Newark delays enforcement of Cedar Hill decoration policy after resident protest
NEWARK − Public outcry over the grave decoration policy at city-owned Cedar Hill Cemetery prompted the city to delay its planned removal of unauthorized items from grave sites.
The cemetery decoration policy has been in place many years, but stricter enforcement had been scheduled to begin April 3. City officials opted for a 30-day review of the policy after negative public reaction.
Family members who have loved ones buried at the cemetery attended the Newark City Council meeting on April 3 to speak out against the policy. The meeting became emotional for people fearing their family mementos will be removed from graves and thrown away. It also became emotional for city officials and council members responding to allegations they have no compassion.
Chance Patznick, who became cemetery superintendent three months ago, summed up her views near the end of an hour of public debate at the meeting.
“As far as the narrative that I am heartless and that I do not care about anybody, that couldn’t be further from the truth," Patznick said. "I care a lot about the cemetery, which is why I am here to enforce those rules, so that I can provide you with the most respectable cemetery that I possibly can. I care and my crew cares.
“They deeply care about the people that are buried there, just like I do. So, unfortunately, without the policy being enforced in the past, we’ve gotten so far out of the realm of what is a respectable cemetery and respectable decoration policy that the only compromise is to actually enforce the policy that is in place."
Patznick is a 2014 graduate of Newark High School and a 2018 graduate of Ohio University. She was operations manager at the cemetery for two years before becoming superintendent. She performed seasonal work for the city for two years prior to starting full-time. Jeff Hotchkiss, the former superintendent, is now the assistant superintendent.
The cemetery policy prohibits any decorations except live flowers to be placed on the ground by the headstones during the summer mowing season of April 1 to Oct. 31. The policy states that artificial decorations are a safety hazard.
City Service Director Dave Rhodes said, "We have some graves that are being outlined with stone and brick and coming way out to the bottom of the grave site. That causes a problem with mowing and if it’s stone, a stone that’s thrown, hit’s a car or hits a person, makes the city liable."
Patznick said the policy has not yet been enforced, but some families claim items have been removed from grave sites. Patznick said several windstorms blew things around the cemetery and forced workers to collect those items. Other things were damaged and needed to be removed for safety, she said.
Megan Pursley said her son's sentimental items, many not damaged, were removed. She said she found them April 4 in and beside the Dumpster at the cemetery.
"Chance stated at the City Council meeting that they have not taken any artificial decorations down unless they were damaged by the windstorm," Pursley said. "This is not true. My son's grave had all sentimental items removed by March 31."
Susan Gualtieri, of Newark, posted a video on Facebook showing small American flags in barrels and some laying on the ground near the barrels at the cemetery.
“Those aren’t trash barrels," Patznick said. "Those are burn barrels that we use, so that we burn everything with dignity here. Those were collected with the recent windstorms.”
Gualtieri said she also saw many decorations in the trash, including heavy items such as ceramic figurines and a wrought iron heart that were not damaged.
“No way the wind blew them over,” Gualtieri said. “It’s all sentimental things you would put on a grave. They had to have pulled it up.”
Loren Barber, of Newark, agreed with Pursley and Gualtieri that some items he saw in the trash were too heavy to blow around and were not damaged.
“It was not a wind issue,” Barber said. “I was there the day before the windstorm, the day of the windstorm and the day after the windstorm. There were not things blown across that cemetery. A flag gets tattered. I saw two of those. There were more than 200 flags (in barrels).”
Barber said the public was not adequately informed of the policy enforcement, saying nobody seemed aware of it when he was at the cemetery on April 2. He proposed a potential compromise.
“In my opinion, this hasn’t been enforced in 100 years,” Barber said. “I can vouch for 40 years it hasn’t been enforced.
“I’m the first to admit, there are graves that are not attended. It might be a widow whose husband is there and now she’s in a nursing home. It starts to overgrow. The liberties people have taken with various decorations and things like that, logistically I can see that it’s a problem maintaining that cemetery. So, I don’t come just to complain, I offer solutions.”
Barber suggested allowing families 8 inches in front of the headstone for flowers or other decorations, with a rectangular border protecting the decorations. But, city officials said the border becomes part of the problem.
“We’re asking for a little humanity, a little compassion because there are people here in real pain,” Barber said. “I witnessed people crying. One family is here who had to strip the gravesite of their daughter and they brought their other child, they have no headstone. They just had something signifying her name and something personal to her and her little sister would come there and grieve. There’s nothing there now. There’s a spot of dirt waiting to be filled in with grass.”
Newark resident Anthony Miceli said his family removed their mementos because the cemetery website said the policy took effect April 1.
“To me, that means this is going to be put in the trash,” Miceli said. “All these things for two years that I’ve done and I’ve maintained, I had to tear out with my mother while she’s grieving her husband, to make sure this wasn’t going in the trash on April 1.
“I shouldn’t have to do that. We bought these plots for our family for their final resting place. All we need is just enough space to where we can put a little bit of things. I just want something that I can go to and visit and see my father every two weeks, where my mother can grieve and that’s it.”
Krista Hutchison told council, “I’m a single mother and cannot afford a headstone, so now me and my daughter have to come and look at a pile of dirt because I couldn’t leave so much as a light for my son.
“I had rocks on my son’s grave, but I had them lined up perfectly with every other headstone in the row. What was that hurting? It’s been there for over a year. Why do I have to take my decorations off, a flag with my son’s picture on it, it’s the only way to identify that’s my son there.”
Mayor Jeff Hall said his parents are buried there and everyone working at the cemetery cares immensely about the property and the service the city provides. Several council members said they have family members buried there, as well.
“We’re all humans too," Hall said. "We’ve all lost loved ones. The accusation that anyone is hardened and doesn't care, that’s not true at all.
“This is what the policies are about. They're so we can still function and best serve everyone here. There’s a lot of people buried here, and a lot of families associated with it for many, many years and all we want to do is be able to take care of it and keep it in the great shape it deserves.”
Rhodes said the city plans to ask city council on Monday to approve hiring an additional full-time employee to work solely at the cemetery, in addition to five full-time employees and seasonal help, to keep up with the workload.
“We’ve not been able to have one person full-time in the cemetery on a daily basis," Rhodes said. "We’re going to change that and put somebody full-time in the cemetery, with the help of city council.”
The cemetery employees are responsible to maintain the more than 100 acres, 37,000 head stones, five miles of roads and dig abut 150 graves annually for burials at the cemetery. They also maintain 19 city parks, 12 miles of bike path and 10 to 12 lots downtown.
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Cemetery decoration policy
Following is the Cedar Hill Cemetery decoration policy that has been in place for many years, but is currently being reviewed. The policy has not been enforced. For more information, call the office at 740-670-7775 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.
April 1 to Oct. 31
Only live flowers are permitted, not more than 8 inches from the front of the headstone and prohibited from the side or back of the stone.
Planting of trees, bushes, shrubs or any spreading plant are prohibited.
Artificial decorations, which are a safety hazard, include: plastic, silk or wired flowers; bricks, rocks, fences or borders; glass containers, alcohol or food; tobacco or lighters; porcelain, glass, metal, concrete or wooden objects; clothing, hats sunglasses.
Cut flowers may be placed on graves three days before a holiday and removed seven days after the holiday or they will be removed by staff.
Nov. 1 to March 31
Artificial decorations, typically wreaths and silk flowers, are permitted.
Bricks, rock, fences and borders are prohibited all year.
The cemetery staff reserves the right to remove anything deemed excessive or unsightly, without notification.
Source: Cedar Hill Cemetery
This article originally appeared on Newark Advocate: Newark delays enforcement of Cedar Hill decoration policy
