Halifax Cemetery Commission
Special Meeting
Monday, March 25, 2024, at 1:00 PM
Halifax Town Office, 246 Branch Road, West Halifax, VT
Or Zoom
Attendees: Linda Swanson, Gary Rand, Laurel Copeland, Brad Lackey.
MINUTES
CALL TO ORDER at 1:00 PM.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES – Minutes from the meeting on February 9, 2024, were approved.
CHANGES AND/OR ADDITIONS TO AGENDA – Move to change the agenda order to address the surveys first.
NEW BUSINESS
Accommodating unusual headstones – Current Halifax Cemetery Regulations allow headstones up to 26 inches wide or less. A plot owner asked about using a millstone (~48 inches diameter). The commissioners proposed to revise the Halifax Cemetery Regulations in section called “Grave Plot Size” on page 1 of 3 to read,
“Grave plots will be 4’x10′ to accommodate the remains of the human dead in a grave, a mausoleum, a columbarium, a vault, or other receptacle or 6 cremains with 1 marker such as a headstone; the marker shall be contained within the width of the plot or plots, if adjacent plots are owned, and may not contact the urn or coffin below nor disturb the cornerstones. All decedents interred in a plot or plots must be identified with name and dates on appropriate marker(s).”
OLD BUSINESS –
Surveys of Niles, West Halifax additions – The surveyor reviewed the updated map of Niles Cemetery in a discussion of the ledge outcroppings. Roads will go over ledge outcroppings. Some plots will be lost from the west end of the Niles addition. LS mentioned that having more roads in the cemetery lets people park in the cemetery more easily. In Niles Cemetery, a loop would be good. Could make the middle double row into a road & single row where the single row is moved SW to adjoin the sketched single row. (Lose 1 single row of plots.) We have to add fill to the slope along the highway to make it less steep as well. Need to stake the route after the snow melts and the ground dries out. West Halifax Cemetery addition will convert the T turnaround into a loop on the west side following the drainage swale. The surveyor noted that the lawn extends beyond the property line on the north side. The roads he makes will not pass the property line. There is a marking pin in the NW corner of the property in the stone wall. Pins: Each set of 4 plots is a lot 8 ft x 20 ft. The pin identifies 1 lot of 4 plots, usually in one corner of the 4-plot lots (corner or center). Lots are numbered from 1; plots within lots are A-B-C-D. We buy numbered metal caps and rebar, rent a rebar cutter to make 12-18-inch sections, and work with him to install cap-and-rebar as he identifies the location for each.
NEMRC, Cartiograph, and RecordHub discussion – town software that accommodates cemetery mapping with complete information on each burial.
OTHER BUSINESS – Shout out to the townspeople – budget passed with $23,714 for the Cemetery Commission. Hooray!
HEARING OF VISITORS – N/A.
ADJOURNMENT – 2:52 pm.
ACTION ITEMS – GR will write to Laura Christie regarding Pease.