Members of the Wright City Cemetery Memorial Society are calling on the city government to invest more time and effort into caring for the appearance of grave sites at the city’s cemetery.

The memorial society is a group of community volunteers and fundraisers who help preserve and beautify the Wright City Cemetery at the north end of Elm Street. In April, representatives of the group confronted the Wright City Board of Aldermen, challenging them over the unattractive state of certain graves and areas of the cemetery.

“Right now, there’s not a lot of pride being shown in the care of what’s going on in the cemetery,” said memorial society member Jackie Nierman. She addressed aldermen during their April 22 public meeting.

She listed grave sites that haven’t been properly seeded with grass, holes in the grounds, ruts from equipment, and standing water as some of the concerns that have been observed. Nierman questioned whether city leaders have provided their public works staff with appropriate instructions for how they want the grounds maintained.

“We have a lot of dedicated volunteers who work out their hours on end to try to make things pretty, and nice, and something we’re proud of,” Nierman commented. “I would really love to see more activity (from the city) addressing proper care.”

Niermann also observed that Wright City recently increased its cemetery burial fees to cover maintenance costs.

Alderman Michelle Heiliger agreed with the criticism, saying she’s had some dissatisfaction with her own family’s grave site.

“I have a loved one who’s been buried there for four years in July. His grave is still mud and weeds,” Heiliger lamented. “We do have a breakdown somewhere. We own the cemetery. This is our responsibility.”

Maintenance at the cemetery falls primarily on Wright City’s Public Works Department. Public Works Director Kyle Roettger said after the memorial society expressed concerns, he identified 33 grave sites that are now being reseeded.

Wright City’s small public works staff is also responsible for city street maintenance and assists with city park maintenance. Aldermen said the board may need to reckon with the possibility that they’ve tried to do too much with too little.

“Five guys in the public works can’t maintain the parks department, and the public works department, and the cemetery,” commented Aldermen Nathan Rohr. He explained that the city used to have more seasonal staff helping with parks over the summer and hired a contractor to mow the cemetery.

“So what is our plan to make sure we have someone to do this stuff?” Heiliger replied. “Are we going to hire someone for the summer to do this stuff?”

Roettger suggested that purchasing an additional mower for the city could speed up mowing in the cemetery and parks. But it wouldn’t change the fact that 40-50 total staff hours each week are needed just to mow and trim the cemetery. Hiring extra help would give public works more time for their other responsibilities, Roettger said.

Aldermen said they will review caretaking at the cemetery and further examine what action needs to be taken.