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The Liberty City Council took another step forward to make sure someone is looking out for the city’s three cemeteries in the wake of a vandalism spree that shocked the community.

The council voted unanimously July 27 to create a seven-member cemetery committee that will advise the city on matters involving Fairview, New Hope and Mount Memorial.

On June 19, vandals tore through the oldest section of Fairview toppling and destroying more than 175 headstones. The case is under investigation but no arrests have been made yet, according to police.

According to Dennis Dovel, director of the city’s parks department, Fairview takes up 14.68 acres, New Hope, 11.87 acres and tiny Mount Memorial on the William Jewell College campus, 1.39 acres. The parks department is responsible for maintaining the cemeteries.

Mayor Greg Canuteson asked council members to suggest names and encouraged residents to contact him if they were interested in serving.

“They can just call me at 309-9242 or leave a message at City Hall if they’re interested,” he said. “We need a plan for long-term care of the cemeteries, not just one cleanup day.”

More than 100 volunteers helped spruce up the cemetery July 25 after Jonathan Appell, a tombstone restoration expert, was in town for three days teaching volunteers and city staff how to clean and repair damaged stones. Dovel said about 40 gravestones were repaired during the workshops but many more still need work. Some stones that date to the 1800s were shattered.

Jay Lemons, who owns a towing company, offered equipment to the city to lift the heavy stones.

“I just wanted to help out my community,” Lemons said. “We learned how to lift the stones and glue them back together.”

In other business:

• On behalf of his client Steve Rogers, attorney Kelly McClelland asked the council to consider backing $3 million in tax-increment-financing bonds for Rogers Plaza, a 14-acre retail development near the intersection of Missouri Highway 291 and Interstate 35. The council took the request under advisement and discussed it at a work session July 27.

The TIF project includes Rogers Sporting Goods and Great Guns gun store. A 78-room Sleep Inn hotel is schedule to break ground at the site in 30 to 60 days, said Shannon Piesert, manager of the sports goods store. Three other site pads are available. A smaller version of Rogers was formerly located in the Liberty Triangle TIF redevelopment project.

Although the city has generally been hesitant to guaranteeing such projects with public funds, the request is not without precedent. The council agreed to spend $2.1 million to move the Clay County Public Health Center out of the Triangle to make way for retail development, which generates sales taxes to pay off TIF obligations.

Liberty Editor Angie Anaya Borgedalen can be reached at 781-4941 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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