BERNARDSTON — Without a designated meeting place, the Bernardston Cemetery Corp. often scrambles to find a location to meet with residents seeking a cemetery plot.
“If people needed to purchase a space, generally we’d meet them at the cemetery,” Bernardston Cemetery Corp. President Paul Palazzo said. “But if it’s raining, or worse yet snowing, it’s not a very conducive place to conduct business.”
Likewise, meeting in board members’ homes was less than ideal, Palazzo said. But now, it looks like the Cemetery Corp. will have a designated office space, tentatively starting Sept. 1.
The corporation, Palazzo explained, oversees daily management and maintenance of the town’s two cemeteries on Depot Street and Burke Flat Road, and sells plots to residents and families with relatives buried at one of the cemeteries.
The Selectboard has agreed to allow the corporation to use a small building behind Town Hall, referred to as the Hearse House.
http://townofbernardston.org/index.php/8-uncategorised/66-cemetery-commission
During a Selectboard meeting last month, Palazzo’s proposal to use the space was well received by the board. He expects the arrangement will be similar, with the Bernardston Cemetery Corp. leasing the space for $1 per year, and the town paying for the building’s electricity, though Palazzo said volunteers won’t be there often.
The space will store the organization’s records, making it easier for all volunteers to have access to them, Palazzo said. It will also have a table for a meeting space.
“The town is very accommodating to help people like us and the water department,” he said. “They play a crucial role in making it all happen. They don’t have to, but they do.”