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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Cemetery Sextons - 12/04/2019Cemetery Sextons December 4, 2019 The South Burlington Cemetery Sextants held a meeting on Wednesday, December 4, 2019 at 10:30 a.m., at 575 Dorset St, 2nd floor. MEMBERS PRESENT: P. Taylor, D. Kinville, T. Chittenden Others Present: Darryl Calkins from Catamount Subsurface Investigations 1. Agenda Review. No changes were made to the agenda 2. Instructions on exiting building in case of emergency: Ms. Kinville provided emergency exiting instructions. 3. Comments & Questions from the public not related to Agenda items No comments from the public. 4. Approve minutes from October 16, 2019 T. Chittenden then made the motion to accept the minutes and was seconded by P. Taylor. Motion passed unanimously. 5. Review information from Catamount Subsurface Investigations D. Calkins lead the discussion on what he discovered while radaring the 2 cemeteries. D. Calkins set up grids and went in 2 directions in each grid to create a 3D view and did the sections which appeared to be open and stayed away from the more settled areas of the cemetery. Eldredge: D. Calkins radared the northern, eastern and southern sides of the cemetery up near the fence lines. On the northern side he found no occupied sites nor anything of any substance. On the eastern side, other than the few sites we know about there was only one question. There appears to be a large cement object in the ground only a foot or so below ground level. This does not match what he would expect to find for a burial site. He suggested that when the weather co-operates that the City, along with Police and possible Hazmat, dig up a section on the top and side to determine what this is. It appears on an aerial view, and based on the composition of the soil, that this section once had a road in it. On the southern side it was more difficult to sonar but he was able to sonar the front near the soldier memorial is. He did find evidence of a mass grave (about 20 feet long) and 3 questionable graves next to it, off a way to the northern rear of the memorial. The question we raised is whether it is the soldier’s burial site or the town burials from Burlington. It was suggested by D. Calkins that the area surrounding the soldier memorial back around to the mass grave would be a good reflecting place. The sextons discussed and decided that, for now, the only lots they will sell are those near the northern and eastern perimeter of the cemetery. Until we have the time to delve further into the records, we will not sell any lots which are in the middle of the cemetery. Shelburne Rd: In the front section of the cemetery there was no indication of any grave sites but he could tell that it had some fill put in possibility to level it off or to firm up the ground. In the back section of the cemetery, D. Calkins noted the high-water table and suggested that we bring in some clean fill. In the middle southern portion of the cemetery near the property line it was noted that there is a section of disturbed soils and was a definite grave site. However, there are a number of headstones, so we will need to investigate to see if it matches up with his observations. D. Calkins noted that the water table is so high that if someone placed an urn in one of the sites that was not marble (or similar weight) that it could be pushed out of the ground by the water. All around the entire back section of the cemetery is overgrown around its perimeter and needs to be cleaned up. There are some grave sites near the western and south western side of the cemetery that are being overtaken by invasives. On the northern side is all overgrown and we are losing possible future sites. There are also a number of trees and stumps throughout the cemetery with roots which are approaching some of the burial sites. D. Calkins suggested that we remove the stumps and/or grind them to prevent further damage. The next step is to take the data collected by D. Calkins and also collect the DWG file, version 13, from Dubois and King who did the surveying of the 2 cemeteries back in 2016 to combine them together. D. Kinville is to contact Dubois and King to get the file and contact our GIS coordinator from the City who works in the highway department and pass the information along to D. Calkins. 6. Council Presentation Review – next steps? Discussion on how to proceed with D. Calkins report and what was presented to City Council at the October 21, 2019 meeting. The following list was created as bullet points to discuss when we next meet in late winter. Brush clearing at Shelburne Rd, fences at Eldredge, fill at Shelburne Rd, repair and cleaning of stones at both cemeteries, and looking at the market value of grave sites in Chittenden County as well as analyzing urn needs vs regular burials. The committee decided to ask for a $5,000 annual amount to be placed into the cemetery fund per year to tackle some of the issues presented to council. D. Kinville was meeting with Tom Hubbard, Finance Director, that afternoon and would bring up the request. 7. Other business D. Kinville has had a few inquires about the operation side of the Eldredge cemetery. It was questioned whether there is a set back from the fence for the plots. A call to Craig at the highway department has not been returned. After discussion, we know of no set back requirements. The second question is whether it is required to have a cement vault. D. Kinville brought along the section of the “Digging Deep” booklet which addresses this. The section reads “Human remains must be either interred in the earth, ….”. There is no requirement for a cement vault in state law and since we have no rules or regulations for the cemeteries, the sextons decided that we could not enforce a cement vault. 8. Adjournment: As there was no further business to come before the committee the meeting was adjourned by common consent at 12:05 p.m.