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Town staff urges stamped perimeter plan, title review to clarify Friends/Quaker cemetery boundaries
Summary
Tracy, representing town staff, recommended ordering a stamped 81L perimeter plan and obtaining certified title work so the commission can document and, if needed, seek authority for the Quaker/Friends cemetery; commissioners agreed to pursue cost estimates and prioritize recordable boundaries for Lot 46 first.
Tracy, a town staff member who joined the meeting remotely, told the Cemetery Commission the Friends/Quaker burial ground lacks a recordable plan and urged a measured path forward to secure control of the cemetery land.
"We really need to have what I would call a perimeter plan because there is no plan of record of the layout of the cemetery," Tracy said, recommending an 81‑L stamped perimeter plan that could be recorded and used for mapping and future warrant articles. She said the town had already ordered a certified title opinion from a land court examiner to vet potential challenges.
Commissioners and staff discussed parcel complexity and title risks for three adjacent parcels (40, 42 and 44) that were subdivided in 1998 and may contain burials. Tracy cautioned those parcels may be harder to include now because taking them by eminent domain would require appraisals and setting aside a damage award. She recommended prioritizing a recordable 81‑L plan for the parcel labeled 46 on town GIS as lower immediate risk.
Lee noted the 1913 ancestor map "shows the entire cemetery," but commissioners agreed a recordable stamped survey is required for legal clarity. The commission authorized staff to solicit three estimates for a stamped perimeter plan and agreed surveying work does not require public bidding; staff will return cost figures for approval at the next meeting or an extraordinary meeting if needed before town meeting.
No formal vote was taken to begin work; commissioners asked staff to collect estimates and report back so the item can be scheduled for authorization and inclusion on a warrant article if required.
