Second cemetery meeting planned

EAST LIVERPOOL - The idea of who will run and maintain Spring Grove Cemetery will be be discussed at an upcoming meeting.

Mildred Eells said a state agency representative will be on hand to help answer questions or concerns. The meeting is scheduled to take place at 10:30 a.m. July 15 at the cemetery.

Ted Hornyak, with the state Department of Commerce, has spoken to Eells and said he will be at the meeting.

"The way he talked to me, I'd say he's (Hornyak) thinking we may have to turn the cemetery over to the city and the township to run," Eells said.

Eells called for the first meeting which was held June 21 to sort out issues surrounding the cemetery which was last managed by her sister, Virginia Myler. Conditions at the cemetery - especially during the Memorial Day holiday - drew the ire of many. High grass, weeds and fallen tree limbs throughout the property were deemed troublesome.

At the June 21 meeting, Jim Jenkins said American Legion Post 374 has a memorial at the cemetery and was in charge of putting up flags on Memorial Day for veterans but the overgrowth of grass and weeds made the task impossible. "We couldn't find the graves with markers on them," Jenkins said.

Approximately 30 people attended the last meeting called by Eells. Also in attendance were two Liverpool Township trustees and members of the East Liverpool Police Department including Chief Mike McVay and Capt. Thomas Clark who said they have relatives buried at the cemetery.

The Spring Grove Cemetery Association was formed to oversee the operation of the cemetery.

At some point, George Myler, Eells' uncle, was the superintendent until he could no longer maintain the position. An attorney was brought in to fight for control of the cemetery and it eventually was run by Eells' sister, Virginia Myler, according to Eells.

"Virginia took it over for some 35 years until she passed away a year ago last July," Eells said. "I had nothing to do with the cemetery, but it still belongs to the association. I didn't know anything about the weeds and grass until everyone started calling me about it after Memorial Day. I've always been the bad one in all of this, it seems, but it is all up to you now," Eells told those at the June meeting.

At 83, Eells said she is not able to run the association and wants help to form a lasting solution.

Also at the last meeting was acting cemetery superintendent Dennis Dreier.

Dreier said he was given the paperwork and control of the cemetery's bank account from Robert Hissom when the two met at a bank in Calcutta.

While aware of the difficult task for Dreier, Eells said no one had the right to transfer control of the cemetery to anyone because it was in the hands of a cemetery association.

"It's time for the lot owners and the families with loved ones here to take back control of the association and the cemetery," Eells told those gathered in June.

Complicating matters further is the fact the cemetery is divided with some of the property in the city and some in the township.

According to records from the Columbiana County Auditor's Office, a 15.53 acre parcel with a listed total land value of $57,460 sits in the township in the name of the Spring Grove Cemetery Association.

However, the remaining 8.21 acre parcel with value listed at $23,340 shows the City of East Liverpool as the owner.

An official with the East Liverpool Planning Department said the city law director is investigating the matter, and the city has never owned any part of the cemetery.