Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Cemetery Expansion topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Peabody officials discuss 229‑lot expansion at Cedar Grove Cemetery as presales remain paused
Summary
Peabody City officials reviewed plans to expand Cedar Grove Cemetery by 229 lots (double-depth plus cremation spaces), noted $315,000 in capital funding, and deferred decisions on presales and headstone layout to the cemetery commission after residents raised concerns about maintenance and engraving.
Peabody City officials on Sept. 25 discussed plans to expand Cedar Grove Cemetery into Section K (K1 and K2), a project the city says would add 229 burial lots configured as double-depth plots and additional space for cremations.
The mayor told the Public Services Subcommittee the city issued a request for proposals for site work in Section K1 and K2 but received no bids and has extended the RFP deadline to Oct. 16. The mayor said the city hopes to begin some work in November or December and complete more in spring, depending on bids and winter weather.
The discussion matters because the mayor said Cedar Grove has only about "15 to 20" graves remaining. The city has set aside $315,000 for the expansion, composed of a $200,000 capital allocation approved by the City Council in May and a $115,000 allocation from 2023; the mayor said a small amount of that total was reduced after testing. The city also has about $50,000 earmarked for columbariums, or cremation niches.
The cemetery commission, represented at the meeting by Celeste Sullivan, Faye Cahonen and Marty Goldsworthy, will decide whether to resume presales and whether new plots will be laid out with headstones placed back-to-back or in the cemetery's traditional orientation. "I am one of the people that is for presale," Celeste Sullivan, a cemetery commissioner, told the committee. "If we take a look at it and come up with a reasonable amount, I think that's fair." Sullivan also said she prefers the traditional head‑to‑toe configuration because back‑to‑back stones would prevent use of the reverse side of markers and could complicate maintenance between stones.
Councilors at the meeting stressed competing priorities. Councilor Daigle said presales help families plan and could provide funds to reinvest in future expansion, and suggested a compromise that would allow presales up to a set threshold. Councilor Melville and others noted that any presale policy and the headstone layout decision rest with the cemetery commission, not the council.
Mayor (no last name provided) described the RFP work as site work to remove ledge where necessary, install foundations and prepare plot openings in K1 and K2; he said K3 is rockier and will be considered later. The mayor also said the city has done some testing of subsurface conditions but expects bidders to encounter additional ledge or rock once excavation begins.
Several residents attended the cemetery commission meeting last week and raised concerns about presales, marker placement and long-term maintenance. The mayor said Oak Grove Cemetery, a separate city cemetery on Pine Street, still has available grave sites and can provide interim options for residents who prefer not to wait for the Cedar Grove expansion.
No formal votes on the expansion, presales or layout were taken at the subcommittee meeting; the record shows the committee adjourned at the end of the session.
The cemetery commission will take up presales and headstone layout at an upcoming meeting; the committee was briefed that decisions ideally should be made in the next few weeks to allow construction work to begin before winter weather limits outdoor excavation.
