ORD NO 28-1974 ORDINANCE NO. Zb -1974
NOW THEREFORE BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF VAN BUREN,
ARKANSAS THAT:
SECTION 1. There is hereby established an agency of the City of Van Buren,
Arkansas, designated the "Fairview Cemetery Board" (hereinafter, "Board
The existence of this agency shall continue indefinitely until modified or
abolished by Ordinance.
SECTION 2. The Board shall he composed of five qualified electors of this
City, each of whom shall be nominated by the Mayor and appointed by resolution
of the City Council. After the initial organization, each Board member shall serve
a term of five years and until his successor is appointed by the Council, Terms
of Board members shall ordinarily begin on January 1st, and expire on December 31st,
of the appropriate years.
SECTION 3. The Board shall elect a Chairman and a Secretary and shall adopt
an official seal. Three members shall constitute a quorum. The Board shall meet
at least once a year in January, and at such other times as the Board may determine.
The Board may, to the extent permitted by law, including this Ordinance, establish
its own rules of procedure and times of meeting.
SECTION 4. The Board shall, each January, make its full report in writing to
the Mayor and City Council, covering all matters within its authority, including
a full financial report.
SECTION 5. The Board shall have the responsibility for the preservation,
maintenance, improvements, and operation of Fairview Cemetery, which is located
in, and owned by, the City of Van Buren. The Board shall have complete authority
in matters of ordinary operation of the cemetery. To this end, the Board shall have,
and is hereby granted, all and any powers which can lawfully be granted to an agency of
an agency of an Arkansas city charged with such a responsibility. The Board shall
have the power, without limitation, to acquire and dispose of property and to enter
into contracts, and to open and close streets and alleys within the cemetery.
SECTION 6. Litigation for the benefit of the Board shall be brought only
in the name of the City of Vat Buren, upon authorization by the City Council by
its resolution. Nothing in the Ordinance shal.:i he construed to waive in any manner
the sovereign immunity, or other judicial :i.uunun:i.cy, of the City of Van Buren
in matters respecting Fairview Cemetery or. otherwise.
SECTION 7. The Board may receive, and dispose of, all funds which would
be received or disposed of by this City in connection with Fairview Cemetery.
All investments of funds by the Board shall be only in a manner which is authorised
for public funds of the City of Van Buren by the statutes of the State of Arkansas.
SECTION 8. The Board shall establish, in such manner as it deems reasonable
and prudent, a fund for the permanent care of Fairview Cemetery.
SECTION 9. In the initial organization of the Board, the Mayor and City
Council may appoint Board members for terms of less than five years so that the
terms of all Board members do not expire simultaneously.
SECTION 10. The Council finds that there has existed in this City, from time
to time, an organization known as the Fairview Cemetery Association, an unincorporated 1
association. At such times in the future as there exists within this City a private,
voluntary organization known as the Fairview Cemetery Association, the Board may
and shall consult and cooperate with said Association; provided, that this shall not
be construed as a delegation of the powers vested in the Board.
SECTION 11. The Council reiterates its finding in a previous resolution,
that Fairview Cemetery is of historic, cultural, and architechtural significance.
Its preservation is hereby declared to be an American Revolution Bicentennial
activity of this City. The Board shall forthwith endeavor to have Fairview Cemetery
included on the National Register of Historic Places.
EMERGENCY CLAUSE: The Council finds that the present state of Fairview
Cemetery constitutes a danger to the health, safety, peace and welfare of the
Citizens of this City, and that the financial ability to preserve and operate the
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Cemetery is endangered by the lack of a city agency to supervise the same,
therefore, an emergency is declared to exist, and this Ordinance shall take
effect and be in force from the date of its passage and approval.
PASSED AND APPROVED THIS lit:h day of November, 1974.
ATTESTED:
A way 4m_
City Clerk Mayor
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