Town officials seek solution to overlapping burial plots

ORRINGTON – A burial plot that is encroaching on another family’s parcel within Pine Hill Cemetery may be moved by the town to resolve the issue.

The cemetery is on Cemetery Lane off Swetts Pond Road.

Town officials learned that a portion of the Staples family’s four-person burial plot has apparently overlapped the Gray family parcel.

“It’s about 11/2 to 2 feet into the Gray lot,” Town Manager Dexter Johnson said.

Selectmen discussed how to resolve the issue with Irene Staples and Seth Burns during Monday’s board meeting. Staples’ son was buried in the plot a decade ago.

The town owns a 16-by-16-foot piece of land in the same area as the Staples plot, Johnson said. He suggested the Staples plot be moved into that area.

“I think that would go a long way to settle a very unsettling situation,” Johnson said.

Saying the situation needs to be resolved before winter freeze, selectmen decided unanimously to offer the land to the family.

The board directed Johnson to make sure the town owns the adjacent property and to move the Staples lot as soon as possible.

“I appreciate this very much,” Staples said. “We just want it resolved.”