09/11/1996 BOARD OF SELECTMEN Minutes

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Projected Needs in 2004 It is projected that by 2004, the existing cemetery will be expanded but for exclusive use by members and family of the Town's Native Americans. The second cemetery site, most likely the Mingo site, will have been constructed and plots laid out. what follows is an analysis of how much acreage will the Town need versus what is being planned. Although not current (dated July 1950), a Planning Advisory Service report entitled Cemeteries in the city Plan, quoted an accepted standard from the "Cemetery Handbook" for the amount of grave sites per acres, which was determined to be 620 burials per acre. The Cemetery Study Committee envisions five acres being cleared. Not all the land can be used for plots, however, as a certain portion is devoted to roads, paths and perhaps water bodies. The Handbook estimates 70-77% of the land to be available as salable plots. Using an average of 75% land available for plots would provide 2,325p lots on 3.75 acres. To estimate the number of deaths of year-round Town residents, a death rate, and subsequently the number of deaths from 1997 (year the first plots are estimated to be sold) to 2004 needs to be determined. A estimated death rate of 0.89%. has been calculated in the Town of Mdshpee Population &Housing Projections 1992-2012 report. Applying this figure to the projected population numbers from 1997 to 2004 provides an estimated number of deaths between 873 (low range projection) to 951 Jro range high projection) with g P about 910 deaths being the average. Projected Number of Deaths Low Growth High Growth 1997 961100 1998 100 105 1999 103 111 2000 107 116 2001 111 122 2002 115 127 2003 119 132 2004 122 137 Total 8731 951 The above results indicate that the clearing of 5 acres should provide enough spaceace through 2004, although a couple of issues need to be mentioned. The first is that currently, most residents are not being buried in Town; otherwise the Meetinghouse Cemetery would have been filled up by now. Perhaps the Zack of an existing cemetery p g prevents residents from choosing to be buried here. Also to be considered are preferences for being buried in one's original town g (a factor for all the newcomers), in a cemetery based on one's religion and/or in a military-based National al Cemetery. Projected Needs in Buildout Once the Town approaches buildout, the current capacity should be studied as cu P tY of the five cleared acres currently proposed. what ultimately is needed will depend upon factors such as; how many residents buylots P p p in the cemetery, and when buildout actually occurs. Whoever ends up in charge of operating andmaintaining this facility should conduct a Space Needs Assessment every five years, since peo le,that do die in Town will be replaced by others who move in. p 24