Trustees Seeking Fees Paid for Cemetery Fields

The Amherst Cemetery Trustees are looking to collect fees that have been paid to the Amherst Recreation Commission for the use of Cemetery Fields over the years.

The trustees have allowed the fields to be used for recreation for many years, which will end when the property is returned in September, 2014. However, the fees paid by private groups and sports teams should have gone to the trustees, and not the Amherst Recreation Commission, according to an email sent to town administrator Jim O’Mara and selectmen.

According to the email received through a Right-To-Know request, trustees had learned that the fees were being collected by the commission at a meeting with the Attorney General's office on April 18, which was attended by selectman Brad Galinson.

Terry Knowles of the Charitable Trust Unit of the Attorney General's Office said that Cemetery Fields is an asset of the Cemetery Trust Fund, which means that any fees should have gone directly into it.

The trustees stated that they were not aware that the Recreation Commission had been charging fees for the use of the fields

They have requested an audit on all fees collected between 1998 and June 1, 2013. The payment is to be received by June 30, 2013, and the trustees have the right to end recreational use of the property before the 2014 deadline.

Fees collected after the beginning of June will go to the Cemetery Trustees, according to the email, until the fields become unavailable next year.

Cemetery trustee Peter Bergin said in a phone call on Friday that this issue will be discussed in detail at an information session Monday night at Souhegan High School.

Amherst Recreation director Nancy McMillan did not wish to comment on the issue Friday, but said that the commission has collected the fees in recent years, not since 1998. She added that the fields have been an asset to her department for many years, and their loss next year will certainly have an impact.

Join the Amherst Cemetery Trustees at their Information Session on Monday, May 6 at Souhegan High School Cafeteria, at 7 PM.