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Selectboard directs counsel to draft extended‑hours waiver for immediate family and to clarify alcohol prohibition in cemetery ordinance
Summary
After public testimony, the Selectboard directed the town manager to consult with counsel to draft an extended‑hours waiver for immediate family members and voted to have counsel redraft Ordinance 109‑7 to make alcohol consumption in cemeteries explicit; the board kept enforcement moratorium in place until adoption.
The Bow Selectboard moved to create a formal extended‑hours waiver to allow immediate family members access to town cemeteries outside posted hours and to have town counsel or PRIMEX draft the document for board adoption at the next meeting.
Selectwoman Colby and other board members described a waiver that immediate family members would sign, with the waiver placed on plot records and provided to police dispatch so officers could be aware when a waiver holder was on site. Police Chief Miller explained the local dispatch process: callers reach a regional dispatch center, which then alerts the local officer on duty. Several board members and the chief said the board did not intend to make a daily call mandatory and preferred the call to be an option for families who wanted police awareness.
Public commenters urged easy access for grieving families. Lisa Wilson, who said she gathered signatures on a petition supporting after‑hours access, told the board her online petition collected 278 signatures and argued that restricting access would hamper grieving family members who cannot visit during daylight hours because of work schedules. "I think grief comes in all different waves, all different times," Wilson said. Deborah Smarr, who said her son is buried in a town cemetery, said she would rather have officers drive through and check on visitors than require a waiver call every time.
In separate but related action, a board member asked town counsel to redraft Ordinance 109‑7 to explicitly prohibit alcohol consumption on cemetery grounds and to correct language and spelling in the ordinance; the board agreed and voted to send the proposed rewording to counsel. The board confirmed the moratorium on enforcement will stay in effect until the waiver and ordinance language are adopted and clarified that permission for cemetery access outside posted hours will be limited to immediate family under the proposed approach.
