Saugus cemetery commissioner: We followed all the rules on trees

SAUGUS – Cemetery Commissioner Dennis Gould said his organization followed all the rules in its quest to reopen the veteran’s cemetery in Saugus Center but admitted the tree-cutting incident might have been better handled.”I understand the process was flawed, but I thought honoring decades of veterans outweighed the trees,” he said.Last month, workers cleaning up the ancient cemetery for new use cut down a stand of trees without seeking permission from town officials. The move set off a controversy that has yet to subside.Gould said the cemetery workers were essentially doing their job in cleaning up the site but members of the Tree Committee were outraged that protocol was not followed. A tree hearing is required before any tree on town-owned property could be taken down.Tree Committee member Al DiNardo was not only upset by the loss of the trees but was equally startled to hear the cemetery was being reopened.”I was surprised they are disturbing it at all,” he said. “That’s historic burial ground. That’s preserved.”Gould said the reopening should come as no shock to anyone.”We had four posted public hearings on that particular subject,” he said. “We went to the Conservation Commission, the Historical Commission, the Building Inspector and we offered to go before the Planning Board but they said we had everything in order and they didn’t need to see us.”The Cemetery Commission began looking into reopening the cemetery over a year ago when it realized it wouldn’t be long before Riverside Cemetery would run out of space.With room for nearly 100 graves, Gould said reopening the cemetery could provide resting places for veterans for decades.Town Manager Andrew Bisignani gave his full support to Gould when he came to him about reopening the burial ground. Bisignani said he gave the commission a to-do list of sorts to touch upon.”And we touched upon all of them,” Gould said. “There was a due process and we followed it.”The only place they admittedly dropped the ball was with the removal of the trees. But even there Gould said he believed the intentions were right.”There was always a plan to but a fence in. It’s just the process that was flawed,” he said. “We didn’t notify the neighbors and we should have. I think if people really understood, (our) process took over a year. We even met with the Historical Commission and they did a survey with me.”Bisignani said he already had a plan in the works to replace the felled trees with arborvitaes, a type of evergreen, which will cover the fence and offer better coverage for the neighbors.”It will look neater and nicer than it did before,” he said. “They have growth all year long and will give the neighbors better protection.”As for the cemetery, Gould said once they clean up the roots of the downed trees and finish cleaning up the area the cemetery will be ready to go.