Nearly a year after concerned citizens held a public meeting to discuss the fate of Cullman Memory Gardens cemetery, there may be signs the property’s many problems are headed toward a resolution — albeit a slow one.

While the privately-owned south Cullman cemetery has been caught in a morass of neglect and financial uncertainty, residents with loved ones interred there have kept the grounds neat and manicured through an ongoing volunteer effort.

The cemetery has been at the center of a protracted bankruptcy case, and maintenance has lapsed, save for the work of volunteers.

The property’s owner, DeArbor LLC, has been embroiled in bankruptcy proceedings while a court plods through the time-consuming process of reconciling the individual ownership of each cemetery and mausoleum plot. Once that’s done, Cache Private Capital, the property’s Utah-based mortgage holder, can assume full ownership and begin tending to its new acquisition.

Rep. Randall Shedd (R-Fairview), who’s worked with local residents to bring the power of government to bear on the situation, said he’s hopeful that process can play out sometime in 2017. He expects the tortuous bankruptcy to take time to resolve, but believes the results will please those who’ve been heartbroken at watching the cemetery fall into dereliction.

“There’s light at the end of the tunnel, I believe,” said Shedd Tuesday. “I think by this time next year, Cullman County will be proud of what has transpired.”

Last year, before the cemetery’s fiscal picture was even as clear as it is now, Shedd had stepped in with a legislative bill that created a county board intended to own and manage the property. Gov. Robert Bentley signed that bill into law earlier this summer.

But nothing can happen until the bankruptcy case has come to an end.

“I’ve met with the company [Cache Private Capital], and we expect that, sometime probably in the second half of the year, we will see a positive change as their role in eventually controlling the cemetery begins to take hold,” he said.

Holiday visitors at the cemetery and mausoleum have observed a number of vaults opened, with the caskets gone — a result of some exasperated plot owners resolving to move their loved ones’ remains to a property with a more stable future.

“Right now, there are a lot of people who are ready for things to finally start looking up,” said Shedd.

“There are 321 veterans buried there, and the kind of disrespect that’s been shown to them — to all the people buried there — it’s not right. Eddie Williams and the group of volunteers who’ve maintained everything have done a tremendous amount of work. It’s a pride thing for them, and they are to be commended for it. And once the court is able to release the operations of the cemetery to the new owner, I think we’ll start seeing a difference; one that people can at last be proud of.”