Wellington trustees weigh new Highland Cemetery rules; board directs staff on vaults, fencing, solar lights and appeals

Town Clerk Hannah Hill presented an 11-page proposed rules-and-regulations update for Highland Cemetery, calling it a 40‑year modernization of an apparent 1980s one‑page policy. Hill said staff had purchased Everspot cemetery-management software to centralize records, map plots, show ownership at a glance, and in the longer term offer a public-facing map and photo archive of memorials.

Hill described several policy areas where staff requested explicit board direction: whether to require burial vaults, whether to allow family-blocking or fences, whether to permit solar lights, allowances for live plants, and the appeals process for exceptions. She said the cemetery currently has a prairie character, about 1,700 grave spaces, and that most interments in recent years have involved funeral homes that already use vaults.

Trustees discussed cost and equity concerns around a vault requirement (some raised that a mandatory vault could be cost‑prohibitive for families) and the town’s maintenance and liability considerations (older graves can settle and adjacent openings can disturb nearby interments). Multiple trustees expressed support for adopting a vault requirement while adding an administrative appeal or exception process to avoid unintended hardship. On family fences and borders, trustees generally favored limiting new fences and preserving existing fixtures by grandfathering them until safety or maintenance necessitates removal. On solar lights, trustees voted to disallow them, citing safety, battery and breakage problems, and the cemetery’s dusk‑to‑dawn hours. On live plants, trustees indicated they are acceptable when limited and maintained (the proposed draft allowed live plants within a 12‑inch zone when properly maintained).

The board directed staff to refine the temporary‑decoration language, include an administrative appeals process to handle exceptions, consult with Public Works regarding practical maintenance and animal considerations, and perform outreach — mailings, social media, and signs — before enforcement. Staff said it would return a resolution for adoption and that, if general consensus exists, the item could be placed on the consent agenda; otherwise it will be brought back for further discussion.

The board emphasized balancing industry standards and maintenance needs with respect for families’ choices and cultural considerations.