The New Ipswich Select Board continues to contest orders from the state to move gravesites in the South Cemetery from both a piece of land owned by the state and town-owned land on which the state has an access easement.
In 2013, the state discovered the town had been selling burial plots on state-owned land, approximately an acre in size, between the South Cemetery in Smithville village and the abutting dam. The land is meant to be used by the state to park equipment when the dam needs repairs, but the town has been selling gravesites on the land since the 1980s, apparently without realizing the land didn’t belong to the town.
Some of the plots have burials interred, and others have been sold but are empty.
The state’s Department of Environmental Services and the town have been going back and forth over the issue ever since it was discovered in 2013. Town officials want to reach a solution that would not require moving any graves.
The issue is compounded by the fact that the town has also been selling gravesites on land that the state has an easement for in order to access the state-owned land by the dam. The easement allows the town to use its own land for any purpose as long as that use does not interfere with the state’s ability to access its land.
Last month, in a Sept. 4 letter, DES continues to contend the town must move gravesites both on state-owned land and the town-owned land on which the state has the easement for access.
In the past, there have been as many as 80 graves said to be located either on the town-owned land or within the easement. DES, in its letter, identified at least 17 graves the state says needs to be moved. However, the town is pushing back, saying no graves within the easement need to be removed.
During a work session Thursday, Selectmen poured over state maps and concluded that while the state may be able to press its point on its own land, the town isn’t prepared to move any gravesites located in the easement.
DES says the town needs to remove any graves within 50 feet of the dam to allow equipment through. However, according to DES’s maps, it appears there is at least 12 feet, and in some places, up to 20 feet, between graves and the dam, which is wide enough to drive equipment through, Selectman David Lage said.
“They’ve responded they can get in with smaller equipment, but it would cost more money. Is that our problem?” Lage said at Thursday’s meeting.
In an interview Friday, Selectman John Veeser said the state never outlined exactly how many feet must be left clear in the easement. While the state may prefer a wider access lane, to put equipment side-by-side or use larger vehicles, Veeser said access is still possible without moving graves – which is all that’s required by the letter of the easement agreement.
“We have not made it impossible,” Veeser said. “We may have made it an inconvenience, but they can still get in there.”
The town is willing to make some concessions, Veeser said, and during its work session on Thursday, the board discussed the possibility of adding an additional entrance and exit point to the cemetery, at the town’s expense, to make it easier for vehicles to access the dam.
For the acre of land the state actually owns, Veeser said the town has “no leg to stand on” if the state insists the graves be moved. Veeser said the town has not given up on negotiating another solution.
Two years ago, the town offered a land swap, to give the state a portion of the cemetery annex, which doesn’t yet have any burials in it, to use as their staging area, but the state never responded to that offer.
“Until our hand is forced, we’re under constant negotiation,” Veeser said. “And we will not stop negotiation until they say ‘We’re no longer discussing this.’ We are trying to work out every possible avenue to minimize any impact to graves and the families involved.”
The board drafted a response letter to DES based on their Thursday work session.
Ashley Saari can be reached at 924-7172 ext. 244 or asaari@ledgertranscript.com. She’s on Twitter @AshleySaariMLT.