Thursday, February 20, 2003
Cemetery plan deserves support
More than 300 cemeteries dot the towns and villages on the Otsego County planning department's cemetery map. And that list includes only the cemeteries we know about.
Unfortunately, many of these sites may have been forgotten over the years. At one point in time, they were maintained on a regular basis by family members or loyal community members to accommodate the visitation from loved ones.
As time has gone on, the grass has begun to grown taller and visitors are now few and far between. The caretakers have grown older or moved on and can no longer keep up the service they have performed for so many years.
What now?
According to town law, the towns get the responsibility of care-taking once a cemetery association can no longer fulfill the job. The towns that do obey the law are only required to remove weeds and grass from the premises at least twice a year.
But 315 known cemeteries is quite an amount for our county to handle.
Thankfully, there are already volunteers in the county who look after some of the cemeteries. They take on a project such as this because they feel it is an important responsibility to them as community members.
Martin Dunckel, resident of Mohawk, realized just how important a project it was when he found his family burial ground had wasted away without proper maintenance.
His question became - who will take care of the grounds when he's gone?
He answered his own question with a program he helped start called "Adopt-A-Cemetery." New York State Assemblymen Bill Magee is now sponsoring the proposed bill to put in place a mechanism patterned after the popular and very successful Adopt-A-Highway program.
The program is designed to coordinate services for volunteer groups to improve, repair and maintain cemeteries. Signs will also be posted which will show the groups involved.
The legislature also addresses concerns about liability for municipalities and cemetery associations.
The plan is an opportunity for volunteer groups to donate their time an energy by maintaining the cemeteries in their community. It can take the "burden off the towns," Troy Waffner, a legislative aid for Magee, said.
We applaud the proposed bill. It will give the residents of New York State an opportunity to give back to their community and preserve the heritage that is so overwhelmingly present throughout our state.