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South Cemetery wall to be repaired

LYNDEBOROUGH – The South Cemetery retaining wall along Cemetery Road is “bulging out” a little, according to cemetery trustees. It could become a safety hazard, and will be repaired this summer. The restoration work has been planned for the past several years while options were studied. The cut stone wall dates to the 1880s, when the cemetery was enlarged after the Soldier’s Monument was erected in 1879.

Trustees Ginny Chrisenton and Bob Rogers met with the board of Selectmen on Wednesday, May 22, to discuss the project. Work will begin after the current reconstruction of Center Road has been completed. The trustees have accepted a bid for the work, “not to exceed the $14,700 approved by the Budget Committee.”

Exact costs will “depend on what he finds when he takes it apart,” Chrisenton said. “Only one lane will be closed,” and work will be coordinated with Road Agent Mark Chase.

The work will involves removing the capstones, long sections of granite, some of them still holding the iron rings once used to hitch horses. The wall will be dismantled, the space behind the wall excavated, the wall rebuilt, and then the capstones replaced. Two entrances in the “new section,” the eastern end, will be repaired. The entrances have partially collapsed and some of the stones were stolen. The “new” section dates to the 1880s. When the cemetery was established is not known but there are several Revolutionary War veterans buried on the hill in the original section.

Chrisenton said they would also look at repairing a section of the Johnson’s Corner Cemetery wall.

The Select Board also met with several volunteers interested in forming an Information Technologies Advisory Committee.

Chairman Mark Chamberlain said the goal was to “find out how to get high speed Internet services into town.” The problem has existed for years – all of the surrounding towns have cable – “and we don’t want the public to think we aren’t doling anything. It’s been very frustrating.”

Town Administrator Russ Boland said, while TDS workers have been seen around town recently, apparently stringing fiber optic cable, there has been no communication with the town office. Those workers have indicated “that up to 500 homes will get fiber optics by fall,” but there has been no comment as to which houses those are.

The new committee will hold an organizational meeting, elect officers, decide on policies, and look for answers.

In other business, Mark Chase was confirmed as the town’s Road Agent with a term of three years. He has been serving as interim road agent since the resignation of Kent Perry last August.

The town’s 2008 F-550 dump truck, with a sander, is now being offered for bid. If interested, contact the town office.

The board accepted with thanks the donation of $1,000 to the Kimball Memorial Fund. Interest from the fund is divided between the J.A. Tarbell Library and upkeep of the town common. Alice Kimball was the founder of the Village Improvement Society in 1910.

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