Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

Howell City Council this week rejected a family's appeal to place a concrete headstone at a city cemetery. That's according to Megan Haas Rebman, who requested a variance for the memorial honoring her parents.

"They couldn't get Royal Stone or the American Concrete Institute to give them, in writing, how long this monument, this headstone would last," Rebman told WHMI News.

"They could have given me this information prior to, and I could have worked on this before the meeting. Before wasting even more time."

WHMI first reported on the family's plight back in May (linked below), after city staff denied the installation of a headstone for her parents, Jacqueline and Louis Haas.

"I'm talking to a city official, a city employee, the person who is in charge of the cemetery," said Rebman. "And then Royal Stone, being a company that has made other headstones all over the state, nobody mentioned material to me. I've never done this before. And I was insulted that it was insinuated that I was trying to somehow side step the rules."

Two months ago, Howell Mayor Nikolas Hertrich stated current rules for headstone materials specifically state headstones can only be made out of durable granite or bronze and there is not a lot of wiggle room for other materials.

Rebman says she will continue to fight for her parents' memorial.

"The reason why Royal Stone couldn't tell them this will last 100 or 200 years, is because Royal Stone has only been in the business 26 years. But this is not a product that is new," she added.

"Now I have to find an engineer who will somehow help us, and give us something to give the City of Howell that is satisfactory for them."

In a letter to City Council dated July 8, 2026, City Manager Kristi Troy wrote:

"As requested by Council, I gathered information regarding the appeal request of the cemetery rules to allow alternative material for a headstone. HRC, our engineering consultant, has supplied information along with Cindy Dodge of LOR Consulting and is a Board Member of the Michigan Association of Municipal Cemeteries. She compiled a survey and sent it to local cemeteries for input and was also included in the packet."

In response to WHMI News, Troy said "Mayor Hertrich noted that he tried to get to an approval of the monument material through independent research with Royal Stone, the American Concrete Institute and the Architectural Precast Association, but did not see an avenue to forego City rules at this time. A prepared statement was read by Mayor Pro Tem Lobur and has been included in the packet that is linked below.

"After discussion of members, a motion to deny the request was stated and supported followed by a roll call vote of 7-0. The motion to deny the appeal was approved unanimously."

Troy went on to say the claim that a city employee approved this material remains "unsubstantiated."