Wendell hears detailed master plan for Green Mount Cemetery; consultants recommend cremation garden, road changes and fee updates

Consultants presented a master plan for Green Mount Cemetery and answered questions from the Wendell Town Board of Commissioners during the board’s regular September meeting.

The plan, prepared by consultants hired with the town’s capital improvement funds, lays out changes to the cemetery’s circulation, burial options, recordkeeping and monument care, and recommends multiple modest fee and process changes to reduce administrative burden while preserving the site.

Consultant Larry Sloan, who described the plan’s financial and operational findings, said the cemetery “will have a 35‑year active life, without question” under current burial trends and the town’s inventory. He told commissioners the site, founded about 1907, is roughly six acres and has ample capacity in newer sections, while older sections contain roughly 120 unsold spaces the consultants believe are usable for cremation burials.

Sloan and Wendy Fry of WC Fry Design proposed several near‑term changes: allow single‑grave purchases instead of requiring buyers to take two spaces; discontinue the town’s $600 memorial deposit and the symbolic deed form; add a small cremation garden with above‑ground niches in the newest section; and adopt clear rules for decorations and flags to avoid recurring disputes with lot owners and contractors. “We think you should allow for a single grave purchases and we think you should remove the memorial deposit,” Sloan said.

Wendy Fry, the landscape architect on the project, focused on circulation and landscape changes. She recommended closing selected east–west roads that currently dead‑end near steps and piping roadside drainage so lanes can be widened and paved, which would create room for canopy trees along the carriageways. She also recommended three entry signs and smaller section markers, dog‑waste stations at likely walking access points, a tree‑planting program, and a small cremation garden with seating and a flagpole in the bottom‑right (new Section C) of the map.

Consultants urged modest changes to prices and administration. Sloan noted the town currently charges $1,200 for two spaces (about $600 per space) and recommended new pricing of roughly $900 for residents and $1,400 for nonresidents, saying the town’s fees remain below others in the region. He also recommended discontinuing issuance of a symbolic “deed” and replacing it with a sale contract or receipt, and said a perpetual care fund is unnecessary now given the low maintenance costs (current lawn care contract reported at $10,800 annually).

On recordkeeping and public access, consultants recommended investing in a GIS‑based cemetery mapping system with a public QR code on a sign that would let visitors locate graves and view photos or records online. The consultants estimated a one‑time cost in the low five figures for software and mapping and said a public, georeferenced map would reduce staff time and make the site easier for visitors.

The plan also addressed monument conservation and volunteer engagement. Consultants reported that many older stones are readable but have biological growth and silt; they recommended volunteer monument‑cleaning workshops using the National Park Service‑endorsed cleaner D2 and soft brushes, and contracting with specialists for leaning or fallen stones.

Board members generally praised the plan and emphasized sensitivity to families. Commissioner Lutz said the cemetery should be treated as a “community amenity” and supported signage, shade trees and the mapping proposal. Several commissioners said they were uncomfortable with the idea of unmarked graves in the town cemetery going forward and asked staff to consider middle‑ground options such as low‑cost permanent markers. Mayor Virginia Gray and other commissioners supported clearer, advance communication of decoration rules so staff can handle sensitive cases without surprise confrontations.

Consultants and staff said the presentation was informational; the board did not adopt the master plan at the meeting and will receive a formal adoption item at a later date after staff incorporates the board’s feedback.

If adopted, the plan would be implemented over time and include updates to sales procedures, decoration rules, signage locations and options for limited paving and stormwater piping on select roads. Consultants also recommended targeted historic and volunteer work — for example, coordinated cleaning days with the historical society — and a process for evaluating the outstanding $600 memorial deposits now on the books.

The board asked for clarifications on the cemetery’s name spelling; project materials used several variants, and the consultants’ architectural historian reported the historic usage as “Green Mount.” The board’s staff and consultants agreed to standardize the spelling in the final plan and materials.