Town of ChichesterCemetery Trustees’ meeting
April 8, 2024
On April 8, 2024 @ 9:00 a.m. the Cemetery Trustees met at the Historical Society building.
Ruth Hammen, Fred Shaw and Brenda Boswak were in attendance.
OLD BUSINESS
The Cemetery Trustees’ proposed warrant article to ‘request the town of Chichester accept ownership of Hook Cemetery’, our request for $6,000 for the purpose of removal of dangerous dead Ash trees and a Cemetery Maintenance budget of $7,000 for 2024, were all accepted by an affirmative vote at Town Meeting. Brenda gave a brief explanation of our plan and resources to maintain Hook Cemetery, no questions were asked.The removal of Remembrance Wreaths is complete.Fred has been in communication with Joseph Beachy, Extol Tree Care, to schedule a date to meet with Fred and Scott Tepper, (abutting landowner to Burying Yard) for removal of the dead Ash trees in the Burying Yard. The recent heavy rainstorms have delayed the beginning of some of our springtime work. Leavitt Cemetery has some large trees that have come down on the cemetery fence from the abutting property. Brown Cemetery has a lot of limbs down as well as Knowlton-Edgerly Cemetery and Morrill Cemetery still has tree debris to be removed by the property owner who agreed to remove a dead tree that fell last fall. The Rules & Regulations sign holder at Leavitt Cemetery has been damaged as well. We will check with Lee Beachy about repairing it, if possible.
NEW BUSINESS
Garry Kalajian, of Ararat Forge, joined us once again to provide us with his proposed estimates for creating hand-wrought solid iron, custom designed gates for Morrill Cemetery and Brown Cemetery. He offered an option for theft-proofing the gates, which we will gladly have him implement when he installs the gates. Garry can begin anytime to create the gates. Ruthie will check with the Town Administrator about the location of the account holding the remaining donation balance from Martha Dodge-Wilkerson. Garry will provide an invoice to us later today and Ruthie will submit that to the Town Administrator to pay Garry a deposit of half the estimated cost of creating Brown Cemetery gate, $1550.
Ruthie will order 225 American flags from Flagworks Over America, LLC, in Concord. All the flags from last season were in unusable condition.
Fred is working with Sharon Allaire to provide her a ‘Right of Interment’ at Leavitt Cemetery, potentially lot area174 BR. Brenda will contact NH Monuments to order her cornerstones.
Fred received a photo from John Healy of a gravestone that was discovered in the swampy area of Leavitt Cemetery. He will ask John to get the stone to us.
It is a sunny day, and there will be a solar eclipse this afternoon, so we adjourned the meeting at 11:30 a.m.:)
Respectfully submitted,
Brenda Boswak, Cemetery Trustee, Secretary