BROOKFIELD — Burials at the city’s two-century-old cemetery have been suspended amid the ongoing search for a replacement to oversee the property.
The vacancy in leadership over Central and Laurel Hill cemeteries is an example of a wider problem across the state — volunteers no longer want to be in charge of graves, and hundreds have been left behind, said Jeff Nolan, who is the lone member. from the Central Cemetery Association of Brookfield until his recent resignation.
Nolan – who is serving in an interim capacity to facilitate the succession of funeral operations despite stepping down as trustee – said it was time for the 10 acres of burial ground to be managed by trained professionals, and it was something he had been trying to make happen since 2017.
He also called for changes statewide, noting Connecticut was “unique” in its lack of oversight of cemeteries’ “operational or fiduciary obligations.”
“There are many burial requests and open issues that need to be addressed by full-time professionals working with modern systems and capabilities,” said Nolan. “The job is not suitable for volunteering and should be left to someone who knows how to run a funeral.”
To that end, state Rep. Marty Focello, R-Brookfield, introduced this legislative session bill that seeks to allow the state to temporarily operate on behalf of funeral associations pursuing dissolution until a successor or buyer is found.
Focello — who represents the 107th House District of Brookfield, Bethel and Newtown — proposed the bill after talking to Nolan about Central and Laurel Hill cemeteries.
“The bill is very small but it basically asks the state to appoint someone to take over the management of the cemetery if no one else does and they can’t find a replacement, where he is,” Focello said.
Nolan said hundreds of cemeteries in Connecticut have been abandoned in part because of state laws limiting ownership of burial grounds to designated ecclesiastical societies, municipalities, and funeral associations. New cemeteries require public health department approval, but there is no state agency responsible for overseeing funerals in Connecticut.
“The problem of succession – the smooth transfer of responsibilities – is really a chronic problem that needs to be fixed for the benefit of the next generation,” he said.
Central and Laurel Hill Cemeteries are owned by the Central Cemetery Association of Brookfield. Nolan said he is trying to work with local and state officials to find a government or professional private entity to take over so cemeteries can reopen and burials can resume, but “no major operations in the area” are willing.
Problems across the state
Nolan said state oversight could help alleviate some of the problems facing funeral associations like those faced by Brookfield.
“We have a logging error issue that is passed down through the generations, which makes it very difficult to know where we are,” he said. “There was also no technology support, so we were literally given a box of paper from the previous generation.”
Nolan says an integrated system is needed to improve the recording of long-term land use rights that people buy that entitles them to burial, as well as up-front payments for services performed through funeral homes.
In addition to talking to Connecticut’s chief data officer, Scott Gaul, about needing an IT system “to manage all of this,” Nolan said, he contacted the Governing Council of Western Connecticut about mapping technology.
“They already have a map of the area, and we propose that they extend the mapping technology they already have to cemeteries,” he said.
Focello said there were a number of reasons – including “history, community pride and respect” – why he believed there should be state oversight of cemeteries. Focello said he could not guarantee the bill would pass or even leave the subcommittee, but he would try to push it as far as he could.
“It would be nice if the state could appoint someone to oversee this funeral,” he said. “I don’t want to make a big bureaucracy here — but just for the care and respect of the people who are there and want to be buried in one of them one day, I think that’s something we need to do.”
At risk of being abandoned
Brookfield Selectman Harry Shaker volunteers to help Nolan find a replacement so the grave isn’t abandoned, but it’s challenging.
“Jeff is really working diligently to get answers to this and it’s been really hard,” said Shaker. “He really went beyond what he should have done, and he was exhausted.”
Nolan wrote to First Selectwoman Tara Carr in September, asking the city to help “facilitate the transition to a full-time professional to run regional funeral operations.”
Carr said at the time that the city was not considering buying Central and Laurel Hill cemeteries.
Nolan also contacted state Department of Veterans Affairs Commissioner Thomas J. Saadi about having Connecticut Veterans Cemetery take over Central and Laurel Hill cemetery operations. Saadi, however, said that was not an option.
“The Connecticut state Department of Veterans Affairs has no legal authority to oversee or operate any other cemeteries in the state except our state veterans cemetery,” Saadi told Hearst Connecticut Media.
“Mr. Nolan is trying to get the state to basically take cemeteries and run them when they fail to operate properly,” he said. “If there are problems with the functioning of funeral associations, they are issues that need to be addressed more broadly.”
Having been unable to find a successor at the local or state level, Nolan said he decided to seek “federal intervention.”
“I contacted the office of Congressman Jahana Hayes and are talking to them about efforts to assign a federal conservator,” he said last week.
Hayes’ press secretary, Annmarie Goyzueta, said Wednesday that the office had communicated with Nolan but “found that the matter does not fall within the jurisdiction of the congressman.”
“We have put Mr Nolan in touch with representatives of his country who can best assist him,” he told Hearst Connecticut Media.
Nolan said burials had not been permitted since the summer, but people could still visit cemeteries – at least for now.
“That may change,” said Nolan, who added he was working with lawyers to issue a formal announcement on the cemetery’s temporary closure.
“We may have to technically leave (them) to justify through the High Court,” he said last Friday. “If we do that, we have to close the gate and so on.”
