Story posted Thursday, June 25, 2009
A Call For Cemetery Policy
View from the southeast corner of Wheeling's village-owned cemetery looking northwest. (Shawn Clisham/The Journal)
"I'm disgusted it with it."
"It" is a cemetery in Wheeling on Dundee Road just east of Wolf Road, explained Village Trustee Dean Argiris. For the past eight years, every time the budget comes up, Argiris asks about the cemetery. "I just want some inventory of what's going on there."
The cemetery has been there since the Civil War, he said. The village took over ownership and maintenance of the land in 1976.
"Every year, we allocate certain dollars in the public works budget to maintain that cemetery," Argiris said. "I'd like to know what was available then and what's available now."
He said he has heard various numbers of the number of available graves. "Six, 20, none; what is it?" he asked. "Is there a master plat? Who owns the ones that aren't filled?"
Argiris added that he doesn't believe anything is shady about the cemetery or lack of records. "It's not like anybody's stealing or doing anything, but we have a financial responsibility as the village of Wheeling."
He also complemented the Kolssak family, owners of the Kolssak Funeral Home who have assisted in the maintenance of the cemetery. "The Kolssaks have done a great job," he said.
However, Argiris wants to know how many graves are left and what the village could do with any available graves.
"A lot of the old timers have asked about buying a grave there," he explained. "We need to come up with a policy."
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