Nearly two months after furor arose over the removal of sentimental items from some graves at the Cortez Cemetery, members of the cemetery-district board had a face-to-face meeting with their critics and the county commissioners.

Secretary/Treasurer George Wickstrom and Richard Vogel were present, but board President Willard Dihle had prior family obligations and could not attend.

Much of the meeting centered around length of terms for the three board members. While state statutes indicate that the cemetery-board members are to serve six-year terms, they have currently been serving three-year terms. The issue has been complicated by the fact that by-laws for the initial creation of the cemetery district cannot be located, making it impossible to tell whether board members have been appointed incorrectly or whether different statutes were in place when the cemetery district was established.

Wickstrom said the board would prefer to remain on three-year terms, indicating that bringing in a whole new board would cause confusion over issues at the cemetery that need to be handled.

"We thought it was best as far as continuity," explained Wickstrom. "If it didn’t appease one and all, we would appoint a new board fresh."

Under the three-year terms, Wickstrom’s term will be up at the end of this year, Vogel’s at the end of the following year and Dihle’s the year after that.

However, the county commissioners frowned on that idea because it would leave the board in violation of current state statutes. Commissioner Kent Lindsay proposed finishing out this year, then implementing the six-year terms in January 2002 and creating new by-laws until "we get things cleaned up," he said.

The county commissioners said they would advertise for the vacancy on the cemetery board later this year.

As for financial questions regarding the cemetery district, Wickstrom said that because the cemetery district has an annual budget of under $100,000, its officers can file for a tax-exemption audit. Under the audit, the state reviews their records and an official audit is required every three years.

Wickstrom said the district will have one such audit this year. He also said he attempts to keep all financial records on file at the cemetery office and that balance sheets are passed out each month at their regular meeting.

The meeting became heated when Mary Cook questioned the board over how she would go about getting her son’s body disinterred from the Cortez Cemetery and possibly buried on her own personal property so she would not have to deal with the cemetery board any more.

Cook had been highly critical of the cemetery because, during a cleanup before Memorial Day, workers removed many keepsakes, including some Matchbox cars that had sat on her 12-year-old son’s grave for years.

Wickstrom indicated that disinterment had been done for other families in the past and could be done for her.

"If that’s your choice, then we have to honor and respect that," he said.

One positive thing that has arisen out of the anger over item removal is a four-person flower advisory committee. The committee, consisting of Patty Thomas, Eleanor Fox, Cook and Louise Long, has met twice and is putting the finishing touches on a brochure that informs families with loved ones at the cemetery of rules and regulations.

The brochure will deal with everything from when the cemetery office is open to who has approval to remove items from grave sites.