Rules and Regulations
September 18, 2018
These rules and regulations are not for the benefit of the Corporation, nor are they intended to infringe upon the privileges of lot owners, but they are necessary, in order for the Corporation to maintain peace, uniformity and dignity within the Cemetery grounds, keeping in mind a respect for the interred.
The Cemetery is open from 7:00 AM to 8:00 PM for visitation by friends and relatives. Use of the Cemetery grounds between sunset and sunrise is forbidden.
Children under the age of 15 years of age shall not be permitted within the Cemetery or its buildings unless accompanied by an adult.
Dogs are permitted when leashed only. All dog feces shall be removed from the Cemetery. Do not deposit pet waste in Cemetery trash receptacles.
Alcoholic beverages and consumption of alcoholic beverages are not allowed on Cemetery premises.
Cemetery grounds and buildings are restricted to plot owners, friends and relatives of plot owners and persons having legitimate business therein.
No person, while employed by the Corporation or member of the Board of Trustees shall receive any fee, gratuity or commission from funeral directors, monument dealers, lot owners, etc. under penalty of immediate dismissal.
Whenever an interment of the remains of a member or relative of a member of the family of record owner or of the remains of the record owner is made in a plot transferred by deed or certificate of ownership to an individual owner and the owner dies without making disposition of the plot either in his or her will or by specific devise, or by a written declaration filed and recorded in the Office of the Corporation, the plot thereby becomes inalienable and shall be held as the family plot of the owner.
In a family plot, one grave may be used for the owner's interment, one for the owner's surviving spouse, if any, who by law has a vested right of interment in it; and of those remaining, if any, the parents and children of the deceased owner, in order of death, may be interred without the consent of any person claiming interest in the plot. If no child or parent survives, the right of interment goes in order of death first, to the spouse of any child of the record owner and second, in the order of death to the next heirs at Law of the owner or the spouse of any heir at law.
No interment shall be permitted or memorial placed in or on any property not fully paid for except by special consent of the Corporation in writing in each and every case. In the event such consent is given, any and all interments or memorials placed in or on said property shall be considered as temporary and no rights shall be acquired by the plot purchaser or said interment or interments until such property is paid in full, including principal and any interest. In case the purchaser of said property shall fail to meet all payments within thirty (30) days after the same are demanded by the Corporation, then the Corporation may re-enter said property and hold same as of its former estate. The Corporation, thereon, shall be released from all of its obligations thereunder retaining such payments as may have been made toward the purchase of said property as liquidated damages. The Corporation retains the right and shall have the right to immediately or at any time thereafter, without notice, at its discretion, to remove single graves to be chosen by the Corporation, each of the remains then interred in said property and furthermore shall have the right to remove any memorial that may have been place on said property. All charges for the Cemetery Services must be paid for at the time of the issuance of the order for interment or disinterment and removal. All charges for installation of foundations for monuments, markers or tablets shall be paid in advance.
Only one central or family monument or memorial shall be allowed on a family lot and said monument or memorial must first be approved by the Corporation.
Flat markers shall be flush with the ground and when more than one flat marker is placed on a plot, all markers shall be of the same size and material with the exception of military markers.
Cemetery Corporation officials shall have the authority to reject any plan or design for any memorial which, on account of size, design, inscription, kind or quality of stone is, in the opinion of the Corporation, unsuited to the location on which it is to be placed.
Besides being subject to the rules and regulations of the Cemetery Corporation, all interments, dis-interments and removals are made subject to the orders and laws of the properly constituted authorities of the Town of Mansfield, County of Bristol and Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
All interments, dis-interments and removals must be made at the time and in the manner agreed upon and subject to the payment of such charges as fixed by the Cemetery Corporation.
The casket in every earth interment shall be enclosed in a concrete box or vault or in an outer wall of stone, brick or concrete, the actual installation of which shall be made by employees of the Corporation or its contractor.
The Corporation will not be responsible for any order given by telephone or for any mistake occurring from the want of precise and proper instructions as to the particular space, size or location in a plot where interment is desired.
Not more than one body or remains of more than one body shall be interred in one grave unless written approval for such interment has first been obtained from the Corporation.
Removal, by the heirs, of a body or cremated remains, so that the plot may be sold for profit, or removal contrary to the expressed or implied wish of the original owner, repugnant to the ordinary sense of decency and is absolutely forbidden. Sale of Graves or Lots for speculative purposes is prohibited under M. G. L. Chapt. 114, §43 B.
The subdivision of plots is not allowed, No one shall be interred in any plot not having any interest therein, except by written consent of all parties interested in such plot and of the Corporation, provided, however a relative of any record owner may be buried in such plot as provided in these rules and regulations or in the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
All grading, landscape work. improvements of any kind, all care of plots, trimming, cutting or removal of existing trees, all openings and closings of plots and all interments, dis-interments and removals shall be made only by the Corporation or its agent.
As of Sept. 18, 2018, with the adoption of these rules and regulations, the planting of any shrubs, trees or ornamental grasses of any size, shape or form will not be permitted in any area of the Cemetery.
Annual planting is permitted provided the lot owner agrees to properly maintain the area and remove the planting at the end of the growing season, November 1st
All plantings shall fall between the limits of the monument base and no more than 12" in front of said base. No plantings are allowed behind tbe monument. No Shepard's Hooks are allowed. For the safety of the Cemetery workers and visitors, no grave and flower bed enclosures of any kind (fencing, rocks, bricks, cobbles, plastic edging, etc.). The flower beds are to contain peat moss, loam or bark mulch only. No rocks, crushed stone or large bark chips are allowed.
American Flags will be placed on the graves of military veterans by a Boy Scout Troop prior to Memorial Day. All flags and flag holders will be placed at the main monument on each lot.
As of the adoption of these rules and regulations, there will no longer be a charge for "Perpetual Care" which consisted of seeding new grave sites, repairing sunken graves and mowing the grass. These tasks will be performed on all graves as necessary. Planting of flowers and the care thereof is the sole responsibility of the plot owner(s).
The Corporation reserves the right to remove, alter or change any and all improvements or alterations not made by the Corporation at the expense of the plot owner or in any event, at any time, in the judgement of the Trustees they become unsightly or infringe upon the rights of any adjacent plot owner.
The Corporation reserves the right to regulate the method of decorating plots so that a uniform beauty may be maintained; to remove trees, shrubs, floral designs, flowers, plants and herbage of any kind from the Cemetery as soon as, in the judgement of the Superintendent, they become uncared for, unsightly, dangerous, detrimental or diseased. It is the Owner's responsibility to care for each Lot.
Memorial Dealers shall be required to furnish the Cemetery Corporation, for approval, a blueprint or sketch of the proposed memorial or marker to be placed on any plot, specifying size, location in plot, quality of stone, inscriptions and name of producer furnishing said stone or stones.
As of the adoption of these rules and regulations, a monument may have a maximum base width of 2'-6" for a single grave which is four foot (4'-0") wide, a maximum base width of four (4'-0") feet for a lot having a width of two (2) graves which is eight (8'-0") wide and a maximum base width of six (6'-0") feet for any lots which are 12'-0" or greater in width. The height of the monument may be no greater than one and one quarter (1 ¼) times the width of the proposed monument. The height of the monument will be measured from the top of the base, which base will extend no further than 12" above ground level.
ALLOWABLE MONUMENT WIDTH AND HEIGHT
Max. Width Max Height
a. One grave lot width (4’) 2’-6” 3’-2”
b. Two grave lot width (8’) 4’-0” 5’-0”
c. Three grave lot width or more (12’+) 6’-0” 7’-6”Slant stones only will be allowed in that portion of the "S" Sections must conform to size and design with stones now erected in said Section on or after the adoption of these rules & regulations. As of the date of the adoption of these rules & regulations stones in the Cremation Sections of the Cemetery must be flat and flush with the ground. The maximum size for the stone on one plot is 12 inches by l 8 inches (12"x 18") and for two (2) side by side plots 12 inches by 24 inches ( 12"x 24").
Special cases may arise in which the literal enforcement of a rule may impose unnecessary hardship. The Corporation, therefore, reserves the right, without notice, to make exceptions, suspensions or modifications of these rules and regulations when, in its judgement, the same appears advisable; and such temporary exception, suspension or modification shall in no way be construed as affecting the general application of the rule.
The Corporation disclaims all responsibility for loss or damages caused by acts of God, vandals or thieves.
The Corporation may, and it expressly reserves the right, at any time, to adopt new rules and regulations or to amend, alter or repeal any rule, regulation, article, section, paragraph or sentence in these rules and regulations.
The foregoing Rules and Regulations have been approved and adopted for the operation of Spring Brook Cemetery by the Board of Trustees at its meeting held on Sept. 18, 2018 and attended by the following members:
David E. Grant, President
Sarah C. Forbes, Treasurer
Heidi A. Walker, Secretary
Deborah A. Scarpellini, Director
Earl A. Mason, Director
Kevin B. McNatt, Director
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