MACON, Ga. — Overgrown grass and poor upkeep are just some of the concerns people have voiced about historic cemeteries owned or maintained by Macon-Bibb county.
13WMAZ's Jessica Cha brought those complaints to county officials to see what's being done.
One of these cemeteries is Rose Hill, a famous site that is engrained in Macon's history.
George Wilson is a fan of Rose Hill Cemetery's history. In fact, he even admins a Facebook page dedicated to it.
He says that the tall grass and the poor maintenance has gotten bad over the past couple of years, and he says it's unacceptable.
"It's crying shame that a dog park looks better than the cemetery does," he said.
Wilson says he comes to rose hill at least once a week, and he's surprised by how much the grass has grown.
"You come here, and your loved ones grave is covered in two-inch, two-foot tall weeds and you just don't feel good about that. It's really disrespectful to their loved ones to allow it to get in this condition," he said.
Wilson says the cemetery is being neglected. and grass comes up to his knees in some areas.
He says the county currently cuts the grass 3 to 4 times a year, and it's just not enough.
"It looks like a jungle. Like I said, it can go one or two months between cuttings and that needs to be doubled at least. They need to cut it at least 10 times a year," Wilson said.
County Commissioner Bill Howell has been vocal on social media about responding to these concerns, and that the cemetery means a lot to him.
"Rose Hill is important to Macon because of a lot of prominent folks are buried here. It's important to me," Howell said.
He also says the county now has a solution.
"The city of Macon is contracted with a company to cut the three cemeteries, and recently we have changed the contract a little bit, where this particular cemetery gets cut twelve times a year. The Mayor and Dr. Moffett have redone the contract a little bit to see that this gets a little more attention," Howell says.
The private company is being paid $93,000 to maintain Rose Hill Cemetery.
Howell says that that Macon-Bibb will be working with county employees to maintain Fort Hill and Evergreen cemeteries.
He says Rose Hill is roughly 50 acres, and it will take some time to get the whole cemetery back in shape.
"By the time they get through with it, they gotta turn around and start over, it just takes that long to do it. And I like the 12 times a year. I think that'll keep it up. But the heritage and significance of this place is important," Howell said.
He also said that the city is listening, and they just need a little bit of patience.
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