Owner of private Delta Township cemetery cited for violations. Repairs planned, representative says

DELTA TWP. — The owner of Deepdale Memorial Gardens, a privately owned cemetery, says it will spend more than $100,000 in repairs at the property after the township cited the company for property maintenance code violations earlier this month.

The code violations were detailed by township staff in a two-page, Nov. 1 letter after the families of some of the 23,000 people buried at the 65-acre property told the State Journal this fall that the cemetery, 4108 Old Lansing Road, hasn't been cared for properly in years.

Michele Stone, vice president of corporate operations and communications for Everstory Partners, the Bensalem, Pennsylvania-based company that owns Deepdale, said contractors are being secured to address a variety of issues. A list of costs Stone shared with the State Journal shows the company plans to spend more than $100,000.

"We want to be really transparent about the work we're doing," Stone said. "We fully recognize that there are things to address and we have a plan and it will take time and I understand that there's a lot of community frustration, and we're addressing it and it's just going to take kind of walking the walk."

Suzanne DeVlieger, 75, whose parents and several other relatives are buried at the cemetery, said she's happy to hear repairs are planned, but she's skeptical they will be completed.

"I'm happy that they say they're going to do it, but I will reserve my thoughts on that until I actually see it," DeVlieger said. She's planning a trip to the property from her home in Arizona in the spring and "if they start taking care of it, then I'll be really happy."

Complaints by family members have included crumbling roads throughout the property, years-long delays in getting staff to address upkeep of the grounds, drainage issues and foul odors inside one of DeepDale's two mausoleums, dating to the 1920s and 1976.

The township's citations are in line with many of the reported issues, and it is requiring repairs to the cemetery's road, and both of its mausoleums.

Township outlines over half a dozen violations

Delta Township Building Inspector Matt Leach received a complaint about the property in early October. His two-page letter to Stonemor Michigan Subsidiary, part of Everstory Partners, outlined more than a half dozen maintenance code violations at Deepdale found during a visit in October.

According to the letter, obtained through a public records request:

• Repairs are needed to the cemetery's "driveways throughout the premises, walkways and stairs, particularly leading to the historic mausoleum."

• There is a need for "roof, fascia, gutter, block, door and window repair or replacement at the historic mausoleum along with window, roof and gutter repair or replacement at the new mausoleum."

• There is a need for "repairs to the walls and ceilings from water damage” at both mausoleums.

• Notice that “the emergency exit stairwell in the basement of the new mausoleum is missing a handrail. The landing area around the exit stairwell is missing the required guard."

• Notice that “the historic mausoleum does not have working electrical equipment on the main floor."

The letter also instructed the company to:

• “remove items in the basement utility rooms located in the new mausoleum to provide adequate clearance to electrical and mechanical equipment,

• that "the southside basement utility room in the new mausoleum has an uncapped wire from the panel that will need to be properly removed or terminated"

• that “the basement of the historic mausoleum has a blocked egress door and exit signage at the new mausoleum needs to be repaired or replaced,"

• and "the new mausoleum has missing, and/or improperly placed fire extinguishers."

Leach's letter asked Everstory Partners to "provide a plan of action to comply with the above requirements within 10 days."

Company says repairs are underway

"The Cemetery and Everstory Partners want to assure the Township that they are dedicated to providing the families in Lansing and throughout the state of Michigan with the highest degree of service and that Everstory Partners is working with contractors to promptly address the identified deficiencies," said Katelyn Czarnik, senior litigation counsel for Everstory Partners, in a Nov. 10 letter to township officials.

A contractor will begin electrical work at the property on Nov. 21, and a contractor has been secured for roof repairs, according to the letter.

"The Cemetery is also working on identifying an appropriate contractor to perform the identified masonry work," Czarnik said. Because the building is over a century old the staff "is being appropriately selective in its contractor choice for the masonry work and anticipates having a contractor selected and prepared to begin this work once the roofing work is completed," she said.

Window repairs at the property are completed "and the identified handrail, egress issues and fire extinguisher placement/replacement are scheduled to be corrected the week of November 13th," Czarnik said, and staff is "working on obtaining a mechanical permit for the new mausoleum furnace."

The 1920s mausoleum will remain closed to the public until electrical work at the building is complete, Stone said.

The company doesn't plan to repave the roads throughout the property, which could cost as much as $900,000, "but we are prioritizing potholes and are fixing the ones that we can repair in this way without paving," she said.

Progress on the work at Deepdale will be shared publicly on the cemetery's Facebook page, Stone said.

"We intend to post and be transparent and visible about what we're doing and if people have questions they can absolutely ask and we're open to that. I know it's gonna take some time, but we've got a plan."

READ MORE:

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Contact Rachel Greco at rgreco@lsj.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, @GrecoatLSJ .

This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Owner of private Delta Township cemetery cited for violations