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Ipswich Cemetery Commissioners approve Southside flagpole, bar homemade grave markers; review trust funds
Summary
At their April 8 meeting, the Ipswich Cemetery Commissioners unanimously approved purchasing a 30-foot flagpole for Southside Cemetery and voted to prohibit homemade grave markers; they also reviewed trust fund balances and discussed park improvements and a $6,000 community-gardens expense pending town reimbursement.
The Ipswich Cemetery Commissioners met on April 8, 2026, and voted unanimously to purchase a 30-foot flagpole for Southside Cemetery and to prohibit homemade grave markers, commissioners said.
The decisions came during the meeting’s new-business portion, when Commissioner Jeff Putur reported on the commission’s trust funds and other maintenance matters. Putur listed account balances as: Sale D-3 — $133,000; T-12 — $212,000; U-12 — $590,000.
Those financial figures framed a brief discussion of recent spending and planned improvements. Putur told the commission that the Pony Express community gardens are planted and that the commission has spent $6,000 from the cemetery budget on the gardens; he said the commission will seek reimbursement from the town for that expense.
On a motion by Commissioner Ted Lemieux, seconded by Commissioner Sean Cronin, the commission voted unanimously to buy a 30-foot flagpole for Southside Cemetery. The motion’s approval was recorded by the commission without a roll-call vote in the minutes.
Commissioners also considered a request to allow a homemade grave marker. Commissioner James Graffum presented the request; Lemieux moved, Cronin seconded, and the commission voted unanimously to prohibit homemade stones in cemetery plots.
Putur provided updates on other ongoing items: the naming of the Bialek 90-foot diamond field after Mike Singer was completed on June 30, 2025 and is closed; repairs to the storage building (new siding, roof and doors) are largely finished with a few remaining tasks; and potential Bialek Park improvements under consideration include an electric scoreboard at Singer Field, a new batting cage and dugout and fencing upgrades at Bowen Field. Putur said the commission will receive updates on those items in future meetings.
Separately, Graffum raised a citizen request to change lot locations; Putur said he would handle the matter as staff follow-up rather than a formal vote.
The commission approved the minutes from the June 11 meeting after Sean Cronin read them and Ted Lemieux moved to accept them. The meeting scheduled its next session for June 3, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., and adjourned at 11:10 a.m. after a motion by Cronin and second by Lemieux.
