Dorchester council affirms continuation of Burial Site Preservation Board after year of community surveys and outreach

The Dorchester County Council voted on March 17 to affirm continuation of the Burial Site Preservation Board after board members summarized a year of work to document and protect local cemeteries.

Board representatives told the council they had strengthened membership, revised the cemetery-survey form (over 20 submissions returned in the past year), and increased community engagement through public demonstrations, school outreach and event participation. Chair Eric Kresser said the board is positioned to assist a potential state-led effort to document all cemeteries and would work closely with the county’s Department of Planning and Zoning.

Members described specific preservation activities and outreach at local festivals, cemetery-cleaning events and partnerships with organizations such as the Maryland Historical Trust. A speaker who identified himself as a tribal chief urged the council to consider the work a matter of human-rights and historical preservation, describing multiple local graves that had been bulldozed and lost.

Councilors praised the board’s progress and approved a motion to formalize the board’s continuation for another year. The board requested that staff provide the current bill numbers for state legislation relevant to burial-site protection so the council could consider writing letters of support; council staff agreed to supply that information.

The council’s vote formalizes the advisory role the board will continue to play in planning, zoning and land-use matters related to burial-site identification and preservation.