City agrees to tarp vault at historic cemetery

By Ryan Gauthier, Staff Writer 11:40 PM Friday, December 11, 2009

MIDDLETOWN — The city has agreed to protect the Middletown Historic Cemetery’s vault from winter weather, in an effort to resolve an ongoing legal battle before it reaches a state cemetery commission.

Les Landen, Middletown’s law director, said the city has offered to place a tarp over the structure so it does not sustain further damage this winter at the First Avenue cemetery that is the final resting place for many of Middletown’s founding families and veterans from the Revolutionary through Vietnam wars.

“We volunteered because we believe there may be some opportunities to do some things that make some sense in how the cemetery is dealt with,” Landen said.

Landen said he, longtime cemetery volunteer Vivian Moon, her attorney and a representative with the state Cemetery Dispute Resolution Commission held a mediation session Thursday, Dec. 10, in Columbus to “talk about ways to look at potentially resolving some of the disagreements between the parties.”

The city has basically committed to maintaining the vault’s present condition, he said, so if volunteers can raise enough money to repair the vault they can proceed without additional problems.

Both sides also agreed to bump a scheduled hearing with the CDRC to March, giving them additional time to resolve any remaining issues, according to Landen.

Moon complained to City Council last spring regarding the 11-acre cemetery’s maintenance, then filed a formal complaint with the CDRC.

The city’s lack of cemetery maintenance is her main problem, but Moon said she specifically took issue with plans to tear down the vault rather than fund extensive — and expensive — repairs. With the structure on the verge of collapse, Moon said something needs to be done.

City Manager Judy Gilleland has estimated costs to restore the vault as anywhere between $40,000 and $80,000.

Moon said she is eager to see if the city is true to its word, saying she fully intends to ratchet up the pressure if they do not follow-through.

“We’ll see if ... this is just another tactic on their part,” Moon said. “And I tell you, you’d better pray this isn’t another little tactic. We won’t be going back to Columbus, I’ll do a class action suit, that’ll just make their head swim.”

Moon said she hopes City Council opts to create a cemetery board at its upcoming council meeting, in addition to coming up with funding for vault repairs.