VASSALBORO: Debate over trees at cemeteries continues

by Mary Grow

The debate over trees in Vassalboro cemeteries continued at the Cemetery Committee’s Aug. 18 meeting, with five committee members re-explaining their position to a three-woman audience.

Audience member Kelly Clark is especially interested in Union Cemetery, on the west side of Holman Day Road. Knowing, she said, that not all she reads on Facebook is accurate, she came to the meeting “to get the facts.”

Candy Clark regretted trees taken down and not replaced in front of the Methodist, or East Vassalboro, Cemetery, on Bog Road. Her sister, Janice Clowes, was mostly silent.

Committee members thanked the women for taking time to attend the meeting. Their meetings are recorded and posted on the town website, Vassalboro.net, accessed under each meeting’s agenda, they pointed out.

As at previous meetings, committee members emphasized that they like and respect trees. They also like and respect gravestones. When trees threaten gravestones, their priority is the stones. They gave two main reasons.

— Gravestones are memorials to past residents, some with living descendants who care about the stones; some with no living descendants, who need the community’s respect; some veterans who deserve honor.
— When a tree damages a stone by dropping a dead branch on it, or falling across it, repairs demand committee members’ and other volunteers’ time, and taxpayers’ money.

Committee member David Jenney said because of the potential for damage, some cemeteries’ rules forbid planting trees, for example in Cross Hill Cemetery adjoining his land. People plant them anyway; and because grave plots are small (usually 4-by-12-feet, he said), the trees trespass onto neighboring plots.

Jenney told Kelly Clark he, too, admires Union Cemetery, calling it “beautiful” and “the most interesting in Vassalboro.” But, he said, last year he identified an estimated $25,000 worth of damage to stones. Committee member Jody Kundreskas said it can take up to 15 hours of work to repair one stone.

With a limited budget, committee members focus on removing threats first.

Committee members are unwilling to start repairs in Union Cemetery, given the number of trees in unknown health. “There’s no point in fixing things that’ll just get broken,” Jenney said.

Committee chairman Savannah Clark replied to Candy Clark that arborist Tim Basham had condemned most of the trees in front of Methodist cemetery, leading to their removal.

An arborist’s report on a tree, she and others explained, ends in a point system that combines information on the type of tree, age, condition, likelihood of falling and what it would hit if it did fall, plus a cost estimate for proposed action. Based on points, the arborist can recommend removal, trimming or leaving in place.

Member Jane Aiudi assured the audience that committee members do not cut every tree; they remove those likely to do damage soon, not ones that might be a threat in a hundred years.

Kelly Clark pointed out other causes of damage to stones, like frost-heaves and weathering. Committee members agreed trees are not the only problem in cemetery maintenance; Jenney added lawn-mowing done without adequate care.

Kelly and Candy Clark asked why, when trees had to go, they were not replaced with shrubs, like lilacs, that would add beauty back. Jenney said committee members had considered planting decorative shrubs.

But, Savannah Clark said, with a limited budget, committee members focus on removing threats first. Perhaps, she suggested, residents would donate money or suitable shrubs, and provide labor to plant them.

Kundreskas added that they would need to be planted thoughtfully, so they would not cover gravestones as they spread; and they would need maintenance. She and Jenney said lilacs in Farwell-Brown Cemetery, off Riverside Drive, are overgrown and pushing the wrought-iron fence.

Kelly Clark predicted many people would be willing to become stewards of Union Cemetery and learn how to repair stones, when they realized there was a need. Jenney said they could form a cemetery association and ask the select board to give it responsibility for maintenance.

But, he cautioned, there used to be a Cross Hill Cemetery Association, of which he was president. When he was ready to resign, he asked every member, and other people, to succeed him. When no one volunteered, he asked then Town Manager Mary Sabins to have the town take over, offering an incentive by donating some of his land to provide room for more lot sales.

Volunteers need training by a professional, to avoid unintentionally damaging stones, Kundreskas said. There are also legal issues; for example, gravestones belong to families, not to the town.

After the discussion, committee members voted unanimously to send out a request for proposals for an arborist’s assessment of Nichols, Oak Grove Road, Webber Pond Road, Union, Weeks and Priest Hill cemeteries. Savannah Clark had visited Priest Hill Cemetery; she reported 14 trees line its stone wall.

Other business Aug. 18 included Kundreskas’ report that she, Jenney and volunteer Bruce Lancaster had spent recent weekends fixing stones in the Methodist Cemetery. Hot weather and dry ground have made the work unusually difficult, she said.

Other committee members approved Cara Kent’s suggestion that they research and publicize information about some of the people buried in Vassalboro cemeteries, to inform residents of the historical value. Clowes, who is president of the Vassalboro Historical Society, offered help.

Committee members plan to discuss at their next meeting the draft cemetery committee policy that select board members referred to them at the Aug. 12 select board meeting.

The next cemetery committee meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 15, in the town office meeting room.