Trustees weigh columbarium and QR-code mapping to expand capacity and public access

The Brentwood Town Cemetery Trustees discussed two related ideas Thursday to increase capacity and public engagement: installing columbaria for urns and creating QR-code markers and cemetery maps that link to records such as Find A Grave.

Cemetery Superintendent Joyce described columbaria used at the New Hampshire Veterans Cemetery and at Blossom Hill in Concord, saying smaller units can significantly increase capacity on a limited footprint. "So it's 4 niches, and I think it's like a 4 by 5, so that's 20. And if you do double side in, that's 40," Joyce said when describing a modular example for urn niches. She said columbaria can be configured so individual niches are removable rather than a single row that must be replaced as a unit.

Trustees explored funding and siting options. Joyce said the columbarium cost is driven by the structure and site work (concrete pad, drainage) and suggested perpetual-care funds tied to cemetery expansion as a likely source rather than general-tax dollars. Trustees discussed placing a columbarium in Section 5 (near roadway and trees) where ground burial is difficult in spring.

The trustees also discussed a low-cost digital public-access project: a QR code at a central kiosk linking to rules, contact information and cemetery records, and section-specific markers that could link visitors to mapped records and historical notes. Joyce explained that other towns' examples exist and that a volunteer mapping workshop is planned; a trustee said a local mapping vendor will present free training to help digitize stone records.

Trustees suggested a public informational session in January to gather input and display vendor brochures and examples. The trustees emphasized that any columbarium or digital program would require rules, drainage and construction planning, and possible shared templates from the state veterans cemetery for paperwork.

The trustees took no formal vote but asked the superintendent to investigate costs, regulatory requirements and potential funding sources and to schedule public outreach in the coming months.