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Supporters of a long-neglected black cemetery in Edwardsville told the Edwardsville City Council Monday they disagreed with the name the council chose.

Members of the council wanted to avoid controversy and hurt feelings by choosing a name with no racial identity.

Acting on the recommendation of the city’s cemetery board, the council voted Sept. 14 to call it the Stoney Point Cemetery.

There was, however, a problem. Mary Kimbrough, president of the Bonner Springs NAACP, and David Harris of Kansas City, Kan., whose family members are buried there and who first brought the unkempt condition of the cemetery to the city’s attention five years ago, appeared Monday before the council and asked that the old cemetery, which was grown up in weeds and neglected for years before it was cleaned up recently, be named just the Edwardsville Colored Cemetery.

“I’ve got six relatives buried in that cemetery, and everybody I know of has never called it anything but the colored cemetery,” Harris said.

But Mayor John McTaggart said all the Council did was follow the board’s request to name the cemetery the Stoney Point Cemetery.

“We are still requesting that it be named the colored cemetery,” Kimbrough said.

Council member Chuck Adams said the council was trying not to give offense.

“It reminds me of a time I would rather not remember in our history,” Adams said. “I have some great reservations about that on a national registry.”

He said he didn’t want to “foster ill will.”

Kimbrough countered: “the National Association for Colored People is 100 years old, and they never took colored out of the name.”

“It’s just history,” Harris added

No vote was taken Monday, but it appeared to be clear that it would be up to the cemetery board to request a name change.

The council also voted Monday night to return a proposed new zoning ordinance to the Planning Commission.

After prolonged discussion, council members wanted the Planning Commission to achieve a clearer definition of the “lot of record date” and to reduce minimum size requirements in any area outside an overlay district from 1,280 to 1,000 square feet.

The council voted, 3-2, to reduce the minimum size requirement, with McTaggart breaking the tie and Adams and Bishop opposed. Then, the council voted to request clarification of the date, with only council member John Eickhoff voting no.

City Administrator Mike Webb and Planning Commission Chairman Jeff Martinek said the primary reason for recommending 1,280 square feet was to get away from long, narrow lots that make it difficult to develop infrastructure such as roads and sewers. The intent is to govern the administration of large lots, three to five acres, rather than more dense developments such as town homes, etc.

“This is a very basic foundation to prevent the confusion of the past,” Martinek said.

Planning Commission member Dave Hackathorn said he voted against the ordinance because he thought the section on the size of homes needed more consideration. Council was asked to consider reducing minimum size below 1,200 square feet.

Council member Craig Crider said two people contacted him about that question. With construction costs running around $100 per square foot, that would add $10,000 to the cost of a home just to add 100 square feet. “I think that’s something we need to look at,” he said.

In other action, the council:

• Affirmed McTaggart’s appointment of Luis Fasone to fill Jason Conners’ unexpired term on the Parks and Recreation Board. Webb said about 2.5 years remained on the term. Conners resigned because he was unable to devote enough time to the board.

• Heard a report from Webb that he and McTaggart have had two meetings with a potential development called Project Golden, an existing Kansas City, Kan., warehouse-distribution company that is looking at one location in Edwardsville and another in Johnson County. The company has more than 200 employees, with an average salary of $50,000, and is looking at a $25 million investment. Webb said he had another meeting scheduled Tuesday. “I really think we have a pretty good shot,” he said.

• Heard from Webb that Staples is vacating its premises Edwardsville Industrial Park as of January 2010.

• Heard from Crider that the Council should consider an earnings tax. “This way, I feel it helps Edwardsville that people outside the city are also paying for it.”

• Approved payment of bills totaling $98,745.31.

Three employees received 20-year service awards: City Clerk Phyllis Freeman, Fire Capt. Dan Johnson, and Edwardsville Fire Department driver/operator Randy Rohner.

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