The Cemetery Commission on Monday decided not to apply for Community Preservation Act funding via the Community Preservation Committee because it has not yet spent its previous grant awards.

Under the CPA, at least 10% of the funding raised must be allocated among three categories — open space, historic preservation and affordable housing, according to the state website. The remaining 70% can be allocated to any of these categories, as well as for recreation purposes.

Chair Linda Kimball explained that the previous allocations of $20,000 per year for the past couple of years have been used to fund headstone preservation work at town cemeteries by Gravestone Services of New England. The New Hampshire-based company previously only could perform work in Hopkinton for a few days last year due to its heavy scheduling throughout New England and the mid-Atlantic states. The company was paid about $9,000 for last year’s work, she said.

Kimball recently flagged stones most in need of repair. But the contractor reported to her in August that the machine used to lift the headstones “has a broken part” and likely won’t be repaired until October.

“He was doing so good,” she said. “I’m not holding out much hope that he will come back later this year.”.

Because this account still has a balance of about $47,000, Kimball said she will not seek additional CPC funding during this application round.

Work planned for Comey Chapel

Kimball said Mike Whalen, the chair of the Veterans Celebration Committee and a longtime town volunteer, has offered to re-point the chimney of Comey Chapel free of charge. The chapel is located in Evergreen Cemetery at 304 Wood Street.

“He’s very excited to do the work,” Kimball said.

Kimball said she will coordinate a time with Whalen and a contractor who will repair the church’s exterior. No interior repair work can be performed until the outdoor work is completed.

“The chapel is in really bad shape,” she explained. “There’s been woodpecker damage and rot damage.”

Regulations vote set for November

The commission planned to vote on updated cemetery regulations at its next meeting on Nov. 9. Department of Public Works Director Kerry Reed noted that the regulations had not been revised since February 2024.

Some of the issues that will be reviewed are not selling plots to non-residents unless approved by the Cemetery Commission chair, removing triple burial plots from the document because they no longer are offered, potentially increasing fees and permission for the burial of cremated pets.

DPW director talks future plans

Reed also noted that the department is looking into digitizing deeds to plots.

“It’s always just been literally the paper,” she said. “There’s always an issue with paper.”

Also, Reed requested that the commission consider allocating funds from its perpetual care account for smaller projects.

“We’ve been having some maintenance issues at the Mount Auburn Cemetery garage,” she explained. “It’s an older building, and there are issues with mice. The lights are flickering, so we need to bring in an electrician to make sure the wiring’s all good.”

Additionally, the bathroom there is in need of plumbing repair, according to Reed. She said she will get quotes for all proposed work.

“If you’re talking about plumbing and electrical, we might be talking about a lot of money,” Kimball said.

Surveying work also may need to be performed because survey markers were never installed at the Mount Auburn Cemetery addition, according to Reed. The staff was measuring plots using a drawing of how they originally were surveyed and sketched.

Reed said she will get an estimate for this work to give to the commission for its next meeting.

Officers reelected

Kimball retained her position as chair in a 2-0 vote. Secretary Regina Miloslavsky also was reelected 2-0.