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Cemetery commission approves ground-penetrating radar and presses town for certified title to Newtown Cemetery
Summary
At its April 9 meeting the Nantucket Cemetery Commission voted to spend about $14,000 for ground-penetrating radar in a section of Old North Cemetery and discussed steps to secure a certified title that would clarify Newtown Cemetery's official boundaries and add roughly an acre of burial space.
The Nantucket Cemetery Commission on April 9 voted to authorize a geophysical survey, accepting a quote of about $14,000 to perform ground-penetrating radar (GPR) across a section of Old North Cemetery.
The commission also discussed ongoing work to obtain a certified title for Newtown Cemetery so the town can formally recognize its boundaries. Commission members said formal recognition is a necessary step before the town can prepare a warrant article and seek town meeting action to protect and manage the parcel.
Why it matters: Commission members said GPR would create a detailed record of subsurface features in a roughly one-acre section of Old North that commissioners believe may contain unmarked burials; a certified title would resolve competing historical descriptions of Newtown's bounds and allow the town to plan for additional burial space and legal protection.
The motion to accept the GPR quote was moved during the meeting and carried in a roll-call vote; commissioners recorded their votes as follows: Dulie, aye; Scott McKeiver (listed as —3otty—4 in the roll call), aye; Brent, aye; and the chair voted aye. The transcript records the quote as —3about $14,000—4 and confirms funds exist in the cemetery account.
Commissioners described the title work as ongoing. Town staff introduced at the meeting said the town's real estate division and town counsel were coordinating to obtain a certified title. Bob Strauss of the town's real estate division told the commission he and town counsel Tracy (last name not provided in the record) were —working on this— and that certified-title work is already in process. Commission members discussed a possible special town meeting in the fall to address any warrant article that might follow the title work.
Background: The commission says Newtown is among the town's older cemeteries and that historical maps (an assessor's map from 1913 was cited in discussion) show boundaries similar to today's lines. Commissioners recounted past attempts to subdivide nearby land in the 1990s and described earlier ground-penetrating radar work done in Newtown that identified unmarked graves. At the meeting the commission noted the town must rely on counsel and a certified title to resolve remaining uncertainties about the —offset— described in older deeds.
Next steps: Commission members said they will coordinate with town counsel and the real estate division to track the certified-title timeline and, if necessary, prepare a town-meeting warrant article to confirm Newtown Cemetery's status. The commission also authorized the GPR contractor to proceed and will expect the survey results to inform future work and any preservation or planning actions.
Ending: Commissioners reiterated that the GPR work and the certified-title process are distinct but related steps: the radar will document subsurface evidence of burials in Old North, while certified title would legally clarify the town's property interests in Newtown and allow future protective actions.
