Galilee Gardens to remain closed indefinitely

Concerns about safety keep cemetery from opening

Even with the end of the criminal prosecution and lawyers given temporary access to Galilee Memorial Gardens this week, concerns about conditions at the troubled Bartlett cemetery are delaying the opening of the grounds to the public.

For now, there is no timetable for allowing families — locked out for more than a year — inside the Galilee grounds, former U.S. Atty. David Kustoff, the local representative for the Department of Commerce of Insurance, said Wednesday. The cemetery was put in receivership under the state office in February 2014.

“There are liability issues that need to be addressed,” Kustoff said, referring to the cemetery conditions.

Kevin Walters, communications director for the state department, reiterated that: “We do not have a timetable for when it might be reopened.”

The Galilee saga has moved forward in recent weeks.

Owner Jemar Lambert entered a guilty plea last month to criminal charges associated with the activities at the cemetery, receiving a 10-year suspended jail sentence for burying bodies on land adjacent to Galilee. Status conferences continue through Davidson County Chancery Court regarding the operation and investigation of the cemetery. Class action cases are making their way through civil courts, and on Monday, attorneys involved in the cases were allowed access to Galilee — the first time many had a look at the property.

Kustoff is expected to file a report in Davidson County Chancery Court later this month regarding his work at the cemetery.

A major issue with reopening the property is the unevenness of the turf. Several areas are washed out, particularly an area where Lambert removed part of the road that loops through the property. Gravesites are sunken, while others nearby rise above the ground. Headstones are broken; others tossed around the property. Erosion has created tough footing in some areas.

“We sympathize with family members wanting to visit loved ones buried in Galilee Memorial Gardens,” Walters said in an e-mail. “However, the cemetery’s infrastructure issues — including the damages to the cemetery’s roadway — make it impossible to reopen the cemetery in its present condition.”

On Monday, as attorneys took pictures and surveyed the nine acres on Ellis Road east of Germantown Parkway, at least one family member stopped to try to enter the cemetery.

“We explained what was going on, and she was very understanding,” Kustoff said. “... Family members have questions, but they are understanding of the process.”

Attorneys for the plaintiffs in class action lawsuits against Galilee and local funeral homes, said they hear often from clients wanting to visit gravesites on holidays or special occasions. Some attorneys think there’s a conflict between that desire and what is best for the families and the state’s work .

“Sight-unseen, people still remember it the last time they were here, and they’re anxious to get in here,” said Jason Yasinsky of Nahon, Saharovich and Trotz, which represents about 100 families in a Circuit Court class-action lawsuit. “I know that everyone wants to come out and go where they remember their loved one being interred.

“But I think if people were allowed to come out here, it would be a scary thing.”