Wheeling board unsure about selling burial plots

Wheeling officials have about 30 empty plots in a cemetery that has been a mystery for decades, and two options: sell the plots or keep them for future use.

While the final decision rests with the village board, Jon Sfondilis, Wheeling's assistant village manager, advocates selling the plots and closing the book on the cemetery.

"We recommend a public sale," Sfondilis said at Monday's village workshop. "We have a map of the available sites, which are in the southwest quadrant of the cemetery."

For the past 30 years, village officials have quietly taken care of the small, unnamed cemetery at Wolf and Dundee roads, spending up to $15,000 annually cutting grass and fixing crumbling headstones. For most of that time, no one has been exactly sure what to do if someone wanted to buy a plot or how many empty plots there were.

Last month, Trustee Dean Argiris asked Sfondilis to research the cemetery and report back, saying the village needed to make a plan.

After researching the site, Sfondilis said the village could sell the plots for $1,500 to Wheeling residents and $1,700 to others. Village officials also could charge $100 per plot for administrative costs, he said.

However, some village trustees weren't so sure about that idea. Trustee Robert Heer wanted to know if a buyer could "flip" the plots and make much more than the village would charge.

"Someone could buy them all up and sell them independently at a much higher price," Heer said.

Trustee Pat Horcher also favored not selling the plots.

"The system has been working so far; it's sort of regulating itself," Horcher said.

The cemetery is about 100 yards by 100 yards and contains roughly 300 plots. The cemetery fell into the village's hands in 1976 when a group of citizens who were taking care of it didn't want to anymore. They also handed over a $8,700 savings account.

No one has bought a cemetery plot in the past 20 years, Sfondilis said.

The village board will probably decide the fate of the cemetery at an August village board meeting, said Village President Judy Abruscato.