BROWNSTOWN

The Brownstown Town Council recently gave unanimous approval to hire a contractor to mow and landscape Fairview Cemetery.

A and B Mowing and Landscaping LLC of Seymour, owned by retired Seymour firefighter David Self, will be paid $1,300 per mowing. According to the contract, payments shall not exceed $26,000 for this year’s mowing season.

In addition to mowing and trimming the cemetery, the company will pick up trash, sticks and flowers and blow grass and debris off of headstones, according to the contract. In doing so, the company will use its own tools and equipment and provide its own fuel.

A and B will mow the cemetery as often as needed to keep the 25-acre town-owned property in a condition that’s pleasant to the eye and meets the satisfaction of the cemetery board, the contract states.

Luke Nolting, president of the cemetery board, told the town council earlier this month that the previous contractor, Ryan Hoene with Hoene’s Lawn and Landscape of Seymour, typically mowed 20 times a year.

In 2019, Clerk-Treasurer David Willey said the town spent $24,500 to have the cemetery mowed.

A new contractor was needed after Hoene turned in his resignation more than a month ago. At that time, Nolting said the cemetery board already had set its mowing budget at $25,000 for 2020.

An ad for bids was placed in the newspaper, and Self was the only one to submit a bid and liability insurance.

The cemetery board favorably recommended hiring Self’s company, and after a contract was drafted by town attorney Travis Thompson, the town council approved it during a recent meeting conducted via Zoom.