lost and forgotten burial >grounds. I them pictures of two cemeteries that, for all appearances, are >nothing but an expanse of weeds and trees. > >The Committee members did not seem to understand the true condition of these >blighted, neglected, abused sites. They did not seem to grasp the vastness >of the problem. Next time I'll take giant poster-sized blow-ups. > >After further testimony, the Committee decided unanimously to HOLD on the >passing of SB 178. > >After several other bills were discussed, the Committee turned to SB 280, >the bill sponsored by Sen. Pat Miller. > >David Foster made several comments about the bill, including a suggestion >that the party seeking to move graves be required to file notice of a >specified type size in hopes that the notices won't get lost in the >classifieds and talked about the difficulty of moving some of the large >monuments, such as the tree-trunk type. (I don't think the Senators knew >what he was talking about but I think most of us have seen these Woodsmen of >the World concrete tree trunk markers. I agree with David that they are >going to be difficult if not impossible to move.) > >Mr. Williamson of Historic Landmarks spoke briefly in favor of SB 280. > >The President of Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis spoke about making >available burial space for "dislocated pioneers" (my expression, not his) in >Crown Hill. He described Crown Hill's pioneer graves section with 1,063 >relocated graves. It was not clear to any of us whether Crown Hill was >offering free burial space for relocated graves and their markers. I rather >doubt that the space will be free and I was unclear whether he was >suggesting moving human remains from the far reaches of the state to Crown >Hill. The Senators certainly seemed to respond more attentively to his >comments than the pleas we were making. > >The Committee stopped short of telling us to "go pound sand". There were >comments made that the State could do nothing about graves on private >property and could not be expected to help. > >Among other comments that I made, I questioned the appropriateness of the >Department of Natural Resources seeming to swoop down on every accidental or >intentional exposure of human remains in Indiana and warehousing the remains >at the University of Indianapolis Forensics and Archeology Laboratory. > >I told the Committee that we have filed an Open Records Act request with the >DNR and the University of Indianapolis requesting information on the number >of pioneer graves excavated, the number of human's remains and the counties >in which they were located. Tomorrow will be a week since I sent those >requests and, much to my amazement, I have not yet heard from the State >Archeologist or the U of I. > >I did a better job of sticking to my script on the second bill and was able >to read both pages of my notes. > >The Committee voted unanimously to pass SB 280. > >Additional information on each of these bills is available on the INPCRP >website at: > http://www.rootsweb.com > >Sorry this report was so late. I was just beat when I got back from Indy >last night and then I worked 11 hours today. > >Lois >- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - >Have you signed an Indiana Pioneer Cemetery Restoration Project >PETITION TO THE INDIANA LEGISLATURE calling for revision of current >state laws regarding protection and maintenance of pioneer cemeteries? > See http://www.rootsweb.com/~inpcrp >- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - >Next meeting of the Clark County Cemetery Preservation Committee: > Saturday, Feb. 6, 1999 at 2 PM at Pleasant View Methodist Church on > Highway 60/111, near entrance to Deam's Lake, south of Borden > Website: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Plains/5881 >- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - > > >==== INPCRP Mailing List ==== >Please do not send querries through this list. > >