Lawsuit between cemetery district and Millville continues

A lawsuit between the Millville-Nibley Cemetery District and the city of Millville is turning 3 years old, but it involves land ownership details dating back to the 1880s — among other disputes.  

The dispute began when Millville bought land adjacent to the cemetery from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the late 90s.  

Jim Jenson, the chairman of the district, said the land was necessary for the growth of the cemetery, and the district had sent three letters to the church offering to buy the property. 

“We went to the mayor prior to that meeting and told him that we were the ones that contacted the church to get them to sell that piece of ground to the cemetery,” Jenson said. “The city bought it out from underneath the cemetery district.” 

David Hair, the mayor of Millville, gave a different version of events.  

“As I recall, the reason the church sold it to the city is because the cemetery board did not want to have to pay any money for it,” Hair said. “They wanted the church to give it to them.”  

Jenson said the district was ready to pay for the land, but was never given a chance to meet with the church and discuss a possible arrangement. 

In 2017, Millville removed two stone monuments, dating back to the 1880s, from the cemetery’s entrance. Daniel Grange, a member of the Millville City Council, said when the monuments were removed, members of the district were on board with the plan. 

Later, when members of the district raised concerns about the monuments’ removal, Grange said he tried to work out a solution, even offering to work on resolving the issue on his own time. 

“I said, ‘I know enough people in the community. Let’s make you a new entrance about half way down through the hayfield and let’s make a new entrance with an archway kind of like Logan city did with the cemetery up by the college,’” Grange said. “They told me to pound sand.” 

Despite Grange’s comments that the cemetery district was on board with the removal of the monuments, others disagree.  

Randy Feser, a member of the cemetery district, and Jenson both say the monuments were taken without the consent of the district, and they are concerned about the loss of the historic items. 

Jenson said the action showed a lack of respect for the cemetery.  

“We’re only trying to protect the assets of the taxpayers of Millville and Nibley,” Jenson said.  

In 2018, Millville and the cemetery district were once again at odds when Millville sold the cemetery the land they had previously bought from the church. 

Millville included a road running through the cemetery as part of the deal, though Jenson said the road never belonged to the city, but was instead given to the cemetery as a public right of way in the late 1800s by a local family.   

“When we bought it from them, they added the private lane that we had. The church didn’t sell them the lane — the lane was existing for 120 plus years,” Jenson said. “Millville city never, ever had title to that land.”   

Grange, however, said the ownership of the land had been unclear. 

“When the first survey was done, it was shown that it was never really deeded to anybody and our city attorney looked at it and said the city has the most right to that lane, so to just clean up the deed, let’s just include it altogether,” Grange said. “The cemetery district knew that at the first sale, and they signed the sale agreement anyway.”   

The district filed a lawsuit against Millville in 2019, making a total of eight claims. Seven of these claims have since been dismissed.  

Members of the district said this is because of a technicality which dictates that government entities must file a lawsuit against one another within one year of wrongdoing.  

Corey Twedt, the Millville city recorder, said the claims were dismissed because they were baseless. 

“Millville City is tired of this lawsuit,” Twedt said. “It is a waste of taxpayer money for both entities because the current chairman of the cemetery board has a bone to pick with Millville city and won’t let it go, even when the courts tell him he is wrong and has no legal basis for his claims.” 

Jenson, however, thinks the lawsuit is worth fighting.   

“I just feel like Millville city should respect what that cemetery stands for,” he said. 

-Brock.Marchant@usu.edu

Featured photo by: Bailey Rigby