Borough May Acquire Lansdale Cemetery

Could Lansdale Borough be getting into the cemetery business?

Lansdale Cemetery Inc., owners of Lansdale Cemetery at Whites Road and Broad Street, has approached Lansdale Borough and asked them to consider taking over ownership of the cemetery and mausoleum.

Borough council June 20 unanimously approved the inspection of the cemetery as part of due diligence associated with the potential acquisition of the cemetery. 

"In recent time, the Lansdale Cemetery Corp. (sic) has approached the borough and asked if we were interested in taking over the Lansdale Cemetery, knowing that the cemetery board is comprised of well-intended, yet aging, individuals who have not been able to put a viable succession plan in place, although they have tried," said councilwoman Mary Fuller. "Therefore, they came to the borough looking for help or a solution."

Fuller said the borough is not obligated to take over the cemetery at this time.

"However, the cemetery board cannot continue to maintain the cemetery and the borough is very likely required by state law to eventually take over the cemetery if it falls into a state of disrepair or becomes a nuisance," said Fuller.

To further assess the property, council approved borough engineer Remington Vernick and Beach to evaluate the structural integrity of the mausoleum on the grounds of the cemetery.

"This is not an obligation to acquire the property," Fuller said. "We need to conduct an inspection to see where we stand in regard to structural integrity."

Councilman Jack Hansen, at the June 20 meeting, reiterated the assessment was for the protection of the broough prior to taking control of the cemetery. 

"Just becaue this motion is present doesn’t necessarily imply anything is wrong with the structural integrity," said council vice president Paul Clemente.

Solicitor Mark Hosterman reiterated that the assessment is to see if the cemetery is worth being acquired by the borough.

"Under state law, when a cemetery becomes in disrepair or in a state of nuisance, the municipalty where the cemetery is located can be required by court order to take ownership of the cemetery and maintain it," Hosterman said. "It appears that, despite valiant efforts by the board of Lansdale Cemetery, that they are quickly approaching a situation such as that."

They have come to the borough and suggested an orderly transition rather than a court order for the borough to have to take ownership of that cemetery," he said. "It's difficult for them to find others interested in serving on the board, in addition to funding issues."

Lansdale Cemetery Inc. President Phil Miller said the board has been responsible for the maintenance and operation of the cemetery since 1965.

In October 2009, the board "begged" for money for repairing and replacing sections of sidewalk that had become hazardous.

"Inflation in the last 36 years has caused the resources that we have to not go as far as they did 46 years ago," Miller said. "Our investments in the trust fund, as with all investments in the last two, three years, have taken a real hit or at least income therefrom has been reduced substantially."

Miller said many who were interested in the cemetery 46 years ago have either passed on or they are two generations beyond folks who had an interest in the cemetery as a result of having relatives buried there.  

"The farther they get from actual internment, from the person who admittedly passed and is buried there, the less willingness there is to participate and support the cemetery financially," Miller said. "Those are the facts."

The Lansdale Cemetery Board is made up of five members.

It is not unusual for municipalities to get into the cemetery business. Souderton Borough was known locally for taking over ownership and maintenance of Hillside Cemetery.

As a cemetery board, those wishing to be interred pay the board for a plot. The money goes into the bank and the board pays to mow the lawn and maintain trees.

Miller said the board has struggled to fill vacant slots on the board. Member Doug White has an interest, for example, because of the family connection to Whites Road. He has family members buried in the cemetery, Miller said.

"Funds are not the real problem back in the early days, after we took it over when it was a real community eyesore," Miller said. "It didn't cost much to do anything. Folks were eager to help out at $5, $10, $25 a year. We did a number of appeals and money came in and everything went along fine."

With three generations down, it's not working, he said.

"So, there's a potential for problems," he said.