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Highlands Today

Council Considers Unclaimed Cremains Quandary

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By JOE SEELIG

Highlands Today

Published: December 18, 2008

SEBRING - Sebring City Council heard a request from Darin MacNeill, funeral director at the Stephenson-Nelson Funeral Home and Crematory, to consider an amendment to the city's cemetery ordinance allowing them to store about 50 cremains (cremated remains) in one vault at the city cemetery.

These are cremains that no one has taken over the years and instead of disposing of them the funeral home would like to use one of its privately-owned plots and place the cremains in the vault in case a family member ever came back to claim them.

"Unfortunately loved ones have abandoned their families' remains," MacNeill told the council Tuesday night.

"I assume you've tried to contact these families," said Councilman John Griffin, sitting in as president pro tempore for Council President Bud Whitlock.

"We've sent out letter after letter after letter," MacNeill stated.

Stephenson-Nelson just wants to do the right thing, MacNeill said.

"Legally we could have gotten rid of them," he said on Wednesday. "I've got some that stood here back in the 1960s. The most recent is from 2005."

The funeral home is working more diligently to make sure this kind of thing does not happen in the future, MacNeill said.

Those remains would be in its vault on its own plot. However, this vault is not a mausoleum, he said.
MacNeill suggested that both the funeral home and the city would have a list of whose remains were in the vault and the funeral home would pay the city for the marking of the grave to remove the cremains.

The city's current ordinance only allows two cremains in one vault.

The state Division of Funeral and Cemetery Services does not have any regulations on how many urns could be placed into one vault, he said.

Newly appointed Councilman John Clark sat in on his first meeting since replacing suspended Councilman Dan Andrews on the council.

"Does this variance transfer any liability from you to the city," Clark asked McNeill, adding he was not familiar with cemetery law.
City Attorney Bert Harris was sitting in for City Attorney Bob Swaine. Harris said he did not know if there was any liability to be transferred to the city.

The council moved to have its law firm check out if there are liability issues. However, then the question was raised about who would pay for its legal costs to have the lawyers do so, and to draw up the ordinance.

If passed the variance would only apply to licensed funeral homes and only in the case where the cremains have been abandoned.

Although staff recommended the city attorney's office prepare an amendment to the city's ordinance, the council will consider the measure further at its next meeting.

Reporter Joe Seelig can be reached at 863-386-5834 or jseelig@highlandstoday.com.

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