Selectmen support Lindenwood work
Published on September 30th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - It appears as if the town has taken a new approach to perpetual care at Lindenwood Cemetery. In recent years, some grave site visitors have come to believe that the perpetual growth of grass and the perpetual state of toppled grave markers has become the town's new means of dealing with its land on Montvale Avenue.
Well, Brackett Avenue resident Richard Waite told the Board of Selectmen Tuesday night that he is tired of waiting for lawn mowers to cut the foot-high, hay colored grass in areas of the cemetery. He is tired of waiting for roads which have cracked and are breeding their own lawns to be repaved. And he is tired of the the slow erosion taking place in sections of the cemetery due to a severe lack of watering.
"It's like an open festering wound," Waite said of the cemetery. "In my view, this is unacceptable. I think it's incumbent on the town to do something about this."
Town Administrator Jeffrey Nutting agreed that Lindenwood Cemetery has fallen into disrepair. This problem is due, in part, to a lack of manpower at the site, he said.
"Many of the things that Mr. Waite has addressed are true," he said. "You'd have to be blind to see any different."
It is not, however, due to a lack of funding. Nutting explained that the perpetual care fund which the town has set aside for the cemetery stands at about $900,000, $300,000 of which is composed of interest based on a $600,000 principal.
Waite suggested that some of that money be allocated for installation of a sprinkler system, tree plantings and increased manpower.
"Lindenwood should not be looked at with indifference," he said. "This board has the ability and the wherewithal to make this (the improvements) happen."
Board member Cosmo Ciccarello supported the effort.
"If we've got this kind of money, we should be able to do what we have to at Lindenwood with just the interest," he said. "It is a disgrace."
Nutting explained that the town usually takes about $30,000 from the fund (the average annual interest) and puts the money toward the cemetery's upkeep fund. This is done in order to insure that, once all the plots are sold, money will be left over for their perpetual care.
Nutting said the town expects to fill the cemetery in about 50 years.
He said that a study of the necessary funding for cemetery upgrades will be conducted and that he would be ready to report back to the board in one to two months with a plan.
* The board voted against supporting an article from parents who appeared at last week's Board of Selectmen meeting seeking the restoration of busing.
According to Nutting, three submissions from parents were received from the town prior to the September 25 cut-off date for warrant articles. Two of them were in a legal article form, but did not contain the required 100 signatures. A third, with well over the required number of signatures, was also submitted, but was written in letter and not legal form.
The board voted 4-1 against allowing the article to appear on the warrant.
* The town has set November 7, 14 and 21 and December 1 as its leaf pickup days.
* Nutting said that the town has come to an agreement with all property owners in Phase 1 of the Town Common/Parking Lot project except for one.
A mid-November hearing date has been set for Roy Costa, owner of Roy Costa Auto Body at 14 Franklin Street, who has refused the town's offers.
* The board voted to allow a firm to begin a drainage study of the area from Bear Hill Golf Course to Maple Street.
Nutting explained that the study would cost approximately $29,000 and if funding does not receive approval at Special Town Meeting, he said that a member of the Finance & Advisory Board has assured a reserve fund transfer to cover the cost.
The study should take approximately 10 weeks, Nutting said.
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