Lebanon
The City Council decided on Wednesday to explore ways to restore headstones and memorials neglected in the city’s eight public burial grounds, including possibly forming of a board of cemetery trustees or appointing a full-time cemetery sexton.
The state of Lebanon’s cemeteries has long drawn disappointment from residents and historians, who point to knocked-over or deteriorating headstones as a need for action. On Wednesday night, city councilors agreed with those sentiments and promised to do more.
“I think most of us have been concerned about this for years,” Assistant Mayor Tim McNamara said. “There’s pretty wide agreement that our cemeteries could be maintained to a greater level than they are today.”
Care of Lebanon’s cemeteries currently is the responsibility of the Public Works Department, which performs routine maintenance, such as mowing. But headstones and memorials aren’t repaired by the city.
That’s because they’re considered personal property, meaning any damage to them isn’t covered by Lebanon’s municipal liability insurance, according to a memo written to the City Council by attorney Jane Taylor of the Lebanon-based Gardner Fulton and Waugh. Vandalism and damage to the headstones, she wrote, might instead be covered by an individual’s homeowners insurance.
If the city did want to repair memorials, it would be at its own expense and only after a process known as “deceleration of abandonment,” Taylor wrote in the memo. Under state law, municipalities can declare a plot abandoned if it has been both neglected for at least 20 years and “for the purpose of preservation, maintenance or restoration.”
But even then, finding the money to restore headstones can be difficult. The city budgeted roughly $120,000 this year for cemetery maintenance, but some have called for more funds.
Advocates point to Lebanon’s perpetual care trust fund as a possible source of money. It’s partially made up of the $250 fee plot owners pay when purchasing their lot.
The fund currently is made up of 3,251 individual accounts and contained $888,164 at the end of 2016, according to city records.
However, that fund is a nonexpendable trust, meaning the city can only spend its interest, which came to $14,649, or $4.51 per plot, in 2016. That money is traditionally placed into Lebanon’s general fund, which is used to pay for cemetery care, according to Interim City Manager Paula Maville.
“It’s very, very minimal, obviously,” she said of the interest on Wednesday night.
The city also is limited in how it can use the interest to repair specific plots, which requires a probate court ruling before money from an individual trust account can be spent on its headstone, Taylor wrote. That’s because each individual trust account is supposed to only pay for repairs at that owner’s plot.
Despite those restrictions, some attendees at Wednesday’s meeting suggested that Lebanon adopt the repair strategies used by neighboring communities.
Will Shoemaker, Enfield’s cemetery sexton, said that his town’s cemetery trustees are able to direct his efforts repairing headstones at 19 cemeteries. The trustees have their own budget, he said, and the time to watch over issues at the cemeteries.
“I think you need to have elected cemetery trustees and have them appoint a sexton,” he told the Council.
Fran Hanchett, president of the Lebanon Historical Society, also recommended having a budget for restoring headstones, akin to Hanover’s method.
“The city’s not holding up to their end of the bargain as to what should be covered at the cemeteries,” she said.
The City Council ultimately agreed to discuss creating a task force that could make recommendations. Councilor Sarah Welsch said she would spearhead the effort and submit a task force proposal in the coming weeks.
Tim Camerato can be reached at tcamerato@vnews.com or 603-727-3223.