ADAMS, Mass. — The Cemetery Commission heard from new Department of Public Works Director Robert Tober on Thursday, who said the long-awaited renovation of the garage at Bellevue Cemetery will begin in the coming weeks.

 

"It has been a long drawn out process," Commissioner Bruce Shepley said.

 

This project goes back to 2017, when the commission came to an agreement that a cold storage shed at Bellevue Cemetery was on the verge of collapse.

 

The project spanned from a complete rebuild to the renovation and expansion of the current garage. The rebuild was deemed too expensive so the commission agreed to renovate the standing cement block garage and purchased an additional storage shed.

 

Town meeting allocated $125,000 from cemetery funds to support the project 

 

Tober said the project should start in two or three weeks and he expects a quick turnaround because the contractor plans to phase the project over about a week and a half.

 

"Hopefully they will do them right after but there may be a slight delay between the roof and the doors," he said.

 

Tober said much of the funds originally were to be used to address a retaining wall near the garage but this was found to be unnecessary.

 

"It is secure. It has been there for so many years and I don't think it is going anywhere," Tober said. "I think we won't see the day in our lives when we have to worry about it." 

 

Instead, these funds were turned back to the garage to replace doors and windows with better insulated fixtures. He said this is also the case with the garage doors and that the roof will be done with insulated material.

 

Tober said he wished there were funds to side the building that would make it more efficient. 

 

Shepley said there may be an opportunity to address this if there are additional funds left over. Also, if the commissioners deem it a necessary addition, they could go back before town meeting and ask for more funds.

 

"We will sit down and see what is left and what we still had hoped for," he said. "If there are things we think are essential we can go back to town meeting."

 

In other business, Tober informed the commission that the historic Quaker Meeting House in Maple Street Cemetery will have to undergo some repairs. 

 

"There are some issues up there — one gable end on the inside where the post and beams connect. There is one that has actually gone about an inch and a half gap," Tober said. "The whole gable is kicking out a little bit."

 

He said he was told this by the Quaker Meeting House Committee, which has a $16,000 budget to repair the historic building.  

 

The committee plans to hire someone to do this work in the summer.

 

There were some questions about who was responsible for the Quaker Meeting House.

 

Shepley did not think it was under the Cemetery Commission's purview or even the towns. He thought  it may be worth running it by the Historical Commission.