Deerfield board approves ground‑penetrating radar survey to map historic cemetery

The Village of Deerfield board voted March 3 to award a contract for a comprehensive cemetery survey that staff said will use ground-penetrating radar and aerial imagery to locate unmarked or deteriorated graves in a cemetery established in the 1850s.

Staff told the board that roughly a quarter of headstones at the cemetery have deteriorated or are missing, and that at least four burials are anticipated in the near term. The proposed approach replaces piecemeal efforts—where staff previously probed suspected plots with rods—by conducting a full survey that staff said is more efficient and cost effective.

A staff speaker described the technical approach: a GPR (ground-penetrating radar) unit and a drone that collects aerial photos which are then overlaid to identify known and unknown graves. The village’s cemetery commission and a nearby specialist, Carolyn (identified as a Highland Park resident with a PhD who performs similar surveys), previously reviewed and supported the project.

Trustees discussed whether families would be notified when the village locates previously unmarked graves; staff said the survey will produce an internal map and that the village would likely publish the map online as a public reference. Board members stressed the importance of informing family owners of plots and of avoiding putting new burials on top of existing graves.

A motion to approve the resolution to award the cemetery-survey contract carried on a roll call vote (Trustee Jacoby: yes; Trustee Appenheim: yes; Trustee Berg: yes; Trustee Goldstone: yes; Mayor Shapiro: yes).