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Staff warns cemetery mapping is incomplete; new plots need on-the-ground verification
Summary
Town staff reported that digital cemetery records do not match on-the-ground conditions; they recommended new surveying and GPS pinning for Hillcrest and cautioned the commission against selling plots until mapping is confirmed.
Parks staff told the commission on July 8 that cemetery digitization work is incomplete and that existing map data does not reliably reflect actual burials.
Staff said they hired a subcontractor to digitize deeds, maps and records but that the resulting data set still includes plots that appear empty on the digital maps despite physical evidence to the contrary. The software vendor (SemSites) offers modules the town could buy, but staff said the value of those modules depends on the accuracy of the data provided.
Eric Brenlinger recommended new on-the-ground mapping — GPS pinning and surveying — for new plots at Hillcrest and said staff want confidence in plot locations before selling them. He described the current situation as incomplete data that needs field verification and suggested sequencing new-plot work so the town can be certain about long-term records.
Commissioners and staff compared the challenge to similar work in other Garfield County jurisdictions and said a careful, multi-step approach is appropriate: complete field mapping for new plots, reconcile historical records where possible, and then upgrade software tools once data quality is assured.
Next steps: staff will pursue targeted surveying and mapping for new plots, consult with vendors about modules only after data are cleaned, and return with a proposed schedule and costs for the commission to review.
