MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa — The lake at the center of Riverside Cemetery in Marshalltown is a staple of the burial grounds. But there's a bit of a problem: the funds keeping the lake full are drying up, and now community members are worried that the lake itself might not be far behind.
The battle for the lake's future dates back to October of last year. Originally, Marshalltown Water Works covered the bill for the water line as part of a series of informal agreements, with payments coming in the form of small land donations from the cemetery.
After decades without any sort of exchange, that informal agreement ended, so the bill went to the cemetery. Cemetery officials estimated it would've cost up to $4,000 per billing cycle to keep the water on, and that was a tough pill to swallow.
"We can't handle it after the derecho. We were hit hard. That was $800,000 worth of tree removal, plus the fence and all the other things that go with it, and we're still trying to pay that off," said David Shearer, a Riverside Cemetery board member.
As a result, Riverside chose to shut off the water line. Now, the lake is beginning to shrink.
"We hate to lose it. As you can see, the level of the lake is dropping. And today, we had to shut the fountain off because it was starting to suck mud in," Shearer said.
Supporters of the cemetery have been circulating a petition to try and return public funding to the lake, and Shearer estimates it's received more than 1,000 signatures. However, officials with Marshalltown Water Works say they can't provide free water to the cemetery without being discriminatory to other local nonprofits who don't receive that same benefit.
"[The Water Works Board] very much value the cemetery's place in the community (...) but not all nonprofits get free water," said Shelli Lovell, General Manager of Marshalltown Water Works.
Marshalltown Water Works told Local 5 that as of August 22, they have no plans to change course regarding Riverside Cemetery's lake.