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Committee approves transfer of 0.37 acre to New Ipswich after cemetery encroachment; settlement totals $38,000
Summary
The Long Range Capital Planning & Utilization Committee approved a transfer of 0.37 acre of state land to the Town of New Ipswich to resolve an encroachment of graves onto a Souhegan River flood control site; the parties agreed to a $38,000 settlement addressing purchase and impacts to future drainage work.
The Long Range Capital Planning & Utilization Committee voted to authorize the Department of Environmental Services to transfer 0.37 acre of state‑owned land to the Town of New Ipswich to resolve an accidental expansion of plots from Smithville Cemetery onto state property at the Souhegan flood control site.
Corey Clark, chief engineer at the Dam Bureau for the Department of Environmental Services, said routine surveying in 2013 revealed that cemetery plots and graves extended onto state land. Clark said the bureau and the town have worked to correct the situation for more than a decade. Under a settlement reached in 2023, Clark said the town will pay a combined $38,000 that reflects a $13,000 payment for the land plus roughly $25,000 in additional costs tied to impacts on future repair or replacement of drainage infrastructure.
Clark told the committee that in 2015 legislation (HB 275) authorized a lot‑line adjustment process that permitted the state and the town to reach a formal agreement. Clark said there is no current damage to the downstream dam or drainage system, but the assessment examined the potential added cost to replace the drainage system if graves require special handling; that analysis produced the roughly $25,000 figure. The transfer is intended to formalize the property boundary and remove uncertainties about construction staging and future repairs.
A committee member asked whether there was any actual damage to the dam; Clark replied there was not. The committee approved LRCP25‑026. The department will require the usual boundary survey as a condition of transfer.
