Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, August 11, 1994 TAG: 9408110069
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ROCKY MOOUNT LENGTH: Medium
Ferguson, the court-appointed special receiver for Franklin Memorial Park, got some good news Wednesday when the cemetery was released from bankruptcy.
A U.S. bankruptcy judge in Roanoke agreed to a voluntary dismissal in the case, said Beth Roland, a Roanoke attorney representing Ferguson.
Roland said the dismissal is a good sign for creditors, because the court makes dismissal decisions based on whether the situation is in the best interest of both debtors and creditors.
Ferguson filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in January after exhausting all conventional means to return the cemetery to solid financial ground.
"What [the dismissal] means is that I will continue to operate the cemetery just as I have been," Ferguson said. "I'm looking for a buyer, though, and I've got a real serious prospect."
A survey of the cemetery is complete, and Ferguson said he plans to start designating burial plots soon.
The cemetery, located on U.S. 220 between Rocky Mount and Boones Mill, has about 1,200 empty plots; 750 of them under are contract.
Ferguson was appointed as special receiver by a Franklin County Circuit judge. Asked if he knew the troubles he would face, Ferguson said, "I don't think anybody did."
Controversy over the cemetery's financial woes began in 1991 when former Franklin County Commissioner of Revenue Ben Pinckard found a $700,000 shortfall in trust accounts while reviewing sales contracts for more than 9,000 burial plots.
Franklin Memorial Park, which opened in 1960 and is one of the largest perpetual-care cemeteries in Franklin County, has more than 4,500 creditors - the most ever filed in a bankruptcy petition in the Western District of Virginia office of the federal bankruptcy court.
Under state law, Patrick Rooney III and other owners of the cemetery should have set aside 10 percent of all revenue from plot sales to provide for maintenance, and 40 percent of other sales revenue to ensure that the cemetery had enough money for vaults and grave markers bought in advance.
Rooney was indicted by a grand jury on charges related to the mismanagement, but he has not been located and is believed to be in Florida.
Emotions stirred by the cemetery's financial woes erupted at a March meeting held to discuss the cemetery's problems.
Rocky Mount lawyer David Furrow accused Pinckard of hitting him in the face after the two got into an argument about the cemetery's operations.
Pinckard, who was working at the cemetery without compensation at the time, was charged with assault and battery.
A judge took the charge under advisement for six months in May, shortly after Pinckard was elected to Rocky Mount Town Council.
by CNB