Carlisle Cemetery Committee Tables Marker Equity Proposal, Approves Lot Transfer

CARLISLE — April 1, 2026 — Carlisle's Cemetery Committee deferred a vote on proposed marker-rule changes while approving a routine lot transfer at its April 1 meeting. Resident and former committee chair Dick Monaghan, of 158 Hubbard Street, presented two proposals: equalizing the number of individual flat markers permitted for civilian burial plots with the four-marker limit already allowed for veteran plots, and replacing a requirement for 18-inch concrete footings under civilian markers with the four-inch stone-dust base used for veteran stones — a change he said would cut monument-installation costs from roughly $300 to $150. Staff raised concerns about grounds maintenance, potential hardscape proliferation, and the pending Veterans Administration policy environment before the committee agreed to take the matter up as a main agenda item at its May 6 meeting. In a separate unanimous vote, the committee approved transferring four lots purchased in 1998 by the Puro family into the Norma Shapiro Trust at a $50 fee. Staff also reported that a recently discovered archive book has revealed the locations of 397 previously unrecorded graves and identified two Revolutionary War veterans, one War of 1812 veteran, and one Civil War veteran whose burials had been unknown; federal headstone applications have been filed for all four.