The McDowell Recreation Area pet cemetery will allow burials for another 2 1/2 years, but only to those pet owners who already have a faithful companion interred.

The Burleigh County Water Resource District Board met Monday and finally put to rest the issue of the pet cemetery, which it has been dealing with for several months.

Dave Matzke has been burying pets at the McDowell site for the past 13 years, a service his father had been providing before him. In 2004, the water board decided to close the cemetery to new clients, allowing pet owners who already had a plot to have additional pets buried in it as long as there was room.

At that time, Terry Heck opened a private pet cemetery named Billie's Meadows.

The water board has two majors concerns, said Chairman Ken Royse, the first being that the McDowell Cemetery, run by Matzke, is in competition with a private business. While Matzke uses public property, he does charge a nominal fee for the pet burials, which include a box and headstone.

The second involves how many animals can still be buried at McDowell. Forrest Ecklund, who manages the property as part of the water district's contract with the Bismarck Parks and Recreation District, considers the cemetery plots full.

"If you've looked at it like Ihave - from a satellite view - you see row after row of plots. The only time you see a gap in the headstones is where one has deteriorated and disappeared. It's appeared to me for a number of years that every row and plot has been used," Ecklund said.

In providing a database of burial information for the water district, Matzke said there is still room for at least 1,854 pets. But this relates to room in plots that are already occupied by at least one pet.

Matzke said that the plots have space for multiple animals, depending on the size of the pet. In many instances, people who have buried pets at McDowell have additional animals and have requested that these pets be buried in these plots. This year, about 30 more pets have been buried in plots for people who have a previous pet buried there.

In studying the records, board member Gailen Narum determined that there had been about 24 first-time burials, since the board first took action Oct. 1, 2004. Matzke maintained that there hadn't been, and he would have to review the data base. He added that it was confusing at times as he took calls from people whose parents had pets buried at the cemetery and wanted to bury their pets there since space allowed.

Board attorney Dave Bliss said it was a complicated situation. There are no formal regulations for use of the cemetery, and Matzke's contracts with clients were verbal. Until 2004, Matzke said he didn't even know the property belonged to the water district and formed his agreement with the Bismarck Parks and Recreation Department, which manages McDowell.

"A lot of things could've gone into these agreements that just haven't been discussed. The board doesn't have a specific policy," Bliss said. "We're not talking blame. The property is subject to board authority."

To those people who have been calling about burying pets, Matzke has been indicating the cemetery will be closed to further interment in 2010. The board had made a motion to that effect earlier this year, but no action was taken.

"We've always had the authority but it was never exercised, it was assigned to Dave (Matzke)," Royse said. "It was never an issue until the last few months. We wanted to provide a public service that it was agreed was needed. Dave's managed the cemetery and has done a nice job. We recognize Dave and his wife have provided a public service in the past, but is there a need for it now? We have to make a transition out of the business, which is in competition with private entities. Should we do it in one fell sweep with a short transition or do it over the next three years?"

Royse was in favor of closing the cemetery to further burials immediately, but Narum made the motion to close the cemetery effective Jan. 1, 2010, and that burials between now and then be limited to people who already have a plot with an animal buried there, if there is room. Matzke also was asked to provide periodic reports on what additional animals are buried. The motion passed on a 4-1 vote.

The water board also asked that Narum head a committee consisting of Ecklund and Matzke to develop closing procedures for the cemetery.

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