Bellevue Cemetery Veteran Section May Open To Spouses
ADAMS, Mass. — The Cemetery Commission may allow spouses buried in the veterans section of Bellevue Cemetery.
Commissioner Bruce Shepley asked the commissioners Tuesday during their monthly meeting what they thought about allowing spouses of veterans to be buried in the designated section where veterans are buried for free.
"There is a whole lot of room up there ... and right now spouses cannot be buried in the veteran slots so is that something we want to look at and what would be the impacts?" Shepley asked.
He said veterans can be buried with their spouse and dependent children in veteran cemeteries.
Commissioner Jim Taylor said allowing spouses to be buried there may diminish the meaning of a veterans lot and he worried about the limited space.
"You may be taking way the meaning of a veteran area if you start putting everyone in there," he said. "I used to work up there and I buried people up there and it's not that big of an area and we may have to find another area and our veterans will be divided up."
Shepley, who is a veteran, said spouses are a big part of the military retirement ceremony and personally he felt spouses should be included.
"From a personal perspective, having recently retired and being a veteran, the sacrifice of a spouse is sometimes far greater than the sacrifice of the veteran," he said. "As part of the retirement ceremony, it becomes very centered on the recognition of the spouse and all the sacrifices they have made while their significant other is away."
Commissioner Fredrick Hobart said it might be best to only allow cremated remains of a spouse in the designated area.
Shepley agreed it would save space but he didn't want to keep out those who may want a more traditional burial.
Hobart added that most veterans purchase their own plots if they want to be buried with their families.
Shepley said the commission will have to review its policies to see if the veterans area had been designated for veterans without families.
The commission agreed to do more research and discuss the option further at a future meeting.
In other business, the commission decided to create a policy that mandates the funeral homes pay the burial permit fee upfront before they are given the permit.
"With the budget restraints on the town, if we are providing a service we should get paid for it," Shepley said. "There are very few departments if any that say 'we will bill you.' That doesn't happen if I get a dog license. I don't say 'bill me'."
Shepley said many of the funeral homes still owe the town money.
Hobart suggested passing a policy immediately.
"Immediately, starting now, if you want to get the permit you pay upfront and I think we have to go after all of the arrears," he said. "We ought to do it now I am not interested in how other towns handle it."
Shepley agreed but said he preferred checking with other communities and crafting an actual agreement before voting so if a funeral home does not pay in the future, the commission can point to a document.
Continuing on the topic of fees, Shepley said the town administrator has asked all departments to review their fees and see if they are comparable to other communities.
Shepley suggested tabling the discussion until he can collect information from other cemetery commissions, but noted the commission went through this process in 2014 and the new fees have only been on the books since the beginning of 2015.
"Right now it has only been in effect for 18 to 20 months," he said. "We spent the fall of 2014 going over everything and we spent a lot of time getting them up to speed."
Hobart had concerns about raising fees again so soon.
Shepley said the cemetery fees may still be spot on but they should still review them because the commission was asked for a recommendation.
Tags: cemetery commission, veterans,
