A company to be hired by the city government will soon take over the mowing and other chores that volunteers have recently been doing at Fort Dodge Memorial Park Cemetery.

A decision by Alan C. Dorothy, the organizer of Fort Dodge Memorial Park LLC, will make that possible, according to City Manager David Fierke.

Fierke said Tuesday evening that Dorothy on Monday gave his consent to allow the city government to maintain the cemetery at 3242 Fifth Ave. S.

Volunteers converged on the site over the Memorial Day weekend with their own mowers and other equipment to tackle grass that was as high as 10 inches.

Last week, Dorothy told Fort Dodge police officers that he was out of business and no longer taking care of the cemetery. Fierke had asked police to go to Dorothy’s home to check on him as he investigated complaints about conditions at the cemetery.

Fierke said Dorothy has given the Iowa Insurance Division, which has oversight of cemeteries, consent to allow the city to maintain the property. The city is already seeking bids from companies interested in doing the work. Sealed bids are due at the City Clerk’s office, 819 First Ave. S., by 9 a.m. Monday.

Volunteers who want to do some mowing at the cemetery will be allowed to do so until the city-hired contractor takes over, according to Fierke.

”I won’t tell anyone not to do it, but now people can expect the city to oversee the maintenance,” he said. ”If someone feels their family plot is overgrown or looking bad and they want to do some mowing and trimming I wouldn’t tell them to stop.”

The volunteer mowing operation was spurred by Bradley Edgerton, of Fort Dodge, who on May 25 went on social media and asked for volunteers to help him mow the overgrown cemetery. His plea worked. It’s unclear just how many people pitched in, but Edgerton said he was shocked by the response.

”The people of Fort Dodge stepped up and solved a problem,” David Powell, a Fort Dodge man who volunteered a few hours to mow, said last week.

In addition to giving consent to letting the city do the maintenance, Dorothy has also agreed not to fight an effort by the Iowa Insurance Division to take control of the site through the legal process of setting up a receivership.

”Mr. Dorothy further stated in writing that he would not protest the receivership process, enabling the courts to move more quickly on this matter,” Fierke said.