HOULTON, Maine — Town Councilors on Monday evening approved revisions that were made to the town’s cemetery code in order to finalize regulations for improving lots in municipal cemeteries.
Milton Cone, the town’s cemetery superintendent, said that the updates would protect the town, the cemetery workers and improve the appearance and uniformity of the cemetery lots.
According to the new code revisions, cemetery lawns cannot be obstructed by any plantings or decoration except in the case that plantings of flowers are made in front of the above ground monument only. Such plantings cannot exceed 14 inches in width and cannot go beyond the base of the monument.
Also, only one upright monument will be permitted on a lot and it must be located in the center of the lot. No monument can exceed a base size from end to end of 60 percent of the width of the lot. All headstones and monuments must have a cement poured foundation of not less than four feet in depth. Grave markers also must be set flush with the ground.
Cone said that this is the first time that major revisions to the code have been made in 41 years, and that the changes would improve maintenance of the cemetery.
“Making sure that the markers are flush with the ground and not above ground means that the mowers won’t damage the markers and the markers won’t damage the mowers,” he said. “Having monuments with four feet of foundation means they won’t fall over…. I think these changes will stand the test of time.”
Councilors approved the changes.
