Riverside Cemetery running out of space

SAUGUS-Residents wishing to rest eternally in Riverside Cemetery may be out of luck.With only 283 double lots left, Cemetery Commissioner Dennis Gould said the 17-acre cemetery is about three years from running out of space. The problem, Gould said, is there is limited land available to put a new cemetery.”The only place viable for a new cemetery is the Curly property,” Gould told Selectmen last week. “It’s about 55 acres with nine acres of wetlands.”Gould said 25 acres of the property located off the end of Water Street, have been earmarked as a possible location for a future school.”I don’t think it’ll ever be used for a school, but we’re looking at 23.9 acres on the left,” he said indicating a map. “We’d like to use 17 acres of that.”Gould said one snag the commission has hit in pursuing the property is there seems to be no clear title on it.Gould said he approached the School Department because he thought it would need to sign off on the plan but, according the assessors map, the Department of Conservation and Recreation owns the land.Gould said he was sure it was just a paper error, but it needed to be fixed. He asked the Selectmen if they would mention the issue to the assessors. He also asked if the board would help put together an article for Town Meeting requesting use of the land.”If (town officials) allot us 17acres, we can move forward,” he said. “The Curly property is the only viable property.”Gould also said it was his understanding there might be a land swap deal in the making for the property. If that was the case, he asked if the board would consider making the 17-acre request for the cemetery part of the deal.His remark caught Selectmen Peter Rossetti off guard.”I didn’t think that was public knowledge at this point,” he said. “It’s all in the speculation phase.”Gould’s interest was only on finding property for new plots.The good news, he said, is the new cemetery would come at no cost to the town because plots could be pre-sold and the money used to pave and prepare the area.Selectman Stephen Horlick asked if 17 acres would be enough space.”There are 10,000 (lots) in the cemetery now and that’s 17 acres,” Gould said. “It would be good for generations.”Gould said it also helps that veterans and babies, for the most part, already have a burial location. He was referring to a new lot in Saugus Center that was dedicated to veterans in November. Gould said the property included 100 lots and would last a long time. A baby lot was also set aside, which Gould said would also take care of that segment for a number of years.A columbarium was also installed in 2006 for cremations, which also freed up lot space.The board voted to support Gould in that it would meet with the School Committee to discuss the probable use of the property and it would ask town counsel to try and clear the title.