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Madison Applies for Neglected Cemetery grant

With old towns there are old cemeteries—long-standing cemeteries that are in need of attention. In order to support Madison’s many cemeteries, the town has applied for a Neglected Cemetery Account Grant offered through the state Office of Policy and Management to help fund certain remediations.

First Selectman Tom Banisch said the grant would benefit the town.

“The grant is designed to help towns deal with neglected cemeteries,” he said. “The most you can get is $2,000 and that is what we applied for.”

Madison’s cemeteries are divided into municipal, town, and privately owned properties. The cemeteries in town are Indian, Rockland, West, Hammonasset, Summer Hill, and West Side Cemetery, all of which are under the jurisdiction of individual sextons.

Currently, the town budgets money for each sexton to maintain the grounds. Banisch said the town jumped on the chance to apply for this grant because the town is currently concerned about the condition of three cemeteries.

“Hammonasset Cemetery is one of them and that is over on River Road,” he said. “That is the one we are most concerned with right now, because the sexton for that property died last year and we have a concern with the records and a bunch of stuff we need to do to get things right over there.”

Hammonasset is also a concern as it is the resting place of many of Madison’s historical figures, including Daniel Hand. The money from the grant will go beyond helping to maintain basic ground maintenance, according to Banisch.

“This grant is more for physical attention to the grounds as opposed to mapping or things like that,” he said. “What it will do is it will give us the chance to spend some money. We have money in our budget to cut the grass, but we don’t have money to fix the stonewall or to replace the fence so it will allow us to do some of the work that has kind of been let go.”

Banisch said the town hopes to hear back on the grant early this fall.

“The deadline is late September, so I expect we will hear some time after that,” he said.