Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Land Management topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Select board advised to seek easement to guarantee access to abandoned poor‑farm cemetery
Summary
Cemetery trustees and staff reported survey results and recommended recording an easement/right‑of‑access (rather than a separate deed) to ensure town cemetery trustees can maintain an abandoned poor‑farm cemetery on private property; select board agreed to coordinate with town counsel and planner to draft the paperwork.
Cemetery trustees told the select board that recent survey work showed the abandoned poor‑farm cemetery sits on private property and recommended creating a recorded easement to guarantee maintenance access.
Jim Hazard, identified in the meeting as chair of the cemetery trustees, said planners recommended an easement that would preserve access and note the cemetery on record rather than attempting to split the parcel into a separate deed. The easement would grant the cemetery trustees and superintendent of cemeteries access for maintenance, with language that approval from the homeowner to cross the property should not be unreasonably withheld.
Select board members said they would coordinate with town counsel (Attorney Spectre Morgan) and the town planner to draft the right‑of‑access/easement language and return to the board for approval. Trustees said the measure is intended to protect the cemetery from future disturbance and to put the town’s interest on public record.
No formal vote was taken at the meeting; board members agreed to pursue drafting the easement and to keep the public informed as legal language is developed.
