Wright City aldermen said last week that they are willing to enter a $36,000 agreement with a local nonprofit to care for the city cemetery, but it isn’t yet a done deal.

Ward 2 Alderman Ramiz Hakim said he had discussed a plan to outsource cemetery caretaking with members of the Wright City Cemetery Memorial Society, a nonprofit volunteer group that already does beautification projects in the cemetery. Hakim is proposing redirecting a portion of city funding to have the memorial society care for the cemetery, rather than the city’s public works staff.

“The number we came to was $36,000, which is 90 percent of actual expenditures for last year,” Hakim told his fellow aldermen during a June 10 public meeting. He added that in the special case of vandalism, the memorial society would address anything costing less than $5,000 to repair. For anything more expensive than that, Hakim said the memorial society would ask the city to pay half of the repair cost as an additional payment.

City leaders have been discussing how to provide a higher standard of care at the cemetery north of Elm Street since April, when members of the memorial society voiced complaints about poor grass cover, drainage issues, and other concerns. Hakim has proposed giving the work to an outside group or business, rather than having the small public works staff split their time between the cemetery, street repair and other facility maintenance.

Hakim said a contract with the memorial society would be paid in monthly installments in order to keep both sides accountable.

“It saves the city money, keeps (public works) focused on bigger projects, and I don’t think anybody’s going to take better care of the cemetery than them,” Hakim commented.

The board of aldermen voted 4-0 on June 10 to direct City Attorney Paul Rost to draft a proposed contract with the memorial society under those general terms. A finished, detailed proposal will be presented and discussed at a future public meeting.

Memorial society member Jackie Nierman said the group is interested in caring for the cemetery, but is waiting to see the complete proposal and gathering more information before making a commitment. Feasibility  for the nonprofit group will depend on what specific work the city expects to be done with the funding it provides.

“We have to hear the proposal, and then get some budget numbers ourselves, things like what it costs to bring someone in to do the work they expect to be done,” Nierman commented.

One of the memorial society’s current missions is to fundraise for beautification and special projects at the cemetery. Nierman said an agreement with the city would need to preserve that fundraising for special projects, rather than tying it up in daily maintenance.

“The memorial society is all about beautification, so we want to be able to continue to do those projects as well,” she said. “We look forward to hearing what the proposal is and working together.”