LETTER: Death, Taxes and Playing Fields

The election is over, default budgets are in place and another prospective replacement for Cemetery Fields was voted down. With the time remaining for the recreational use of Cemetery Fields coming to an end in the Fall of 2014, it is unlikely that new facilities will be found, funded and built before the agreement runs out.

So what happens when Cemetery Fields is no longer available for recreation? Youth sports will continue, it just means more use of the remaining facilities, tighter scheduling during peak times and more traffic in other areas of the town Meanwhile the town will begin the work of converting the playing fields to a cemetery, work that will cost $600,000.00 to $700,000.00. These are tax dollars- there isn’t a fund, or reserve that will cover this expense.

Considering that there were only 12 burials in Meadowview Cemetery in 2011, this doesn’t seem like the best investment the town can make. It will be decades before there is an actual need for Cemetery Fields as a cemetery. Spending tax dollars to convert playing fields to a cemetery that the town doesn’t need seems like a giant waste of existing resources that doesn’t serve the needs of the town today or in the foreseeable future.

There has to be a solution that will preserve the playing fields and insure that that there is adequate space for future burials.

-Andy Rowe