If the Lutsen Cemetery Association has its way, local residents and cemetery lot owners will vote this August to accept—or reject—taking back the Lutsen cemetery from the cemetery association, which has owned it for the past 16 years.
The August meeting will be a continuation of the March 2009 annual meeting.
Over the course of time the cemetery and its graves have been neglected, with some headstones overturned and the grounds ill maintained, said Dick Nelson, facilitator of the Lutsen Cemetery Committee, at the June 16 meeting of the Lutsen town board. Serving with Dick on that committee are Gail Thompson, Sue Hansen, Lucy Nelson, Marland Hansen, George Nelson, Gayle McQuatters, and Alta McQuatters.
Thecommittee has been meeting since May. Nelson handed out leaflets with various ideas for the cemetery. Currently about two dozen people are working on various aspects of re-taking and expanding the current cemetery.
One of the main reasons for getting the vote on the August agenda is that needed fill is available to expand the current cemetery. George Nelson said he will donate land adjoining the current cemetery, but his land will need fill in order to be used for the cemetery. Currently, work on the bike path and Highway 61 is generating extra dirt that can be used to level the Nelson land. “But it [the fill] won’t be available next year,” said George Nelson.
But before the township will take over the cemetery, supervisors Diane Parker and Joe Buttweiler asked for more information.
“I would like to see a plan,” said Buttweiler. “I would like to know how many more grave sites can be added with this additional land. How many are there now? What will the cost of plots be? Have the wetlands been identified? And what about potential erosion and costs to fix that?”
“We have brought you what you asked us to bring,” said Dick Nelson, “but we can get all of that information by the next meeting. It’s important that we get a vote of confidence from you people on the township board.”
Parker cited a Minnesota statute stating that if a township is in charge of a local graveyard, a cemetery board cannot be in charge.
“I’m hearing two different things,” said Parker. “I’m hearing that you want the township to take over the cemetery, and I’m hearing that your group wants to run it.”
But Nelson said that while his group would help in any way they can, the township should be the one in charge of the operation, including sales of plots and ground maintenance.
After a vigorous debate between Nelson and Parker, with Parker repeatedly saying she was hearing two things from Nelson, and Nelson repeatedly saying that the committee wanted the township to own and run the cemetery, West End Cook County Commissioner Bruce Martinson asked to speak.
“What I think…Nelson and his committee are saying is that they want the township to run the cemetery and that you, the supervisors, can appoint a subcommittee to run the cemetery. You wouldn’t have to appoint them. As supervisors you could appoint anyone you like on this subcommittee. But it seems like you have a lot of interested folks ready to help right now.”
Parker looked at Nelson, who answered, “That is exactly what we would like to happen.”
Both Parker and Buttweiler said that they as individuals would like to see improvements to the cemetery, “But,” added Parker, “I can’t speak for the voters. I can only speak for myself.”
The cost of maintaining the cemetery is estimated at $10,000 a year.
After several other comments were heard from members of the audience, it was decided that Dick Nelson, George Nelson, and Joe Buttweiler would work on a plan to get the information requested by the July meeting.
In other news, John Groth was appointed assistant fire chief. Cathedral of the Pines camp made a donation of $2,000 to the fire department, which was accepted with much gratitude. Mike Ross donated $2,000 for playground equipment that was donated in memory of his mother in lieu of flowers. In addition, a five hundred dollar donation was made to the Tofte 4th of July fireworks celebration.
Scott Harrison gave an update on the
board.” Lutsen-Tofte Tourism Association (LTTA) and its bid to get more of its set-aside funds to spend for marketing the area to outsiders. That money would come from the county paying off the bonds that had been used to build the Superior National Golf Course.
Currently the county collects a three percent lodging tax from Lutsen, Tofte and Schroeder. Two percent of that money is used to pay for the bonds and one percent is used for marketing. Harrison said that freeing up this other two percent would greatly help businesses in the West End, adding that they were falling behind other tourist areas in marketing.
The supervisors agreed to support the LTTA’s bid to have the county pay back the bonds early (they don’t have to be paid in full until 2013), and Harrison thanked them for their support.
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