The committee voted Oct. 16 to advance a continuing cemetery conservation project at Thompson Hill Cemetery to Step 2, where applicants will provide the fuller documentation and contractor detail the committee requires for funding consideration.

The application, submitted by local preservation advocates with support from the Historical Commission and the Cemetery Commission, requested $15,000 to continue work by Colonial Stone on gravestones that committee members described as at risk of losing legibility and artful carving due to slate delamination and other weathering.

Nancy McCabe of the Historical Commission told the committee the work already completed had produced visibly improved stone faces and uprighted memorials; she and other advocates said several tabletop stones are in especially fragile condition and that urgent intervention is warranted to preserve inscriptions and historic fabric.

Committee members agreed the project fit the historic-preservation objectives of CPA funding and voted to move the application to Step 2 so the contractor and scope-of-work documentation could be provided. The motion to advance the project passed unanimously.

The Historical Commission indicated it would send a letter of support and additional documentation to accompany the Step 2 submission. The committee scheduled the applicant for the packet of Step 2 materials required for final funding consideration.