Adams Cemetery Commission Puts Off Urn Burials Until Spring
 The Cemetery Commission has stopped the burial of urns during the winter months because of the amount of manual labor involved. |
ADAMS, Mass. – The Cemetery Commission has decided to eliminate winter cremation burials.
The decision was made after Department of Public Works Deputy Director David Nuvallie was asked on Thursday about the difficulties conducting the burials.
Nuvallie said the gas-powered defroster is too large to make the small hole needed for cremation urns so the hole must be dug manually.
"You have to get the loader up there, a compressor, and you have to hook it up to a dump truck just to dig a small hole," Nuvallie said. "Literally, you have to take the whole army out for that."
Nuvallie said there were far fewer cremations 25 years ago, so it was more feasible to do all the work.
"We did eight or nine cremation burials a year in the past; now we are doing 70 to 75 a year and it's a lot of work," he said.
Cremated remains don't have to buried, and can be kept at home or in the vault in Town Hall until the grown thaws.
"The whole north end of this building is a vault, and ... if they want them here until the time of service we will do that free of charge," Nuvallie said. "I don't believe in charging them to store them. It's tacky in my book."
The burials will be suspended form Dec. 1 to April 1.
The commission also reported that repairs to walls in the Maple Street Cemetery have been completed. Ronald Rufo repaired the two walls for $2,900.
"I went by and looked at it and it looked good; he does good work," Commissioner Lawrence Clairmont said.
Nuvallie said Rufo offered to repair another wall in the cemetery for a discounted price of $800.
"He was all set up, and he didn't have to do the backside because it's all a concrete wall," Nuvallie said. "Some homeowner made repairs themselves within the last 80 years."
Nuvallie said he could not give permission because the committee never voted on it. The committee decided to revisit it when warmer weather returns in spring.
The commission also gave Nuvallie permission to have two new aluminum cast marker signs made for Bellevue Cemetery for unmarked areas. He said they will cost between $100 and $150 apiece.
"We have had them up about 20 years, and they look brand new so I am going to order some," he said. "…If we were running off 50 or 60 we could get a better price, but we aren't going to be putting in 50 or 60 more sections."
The money for the signs will come out of sign budget.
Tags: burials, cemetery commission,
