Cemetery Commission Meeting Draft Minutes 11.20.25

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GUILFORD CEMETERY COMMISSION MEETING

THURSDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2025  9:30 a.m.

GUILFORD TOWN OFFICE

Cemetery Commissioners Present: Kyle Parker, Eric Morse, Carol Schnabel

Absent: Nancy Detra, Eric Feindel

Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 9:32 a.m.

Approval of Minutes: The September minutes were approved as submitted. 

Old Business:

Blanchard Tree:

Kyle brought us up to date on what he has recently learned.  SavATree from Jamaica estimated it would cost $10,000 – $15,000 to take the tree down and do no harm to the gravestones.  The man who looked at the tree said he is worried that a big leader on the tree might fall soon.  We once again talked about the difficult access, which is a big part of the problem for this job and also for mowing.  We wondered if we could approach this problem incrementally.  Eric will ask Charlie about that.  Kyle will also get in touch with Matt Stinchfield to get his thoughts. 

911 Addresses:

The cemeteries now have 911 addresses- Kyle will talk to the Fire Chief to see if anything else is needed- map at the station with cemeteries clearly marked?  Numbers on site?  Eric will talk to Jeff Nugent about updating the map. 

Temporary marker at Blanchard:

Eric will contact a relative.

Groll and Billings Cemeteries:

Carol and Eric Morse did some clean up in these 2 cemeteries last month.  They are in good shape.

New Business:

Burrows Plain:

Kyle and Whitney did a lot of clean up there.  Kyle thinks there might be more gravestones there than we had thought.

Plan winter meetings:

We decided to do a simulation of the process when someone contacts the Town because there has been a death in their family and they intend to bury them in Guilford.  We would like to create a handbook for the commissioners, which would include our brochure.

We elected to skip the meeting on December 18 unless something comes up that needs attention before the New Year.  We will make a final decision by December 11. 

Carol requested that commissioners remember to let us know when they cannot attend a meeting so that we can anticipate whether we will have a quorum.

Budget:

Kyle will contact Elly to see if there is anything that we need to do.

Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned at 10:18 a.m.

NEXT MEETING: THURSDAY JANUARY 15, 2026  9:30 a.m. at the Town Office