Cape Girardeau County commissioners approve private cemetery for Outdoorsman

Cape Girardeau County commissioners gave approval during their Monday, Jan. 22, meeting for the family of outdoorsman Jon "Buck" McNeely to start a private family cemetery.

McNeely, a local man who produced the long-running outdoors television program "The Outdoorsman with Buck McNeely", died Jan. 7 at age 63.

Attorney David Crader of Sikeston, who represented the family, said they had surveyed a burial plot on their private property and requested the commissioners' consent to establish it as a private cemetery.

Its only purpose would to be a cemetery, he said, and it would be of no cost or burden to the commission.

The plot would be held in perpetuity by the county for family use and would revert back to the McNeely family whenever it is no longer in use.

Commissioners Clint Tracy, Charlie Herbst and Paul Koeper unanimously approved the cemetery's establishment.

Other business

The commissioners approved restarting the bid process for a box culvert project in the county. They had not received bids for the project beforehand, but Koeper said one company had reached out to him that they had missed the previous deadline to apply.

They also accepted a bid from WirelessUSA to move radio systems to the county's under-construction Emergency Operations Center.