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An on-going discussion by the Dewey City Council about the height and style of cemetery markers was resolved at Monday’s night meeting when the Council approved a return to the original regulations that cemetery markers be level with the ground rather than upright.

For several decades now, the cemetery has been seeing an increase in people installing upright markers while watching the amount of space needed to bring in a vault decreasing. Machinery needed to install a vault now cannot fit in some sections of the cemetery due to the upright markers as obstacles. In the past damage has occurred unintentionally to upright markers that must be paid for by the City. With markers that are level to the ground, protective boards can be placed over and around the markers to avoid damage.

City Manager Kevin Trease has been investigating the issue and made a recommendation in previous meetings that the city return to its original regulations that flat markers must be used in the majority of the cemetery. Upright markers will only be allowed in the mausoleum section of the cemetery. After much discussion by the council members over several weeks, Trease’s recommendation was approved.