Brentwood trustees to seek selectboard letter and legal review before accepting donated Kingston lot for future cemetery

Brentwood Town cemetery trustees on June 5 agreed to pursue formal steps for a donated lot that would expand a future Newtown Cemetery, but they said legal review, a recorded survey and consultation with Kingston officials are required before the town completes any transfer or starts work.

Trustees said Rob Wolfchock is working to complete a property transfer by year-end and will report the cost to the trustees and to the Brentwood select board because the town will likely need to fund site work. Joyce (trustee) told the group that Wolfchock “is proceeding to have this done by the end of the year” and will share the cost estimate once it is available.

Why this matters: the parcel is physically located in Kingston but is being donated to the town of Brentwood. Kingston officials and the New Hampshire Municipal Association advised that the matter requires legal counsel and formal notice; Kingston trustees told Brentwood they will not take further steps until Brentwood initiates the process. Trustees discussed possible effects on zoning, abutters and setbacks, and anticipated the town will need an official stamped survey and recorded deed.

Trustees and advisors described several administrative and technical steps. Lehi Greenwood, identified in the meeting as a town planner who works with both Brentwood and Kingston, and trustee speakers noted Cartographics will prepare tax-map updates but requires an official survey stamped by a licensed surveyor. Trustees said they have been in phone tag with the New Hampshire Association of Surveyors, which runs a pro bono program, and that Cartographics will not update maps until next April, giving the trustees time to arrange a survey.

Kingston’s initial response, as relayed by trustees, was to refer the matter to its cemetery trustees and to the New Hampshire Municipal Association. “They advised us that this needs to go through legal counsel,” a trustee said, and Kingston indicated it would wait for Brentwood to initiate contact. Trustees discussed making the first formal step a letter from the Brentwood select board stating Brentwood’s intent to use the identified lot as a municipal cemetery and describing that access would be via Brentwood South Road.

Trustees also discussed practical impacts on nearby landowners. Several speakers noted that cemetery boundaries carry a 50-foot setback that can affect what abutters may build on their property. The group discussed notifying Kingston abutters and the possibility that zoning or a Kingston ZBA variance could be needed if Kingston’s zoning does not permit a cemetery use. Trustee speakers repeatedly stressed that legal counsel should review boundary, ownership and easement questions before the town spends money or changes maps.

Next steps agreed by trustees were to draft a formal letter for the select board to send to Kingston, collect a certified survey, present cost estimates to the select board for any work or purchase, and have Brentwood’s attorney review the proposed transfer. Trustees said they expect to draft the letter and bring it back for a vote at a future meeting.