The pet cemetery at McDowell Dam recreation area again dominated discussion at the Burleigh County Water Resource District board meeting.

This time Terry Heck, Billie's Meadow proprietor, was accompanied by attorney Tom Kelsch at Monday's meeting. Heck maintains that the water district is providing a competitor unfair advantage in the burial of pets.

There is some dispute over whether the McDowell site, opened in the early 1990s when a similar cemetery at Pioneer Park was closed, should continue to remain open. In 2003 the water board closed the pet cemetery to burials by anyone who hasn't previously buried a pet at the site in a designated plot. There is room in the plots for more than one pet.

The board is now expecting to determine whether the cemetery, managed by Dave Matzke, should close to any more burials.

Board member Rynee Kellar said he contacted Matzke, who continues to bury animals for people who already have at least one pet buried at McDowell. At a previous meeting, Matzke indicated that there could be room for up to nearly 2,700 more burials. Forrest Ecklund, who manages McDowell, feels the pet cemetery is full.

Kelsch explained that Heck felt the McDowell pet cemetery was full in 2003, and decided to open a private cemetery to fill the community's need. Since then, he said, 500 to 600 more pets have been buried and there is room for an additional 2,700.

"The concern of Terry Heck is that the cemetery doesn't appear to be closed," Kelsch said. "Our concern is that this cemetery is on public land. Matzke is not paying rent, not paying taxes, and Terry does. Matzke is not paying sales or use taxes for the headstones and coffins he supplies. Does he even have liability insurance? Are there pets being buried in someone else's plot?"

Kelsch added since there is no written contract between the water district and Matzke, there is no evidence of any wrongdoing. Kelsch said he isn't concerned by what has happened in the past, but what will happen in the future. Board president Ken Royse said there is a contract, but it is verbal and goes back before he joined the water board 12 years ago.

Kelsch said that from a business point of view, the county is providing an advantage to one business entity over another, and it has been going on for a lot of years. If the water board is going to allow additional burials, he said, they either need to allow other entities to provide burials there or open it to a bid process.

"This board needs to follow statutory rules in the context of a private entity using public land,"Kelsch said. "Matzke shouldn't have the benefit of free land, no insurance, no taxes, no rent when compared with another similar business located in the county."

It was noted that people who have their pets buried at the McDowell site have no ownership or property rights. Water board engineer Mike Gunsch suspects that Matzke never had any written contracts with his clients, and said there is probably no way to determine what people were actually told.

The board cannot allow people to randomly go out to McDowell and bury their pets, Kellar said. The time has come for the board to make a decision on whether to close the cemetery immediately or allow more pets to be buried in plots allocated to someone who has previously buried a pet.

Kelsch agreed that order has to be kept at the cemetery, but said if additional burials are going to continue, the board needs to advertise and bid it as a project.

Matzke has been asked to provide the board with a detailed listing of where pets are buried. This list and diagram are to be given to the board by its next regular meeting, scheduled for July 9.

Water board attorney Dave Bliss commented that it appears the board is leaning toward closing the cemetery to any further burials. He also noted that verbal contracts are as legitimate as written ones, and saw no problems with cemetery operations.

The board's newest member, Terry Fleck, said it is hard to comprehend what the water board is doing mixed up with the cemetery. He said the cemetery was created with the best of intentions and the board appears headed in the right direction in making a decision on its future.

If there are to be further burials, Bliss said, the board might consider a public bidding process for someone to provide the service.

"I think at the July meeting the board can digest the information it receives and make a decision accordingly to reach some sort of closure," Bliss said.

(Reach reporter Gordon Weixel at 250-8255 or gordon.weixel@;bismarcktribune.com.)