Nicola Nicosia, a Cemetery commissioner, looks through the newer section of the cemetery. This section backs up to a brook and appears crowded. Photo by Paula Muller
By Bridget Turcotte
SAUGUS — Saugus has a grave concern.
With less than 100 plots remaining at Riverside Cemetery, the Cemetery Commission is trying to find a solution for providing additional burial space to residents.
“Hopefully, they will last another year,” said chairman William Howell. “It’s hard to say.”
While the group is still in the beginning stages of drafting a plan, members are tossing around ideas to expand the 17-acre cemetery or find other town-owned land that would be suitable for a burial ground.
The commission is determining what the town is required to offer.
A state law requires towns and cities to have burial space for residents, but the group is looking into how the law should be interpreted, said Commissioner David Ferraro.
“Are we spinning our wheels trying to provide something we aren’t required to?” Ferraro asked. “We need to find out if we’re even liable to expand. If we’re not, great. The bylaw is written so vaguely. I want all my i’s dotted and t’s crossed before I do anything.”
Thomas Daly, chairman of the Legislative and Consumer Affairs Committee of the Massachusetts Cemetery Association, said when towns run out of space, the need can be met with a memorial garden and columbariums, which are freestanding structures that hold cremated remains.
“The responsibility is on the municipality to have a place for residents for burial,” Daly said. “What some communities have done is, if there are private cemeteries with more land or more space, make arrangements to fill those needs of the community. They need the help of their council to interpret those chapter laws.”
Expert consultants can be hired to create a master plan that would find ways to maximize the space, including redesigning roadways, he said. It’s an option member Nicola Nicosia said the commission is seriously considering.
At a joint meeting between the Tree Committee and the commission, Denise Slane, clerk for the Cemetery Department, was unsure if having space for cremated remains would be sufficient.
“There are so many people who want a full burial,” Slane said.
This past spring, the panel went before Town Meeting with a request for $17,000 to complete a survey of land on the opposite side of Shute Brook. Town Meeting denied the request, referring the matter back to the commission.
Ann Devlin, a Tree Committee member, said the area is occupied by the Saugus Tree Farm. The farm benefits the town in several ways, including helping to increase property values, she said.
Howell said the ideal plan would be to move the farm, not get rid of it. He added that the panel won’t know if the land is a viable option until tests are completed.
Devlin is not sure the land survey is money well spent.
“I’m also a Town Meeting Member and could not support allocating that money for the test,” Devlin said. “I don’t feel like the results are encouraging.”
Andrew DeSantis, an engineer who is also on the committee, said he sees the proximity to the brook as a problem. He has been faced with water when digging holes as shallow as 18 inches to plant a tree, he said.
Nicosia agrees there is a need for more land. But he is a strong advocate for cremation, which he said becomes increasingly more popular each year.
Riverside has a columbarium for veterans and their spouses in the veteran section at the front of the property. Three structures with a reflection bench between them were added to the far right of the cemetery for civilians within the past decade.
“I think it’s the coming thing,” Nicosia said. “We’re desperate. We have to do what is necessary.”
Nicosia said he hopes to see several more added. They provide space for dozens of people without taking up a large footprint, he said.
“I don’t want to have to say ‘I’m sorry about your loss but the commission can’t offer you a burial place,” said David Nelson, vice-chairman of the commission. “I don’t want to be on the commission that has to say that.”
Bridget Turcotte can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @BridgetTurcotte.