Bonifay approves first reading of cemetery ordinance

BONIFAY – Bonifay City Council members approved a first reading of Ordinance 422 which refers to amending Ordinance 172 that relates to the placement of personal items on gravesites in the Bonifay Memorial Cemetery, when they met in regular session on April 26.  

The ordinance states no benches, rocks, statues, glass figures, wood or plastic fences, porcelain flowers or crosses, metal or wooden signs, posts, solar lights, Christmas trees, shoes, sun dials, toys, bird feeder, stuffed animals, Easter eggs golf clubs or any other personal items shall be placed on gravesites. Those with any of these items will be
required to remove them should approval be made by the council. A
second reading is set for the next regular session meeting with a vote
to immediately follow.  

The reasoning behind the amended ordinance is to allow ease of upkeep and mowing of the cemetery according to Councilman
Roger Brooks who requested the ordinance be drawn up. “There is so much
in the cemetery it makes it difficult for the mowers to maintain it,” said Brooks. “Without proper maintenance it looks trashy and unkempt.” 

At
the behest of Mayor James “Eddie” Sims the council will be looking into
the lease agreement with the Holmes County School Board in regards to Memorial Field. Sims maintains that the lease was never approved by the council nearly 20 years ago and is seeking to make everything clarified legally and not
to remove the lease entirely. “I do not want to kick the school board
out of Memorial Field, not by any means,” said Sims. “I am merely trying to clarify all of the legal terms and paperwork concerning the lease agreement.”  The council is expected to work with the school board to clear up the matter. 

Engineer Elissa Pettis advised the council of the 90 percent completed design phase  for rehabilitation
of the parking lot between Bush Paint and Bowen Hardware. The project
will see the lot repaved with funds from the Department of Economic
OpportunityÂ’s Rural Infrastructure Fund in the amount of $446,000.
Pettis advised the city would be advertising for bids for construction as early as next week. 

Bonifay City Council will meet again in regular session at 6pm on May 10.