Freedom Twp – Change and progress are coming to Freedom Township. This fall more than just leaves will be coming down. Trees and shrubs will be falling too! Already a large tree at the site of the deteriorating stone arch culvert on Hankee Road has been removed. This was necessary to make room for the eventual excavation and replacement of the stone arch tentatively scheduled for 2021. Also, the township trustees have approved the removal of overgrown, intrusive and dying trees and shrubbery at both township cemeteries. A local contractor has been hired to remove several large trees at the Freedom West Cemetery on Asbury Road. Work began the week of September 4th and will continue. The trees to be removed are quite old and periodically drop dead limbs. Not only is the clean-up of the limbs an ongoing nuisance but there’s always the risk of large limbs damaging the older tombstones when they fall. As a tree grows upward the size of its roots increase to support it. The base of these large trees and their surface roots are causing some of the stones to raise and tilt.
This past spring the township trustees revised and updated the cemetery rules, policies and fees. These minor revisions were discussed at several regularly scheduled meetings and approved in June. Planting of trees of any kind will no longer be permitted nor shrubs with spiked leaves or thorns. Our township employees will also be removing large evergreens that over the years have completely obscured their corresponding tombstones from view. In several cases the evergreens have grown to encroach upon neighboring plots and roadways. This work will be performed at both the Freedom West and Drakesburg cemeteries. And, as per past and current regulations, planting of flowers and other decorations must be confined to 12” in front of the memorial marker.. Not on the sides, not on the back. This allows for mowing between tombstones and between rows of stones. Whenever possible, family members will be contacted before any major changes take place to the plots of their ancestors. The Freedom Township Board of Trustees is asking for every one’s cooperation in improving the appearance of Freedom’s cemeteries.
