August Update

August Update

The ongoing saga of the Evangelical Protestant Church Cemetery is a long and winding road. And still there is no resolution to the grass dilemma at the cemetery. To recap the past events of this sad scenario please follow the timeline:

- The Evangelical Protestant Church was established in 1850 by German immigrants residing in Albany's South End. Land was purchased in 1853 for use as a cemetery.

- Many years ago the Evangelical Protestant church merged with a religious body which is now know as the United Church of Christ (UCC).

- The last Pastor at the South End church was Reverend John U. Miller. After Miller died in 2012, the church board decided to close and disband the church. Stewardship of both the church and the cemetery reverted to the UCC. Since 2012, the UCC desperately wanted to sell both properties.

-  In early August 2018, we noticed that the cemetery grass was getting very long.  The UCC was notified about the length of the grass. The UCC stated that it sold both the former Evangelical Protestant Church building and its accompanying cemetery to a religious based fellowship operated by Pastor Ronald Myles Jr. For a number of years Myles longed to buy the church and he finally purchased it.

- Within days of contacting the UCC about the length of the cemetery grass, we went to the cemetery to take photographs to document how tall the grass was. The intent was to make a complaint to the city about the lawn not being mowed. However when we arrived at the cemetery, the former landscaping contractor who had been hired by the UCC for a number of years to mow the property monthly was present and mowing the lawn. I asked, "what's going on?" The contractor responded that the UCC contacted him and asked him to mow the grass "one last time." We believe that the UCC did this to make sure that the lawn was in good shape even after the property was sold and now that the property was in the hands of another organization, the UCC is off the hook from a possible negligence claim. At this point, the grass issue was now a moot issue.

- In late August, a friend who has numerous ancestors buried in the cemetery contacted Pastor Myles and asked him what his plans were for the upkeep of the cemetery. Myles responded, absolutely none. The Pastor mentioned that he had to take possession of the cemetery if he wanted to purchase the church building. Both properties were sold as a package deal. The purchase was rumored to have been extremely inexpensive also.

- Throughout the remaining Summer and Fall of 2018, certain sections of the cemetery were weed whacked and mowed a few times by a couple of volunteers. But the vast majority of the cemetery remained un-mowed.

- Fast forward to June 2019. The grass is now waist high. Pastor Myles certainly kept his word that he has no intention for caring for the cemetery. Neighbors and other city residents are beginning to notice of the conditions at the cemetery. Complaints now started to pop  up on various venues of social media. Meanwhile, on June 10th, I took it upon myself to write an email to certain elected individuals and city officials about the worsening conditions at the cemetery.  The email is below.

Dear xx

This note is to inform all public and elected officials of the shameful condition of the grounds at the Evangelical Protestant Cemetery located in Albany on Krumkill Road and Bender Lane. The grass in the cemetery has not been mowed since August 2018. The grass in most areas of the cemetery is approaching three feet in height. This is unacceptable. The cemetery grounds are presently unkempt and uninviting. Numerous lot owners and families of loved ones whom are buried there are taking it upon themselves to mow and clear pathways to their family plots. 

The Evangelical Protestant burial grounds is likely the oldest cemetery within city limits with the land being purchased for use as a cemetery in 1853. Aside from thousands of former Albany citizens, the cemetery is the final resting place for numerous Civil War, World War I, World War II, and Korean War veterans. These former soldiers and their families deserve much more than this.

The deplorable condition of the cemetery grounds is dangerous. Low spots and rabbit holes in the ground are unseen due to the height of the grass. Low lying gravestones are also a tripping hazard. With the cemetery grounds appearing to be abandoned, this is inviting for vandals, illegal dumping, which has occurred there in the past, and other undesirable activities. 

The church building of the former Evangelical Protestant Church, located at 82 Clinton Street, in Albany and its accompanying cemetery, on Krumkill Road were both sold in July 2018 to Pastor Ronald Myles Jr. of the Healing from Heaven Friends Fellowship. Myles was contacted last year in the Fall about the height of the grass. He indicated that he has no plan to care for the cemetery whatsoever. Under City Code Regulation # 313-51.1, can the present owner of the cemetery be mandated to mow and keep the grounds in a more desirable condition? It is hoped that this dilemma can be rectified as soon as possible before conditions deteriorate further or an unfortunate incident occurs. 

Below are three avenues for contacting me on this matter. I shall be awaiting a response and for notice of what actions are unfolding on this situation.

- The email was sent to Jack Flynn, the Common Council seat for the 8th Ward. Flynn responded that he was passing this information on to Code Enforcement and the Department of General Services (DGS). Gary W. Domalowicz of the 10th Legislative District was sent the email. He did not respond. We are thinking that he was not interested in the cemetery. Please remember him and his lack of initiative when he is seeking your support. Joshua Gold, Senior Code Enforcement Officer, never responded to his email. And Molly McGuire, the Community Relations Coordinator in the Department of General Services also failed to respond. Does there appear to be to be a pattern of no action here?

- After a few days of no response from the Department of General Services, Ms McGuire was contacted and asked what is the status of the complaint. I was told that it was under review and that the property owner will need to be contacted and after five days of failing to comply with an order to get the grass mowed, the city would come in, mow the lawn, and charge and fine the property owner. I said fair enough. I will contact you in two weeks on this matter.

- Two weeks pass and instead of calling the DGS office I visited its office in person on July 2nd. I spoke with Ms McGuire and was told that the grass will be cut by the city. Excellent, I said. OK, now when will this occur? I asked. Not quite sure, but it will be scheduled and then done. Many people were extremely happy that the grass was finally going to be cut.

- On July 11th, Ms McGuire was called again and asked "when is the grass scheduled to be cut at the cemetery?" Now, her response was a volte-face. A complete turnaround. Now, I am told that the city may not be legally allowed to mow the lawn at the cemetery. However, do not think for one moment that they would not mow your unkempt lawn, charge you, and fine you. What probably happened is a DGS supervisor or foreman went out to the site and saw what they had on their hands. A complete disaster. Lots of work. Not an easy fix. Hmm, we need to back pedal on this. And the grass continues to grow. At this point the grass is so tall that it cannot support itself. It is beginning to fall over. Most of the grave markers are now completely hidden and obscured by the grass.

Where are the gravestones?
Hidden in three feet tall grass

-  On July 16th, I was contacted by reporter Anya Tucker from Channel 10 news and asked if I will do an interview at the cemetery on its present condition. Absolutely, yes! It is unknown to me where she got my contact information because I am not the person who contacted the news station. When I arrived at the cemetery Dan Levy from  Channel 13 news was already present. That day I gave interviews to both news reporters which were aired numerous times.

- Thankfully, a man from Corinth, Travis and his girlfriend Billie, either saw or heard of the conditions at the cemetery. On Monday July 22nd, he took it upon himself to drive over 50 miles to the cemetery and begin mowing the lawn. This was done in the pouring rain! Fortunately, Channel 13's Dan Levy stopped by the cemetery and did a story on Travis. Many saw this story and were touched by the kindness and big heart that Travis has. The next day at least six more people showed up to help Travis. The following day approximately 20 to 25 people showed up to help. Those being relatives of those buried there, people from Greene County, and Claverack in Columbia County. Two coaches and numerous football players from UAlbany team helped for a few hours.

- Travis got the ball rolling on the mowing project. Along with Travis others including Dan and Mike have been present almost every day since July 23rd either mowing, raking, and dragging cut grass. The media has brought this sad story to light and the those who follow the same mantra as myself as in "Do the Right Thing" have made extreme progress in reclaiming the cemetery from neglect. There is still quite a bit of work necessary. More weed whacking, mowing, raking, and grass removing is necessary. Travis and the others are going to see this through until it is finished.

- However, all who are following these developments need to remember that was has been accomplished so far is just temporary. The grass will continue to grow until early November. The grass can easily reach the same heights that it was two weeks ago if further maintenance is not done. Those who have volunteered and helped bring the cemetery back need to know that many people are extremely happy with your extreme dedication and generosity that has been exhibited during this process.

- More importantly; how can someone especially one who is supposed to be a Pastor allow the sacred and final resting spot of these former Albanians to be neglected to this extreme. You should be ashamed of yourself. Within the grounds of the cemetery there are hundreds of veterans buried there and the majority of them fought in the Civil War. Please explain to me Ronald, why can you not be contacted? Keep hiding, inside you know that you are wrong. Do the Right Thing!

- Regarding the city, we will wait and see what your "action plan" is. The volunteers have not let anyone "off the hook" from their responsibilities here. Below is a photo that if the grass reaches this height hopefully the so called action plan will be invoked.