Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, February 17, 1994 TAG: 9402170198
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ADRIENNE PETTY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The bill would allow Franklin County to condemn up to 5 acres adjacent to the cemetery. The state now limits to 2 acres the amount of land a county can condemn for cemetery use.
"The cemetery has got to have some additional land to expand," said Commissioner of Revenue Ben Pinckard, who asked Goode to sponsor the bill.
"Two acres would certainly help, but 5 would be better."
Reviving the cemetery and restoring the community's trust in it are crucial, because thousands of people have loved ones buried there. Franklin Memorial Park, on U.S. 220 between Boones Mill and Rocky Mount, is one of the county's largest perpetual-care cemeteries.
If the county lent the cemetery money to expand, the additional land could accommodate about 4,500 plots, generating much-needed income for upkeep.
It is unclear whether the Board of Supervisors would take advantage of the bill if it passed. Board Chairwoman Lois English was aware of the bill, but didn't know any details.
The Senate passed the bill 38-0 last week. It is now in a House subcommittee.
Pinckard would propose deeding the land to the Board of Supervisors, and have an unpaid board of directors oversee the cemetery's operation.
He has not approached the county or landowners about purchasing the land, but he said that if the county agreed to buy the land, it would be reimbursed once the cemetery becomes solvent.
"All taxpayers should not be required to use tax money to perpetuate a cemetery that does not serve the whole community," he said.
Pinckard stressed that expanding the cemetery would be only part of the solution.
Last month, Eric Ferguson, the cemetery's court-appointed receiver, filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. A hearing for creditors will be held tonight at 7 at Franklin County High School.
As a testament to the number of people who have been touched by the three-year struggle to make the cemetery financially viable, the cemetery has more than 4,500 creditors, the largest list of creditors ever in a bankruptcy petition filed in the Western District of Virginia office of the federal bankruptcy court, the court clerk said.
Uncertainty over the cemetery's future erupted in the fall of 1991, when Pinckard turned up a $700,000 shortfall in trust accounts while reviewing sales contracts for more than 9,000 cemetery plots.
Under state law, previous owners of the cemetery should have set aside 10 percent of revenue from plot sales to provide for maintenance of the grounds, and 40 percent of other sales revenue to ensure that the cemetery had enough money for vaults and grave markers that had been paid for in advance.
Although its future is precarious, the cemetery has about 1,200 plots that have not been used, 750 of which are reserved, so there is plenty of space available to fulfill its commitments, Pinckard said.
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994
by CNB