Grave Endeavor

http://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/brookhaven-to-care-for-forgotten-cemeteries-1.2871163

Brookhaven to care for forgotten cemeteries

Originally published: May 11, 2011 6:57 PM
Updated: May 11, 2011 7:33 PM

By PATRICK WHITTLE patrick.whittle@newsday.com

Fire Place History Club member talks about the work Brookhaven Town needs to do to maintain�abandoned 18th and 19th century cemeteries, such as Woodruff Cemetery in Brookhaven Hamlet. Videojournalist: Patrick Whittle (May 4, 2011)

Martin Van Lith stepped gingerly around the four headstones in the
Woodruff family burial plot -- an overgrown piece of Bellport woods
-- and silently read the inscription on the grave marker of Esther
Woodruff, 1775-1851.

"We have loved her on earth, May we meet her in Heaven."

Her husband's marker, however, lay broken in half. The Woodruff burial ground, and about 20 like it in Bellport and Brookhaven hamlet, have gone largely unmaintained for years. But thanks to the efforts of Van Lith and his group of local history buffs, Brookhaven Town will soon begin caring for some of the forgotten cemeteries.

Van Lith and the Fire Place History Club have for years pressured Brookhaven officials to comply with a state law that requires towns to maintain abandoned cemeteries. The ones in Bellport and Brookhaven hamlet mostly date from the 18th and 19th centuries; the number of graves in each range from two to 40, Van Lith said.

Prompted by the club's lawsuit, State Supreme Court Justice Melvyn Tanenbaum last year issued a decision requiring the town to begin maintaining nine of the burial grounds, deemed by the club as historically significant. Brookhaven is set to begin the work "within the next three weeks," said town spokesman Jack Krieger.

Van Lith said his group will assist with maintenance if the town provides access to the sites and mows lawns. Such tasks are too much for the club to undertake; many sites are overgrown with vegetation that makes them inaccessible by foot, he said.

"The average age of my group is 68," he said. "We can't do it."

Councilwoman Connie Kepert said the town will work with the club, and said the graves show the area has "enormous history that we take for granted." Town Historian Barbara Russell welcomes the help, but said the club should consult the Greenfield, Mass.-based Association for Gravestone Studies.

"It's not a matter of going to the stone and getting some glue," Russell said.

The nine cemeteries to be maintained are located south of Sunrise Highway between Wertheim National Wildlife Refuge to the east and the Bellport train station to the west.

The Woodruff ground, located off South Country Road in Bellport, is one of about a dozen abandoned cemeteries in the area not slated to be refurbished. Van Lith said he would like to see the town maintain more cemeteries, but added "it's not like we're going to ask them to refurbish every cemetery in town."

Sharon Miller, whose home abuts the tiny Woodruff cemetery, said she would like to see the site maintained. The burial plot includes the final resting places of Matthew, Stephen and Esther Woodruff and Esther's husband, Stephen Robinson -- all of whom died between 1851 and 1875.

"We would be thrilled if the town did something with this," Miller said. "It gives respect and integrity."

Brookhaven Hamlet Cemetery Update

After the Fire Place History Club’s victory in getting specific historic gravesites maintained by the town via a lawsuit and subsequent New York State Supreme Court decision, this statement was issued by Brookhaven Town: “The Town respects the decision of Justice Tannenbaum and at this time does not plan an appeal. We currently maintain a number of cemeteries throughout the Town and will now review our schedule, prioritize for the additional needs and commence work as soon as possible.”

This statement is disingenuous. That the Town maintains a few abandoned historic cemeteries within the Town was never in dispute. The Fire Place History Club in its court filings pointed to at least two cemeteries within the hamlets of Brookhaven and South Haven that received some maintenance from the Town as examples of the Town conceding that it had maintenance authority and responsibility. They were but a small fraction of the burying grounds that required attention. Members of the Fire Place History Club when it was attempting to get additional cemeteries maintained, asked how the the Town determine their priorities for maintenance? A Town official responded, "Is the cemetery on a parade route?" The implication being that if the site was not highly visible, the Town was not going to do anything.

At least with respect to those cemeteries named in the suit, the Town has lost its ability to prioritize. They have been ordered by the court to resume maintenance on the cemeteries listed. Failure to do so will make the Town in violation of the court order.

The principals enunciated in by the court in its interpretation of State law would not seem to give any ability to prioritize the Town's maintenance duties toward abandoned cemeteries. All one hundred or so such cemeteries within the Town require Town maintenance. While we might concede that some prioritization is needed while the long abandoned work is re-instituted (and the Fire Place History Club consciously prioritized its cemeteries named in the suit from the twenty or so found in the two hamlets), basing priority on visibility is certainly not the most important.

Working with the many local civic organizations and historical societies within the Town would certainly seem a better approach in developing consistent, rational work priorities.

L.I. Advance newspaper editorial supports Fire Place History Club's Cemetery Maintenance Lawsuit

© THE LONG ISLAND ADVANCE - September 9. 2010, p. 22
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Honor history and cut the grass

There's no doubt that Brookhaven Town's Parks Department has their hands full In November 2008, when the Long Island Advance did a story on the Fire Place History Club and their quest to get help in maintaining their historic gravesites, a statement was issued that the parks department was responsible for maintain- ing 114 cemeteries in addition to 200 ball fields, more than 100 parks and other recreational facilities.

That being said, this local Brookhaven group who are fighting to keep the area's historically significant stamp evident, attempted many different ways to work things out with the town so that they didn't have to haul lawnmowers in their cars to preserve the gravesites of significant Revolutionary War participants as well as founding families. All they wanted was some help twice a year at 10 gravesites; they received help at one of them.

We are told that after a while, phone calls were not returned and there was no communication on the parks department end. We can't speak for the parks department on this because they haven't responded to our request to hear their side.

So the Fire Place History Club filed an Article 78, via Bellport resident and lawyer Reggie Seltzer known for her pro bono work when she feels passionate about a cause—she did about this. Seltzer takes American history classes at Stony Brook University and is aware, as are Fire Place History Club members, of our significant heritage.

Acknowledging history doesn't just entail attending parades. When you tour Europe, there are ancient cemeteries tended and still standing, not to mention statues, walls from Roman times, plaques and other reminders of moments in time that will never be Seen again but Were important nevertheless in creating a country.

Also, people made sacrifices. Those aren't just headstones. These folks whose bodies are in- terred underneath, migrated here, faced a land- scape that was basically woods and animals, didn't know if they were going to live through a philosophy that became a mantra, a war, and then a democratic example for most of the world.

Councilwoman Connie Kepert said basically, it would have been nice if this could have been worked out in the fust place and agreed with the court ruling. Now the town must mow the lawns of these gravesites, which do have right of ways, three times a year.

The Fire Place History Club only asked for that support twice a year. .

L.I. Advance reports on Cemetery Maintenance Lawsuit

© Long Island Advance, September 9, 2010, p. 5
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[Everyone in Brookhaven and South Haven Hamlets should subscribe to the Long Island Advance. "Of course they want the Gazette! Everybody has the [Chipping Claghorne] Gazette. How else would they know what's going on around here?" —Agatha Christie in A Murder Is Announced.]

Tending graves of those who came before

History club wins lawsuit on town cemetery maintenance

By LINDA LEUZZI

That the area was a hotbed of the American Revolution is an understatement. Take Richard Corwin, for example, who is buried in the Corwin Cemetery between Chapel Avenue and Beaverbrook Drive in Brookhaven hamlet. Corwin, who fought in the battle of Yorktown and witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis, was so vigilant a guard that when Washington tried to pass him one night, he stopped him. His persistence made a mark and Corwin consequently became Washington's personal protector. Sam Carman, head of the family that the Carmans River is named after, settled nearby and established a mill and tavern that were the colonial center of the South Shore of Brookhaven Town. Daniel Webster fished in his millpond and was the best of friends with him. He and his family are buried on the east side of the Southaven County Dog Park.

Marty Van Lith, John Deitz and Richard Thomas, members of the Fire Place History Club, can relate these historical snapshots as easily as some recite their children's names and ages. But then again, they've been working on the area's historic cemeteries for nearly 20 years. Their quest, to have Brookhaven Town maintain the gravesites of 10 family burying grounds, was recently resolved by a decision of Justice Melvyn Tanenbaum of the New York State Supreme Court. After filing an Article 78 last July, Brookhaven Town is now required to resume care of nine historic family burying grounds, with a dozen or more graves, in the hamlets of Brookhaven and South Haven. The town is currently maintaining the Rose cemetery off Jareds Path.

Repeated requests to Brookhaven Town for comment from the Long Island Advance were not returned as of press time. But Councilwoman Connie Kepert (4th District) agreed with the lawsuit decision. "I think it's unfortunate it has to come to citizens suing the Town of Brookhaven to maintain the historic cemeteries," she said. "I met with Marty and Carol Bissonette, the deputy parks commissioner, then around 2008 and we were putting in place a whole schedule of taking care of the historic cemeteries and then it fell apart. I agree with the lawsuit. It's a state law and they should be taken care of. On the other hand I understand the parks department is stretched. "

"We've been mowing the lawns ourselves," said Van Lith of he and John Deitz. "John and I did it. Faith McCutcheon and I did it before." Sometimes, they cut back overgrowth with hedge clippers. Sometimes they hauled a lawnmower into and out of a truck. That became a bit arduous. Van Lith said they received support from Dave Overton, the town historian, from 1990 to 1998. "He gave us complete support and worked with us to get Revolutionary War veterans identified and replaced the markers' but admitted he had no control over the parks department to mow the lawn. He was adamant that these were town-owned cemeteries." The group really began leaning on the town in 2005.

"The town cared for all of them in 1964," Thomas pointed out. "They cared for 15 of them in our area. They contracted out for the very cemeteries we asked to maintain."

The Fire Place History Club has only wanted the grass cut a couple of times a year and brush cleared and also in some cases trees cleared that are propped up on headstones. "The Brookhaven Village Association has collected money for headstone restoration, some of which has been done, as it was in the Rose cemetery and we have a stone mason," Van Lith said. "But we can't restore the rest until the cemeteries are addressed."

In Nov. 2008, the town in a statement to the Long Island Advance said Brookhaven Town Parks was responsible for maintaining 114 cemeteries throughout the town in addition to 200 ball fields, more than 100 parks and other recreational facilities. The parks and fields were maintained on a priority basis because of their heavy use and most cemeteries, maintained by the department, were cleaned and mowed every few weeks.

Bellport attorney Regina Seltzer filed the pro bono lawsuit. Seltzer will admit, filing lawsuits isn't her favorite thing to do. "I wrote to the town explaining their legal obligation," she said. "It's much nicer for those with legal obligations to just do them." Seltzer joined the push because of her love of American history. "When you think about the colonists' time, to leave their country, and there was nothing here but fear of the unknown, it seems a shame that with the comfort and freedom we have now, that those who made it possible are forgotten," she said.

The decision, made on Aug. 20, was released and the town has been sent an official copy of the judge's ruling, Van Lith said.

"They don't have to do anything but get out there and cut the grass," Seltzer said .

Thomas Addresses Brookhaven Town Board on Cemetery Maintenance Lawsuit

On Tuesday, September 7, 2010, Richard Thomas addressed the Town Council of the Town of Brookhaven with the following message concerning the Fire Place History Club's lawsuit over cemetery maintenance. Also present were John Deitz and Marty van Lith. Marty added his own extemporaneous comments.

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My name is Richard Thomas. I reside in the hamlet of Brookhaven, which, until 1871, was known as Fire Place.

I wish to address the Town Council tonight to say how pleased I am that the Town will soon resume its care and maintenance of the historic burying grounds located in Brookhaven and South Haven hamlets.

New York has long recognized the need to maintain these historic burying grounds. The state legislature first passed a law placing the responsibility to do so with the Towns in March 1826. In 1901, at the urging of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the state legislature clarified the law, making it clear that it is the duty of Town governments to mow the weeds and remove the brush from any abandoned cemeteries within the Town once each year.

And in 1909, the state legislature stated that it was the responsibility of the Town to provide for the preservation, care and fencing of any cemetery, by whomsoever owned, if there were no longer any corporation or trustees who might care for it.

The Town of Brookhaven was faithful in carrying out its legal and moral responsibility for many years.

An article in the Patchogue Advance in 1937 reported that the Town Highway Department was again engaged in removing the brush from twelve graveyards in Brookhaven and South Haven.

And in 1964, the Town was regularly issuing a purchase order to a private contractor to haul away debris and cut the weeds in thirteen burying grounds in Brookhaven and South Haven.

These sites, which long ago ceased to be used for burial purposes, continue to provide a link to our past and have great historical value, since in them are interred patriots of the Revolutionary War and leaders of the Town of Brookhaven.

They are no longer private family burying grounds, but have become public historic sites.

They have been used by our local schools to educate students about local history and are a rich resource for local and Town historians.

I do not know why or how it came about that the Town forgot about it’s moral responsibility to care for these historic sites, but sometime after 1970, it appears to have done so.

The Fire Place History Club contacted officials in the Parks Department beginning in 2005.

While these public servants were quick to acknowledge that it was their duty to care for the historic cemeteries, and made repeated promises to begin doing so again, they somehow never actually managed to get any weeds mowed or any brush removed from a single cemetery.

First they claimed they had forgotten where the cemeteries were, so the Deputy Parks Commissioner was given a tour. Nothing happened.

Each year the trees that had sprouted up in the cemeteries grew larger, and after each winter more grave markers were found to be broken and destroyed by fallen limbs.

In these burying grounds are buried eleven who fought in the Revolutionary War, and also Town Supervisors and a President of the Board of Trustees of the Town.

In the Carmans cemetery is buried Samuel Carman Jr. who was a Trustee of the Town in 1827 and elected President of the Board of Trustees of the Town in 1849.

In 2003, his grave stone was still fully intact. By 2008, due to a falling tree in this cemetery — that has been long neglected by the Town — his grave marker was found smashed into eight pieces.

Finally, an Article 78 was initiated.

I think the citizens of your Town would be astonished to discover that the Town decided to pay a Town attorney to fight the Article 78.

For the cost of assigning a lawyer to the case, the Town could have cared for all the cemeteries for years.

Just as shocking as the Town’s disregard for its own history, the Town’s filing in response to the Article 78 was surprisingly ignorant of the long history of state law regarding the responsibility of Town governments in this matter.

Also, by failing to acknowledge that the Town had indeed preserved and maintained these historic sites for a period of forty years between 1930 and 1970, and perhaps for an even much longer time, the Town seemed to be attempting to mislead the Judge as to the facts in this matter.

The Town had long recognized by its own actions that what had formerly been private family graveyards had long ago ceased to be used for that purpose and had acquired a public nature by their use by the schools and citizens for historical purposes.

They have had no known private owners for decades and none have had any private trustee to care for them, so to claim that they were private cemeteries was disingenuous, to say the least.

Judge Melvyn Tanenbaum of the New York State Supreme Court of Suffolk County was not, however, misled. On August 20th, he ordered the Town of Brookhaven to perform the cemetery maintenance required by New York State law. We look forward to the day (which, according to the Judge, is to be before November 18th of this year), when the Town will be resuming its maintenance of these cemeteries so important to the history of Brookhaven Town.

Hamlet History Club Wins Cemetery Court Case

On August 20, 2010, New York State Supreme Court Justice Melvyn Tanenbaum issued a decision in the Fire Place History Club's lawsuit against the Town of Brookhaven. His decision required the Town to maintain nine of the ten cemeteries in the Club's July 2009 petition. The 10th cemetery—the "Miller Cemetery"—he judged to still be "privately" owned.

Specifically he:
"ORDERED, ADJUDGED and DECREED that the petition seeking a writ of mandamus is granted. Respondent [the Town of Brookhaven] is directed to provide the assets necessary to comply with the requirements of Town Law Section 291 for such nine cemeteries* within 90 days of service of a copy of this Judgment with notice of entry."

* Rose Family Cemetery, David Hawkins Cemetery, Nathaniel Hawkins Cemetery, South Haven Presbyterian Church Cemetery, Carman Family Cemetery, Hulse Cemetery, Corwin Family Cemetery, Azel Hawkins Cemetery, and Barteau Cemetery.

The full decision may be found here.

The members of the Fire Place History Club are meeting to determine their next steps.

Cemetery Maintenance Lawsuit Update

Just an update on how things are going with the legal proceedings for the Fire Place History Club's cemetery lawsuit—

The Town of Brookhaven responded to our 45-point reply to their first response, in which they had denied owning the cemeteries, claiming that they are privately owned and thus the Town is not responsible. They also denied responsibility for maintenance and care of abandoned cemeteries. They did not address one single point of the 45 points we made demonstrating that the Town is mandated by NYS law to maintain these cemeteries. Instead, they continued pursuing their contention that these are private cemeteries and none of their business.

We answered this second Town response by reiterating our first response and saying that it's irrelevant anyway since the law requires the Town to maintain abandoned cemeteries by "whomsoever owned" in any town.

While it was originally thought that the case would be settled by this Tuesday, March 9, it turns out that's the date on which all final paperwork is due in court. The decision will be made whenever Justice Tanebaum gets around to it, which our attorney Reggie Seltzer doesn't think will be anytime soon. So, we are still in limbo and may have to cancel some of the work we have grant money for Hollis to do.

A Relatively Short Summary of the Fire Place History Club's "Notice of Motion"

From Richard Thomas:

After the Town had filed its Verified Answer to the Club's Verified Petition, the Fire Place History Club filed a "Notice of Motion" indicating its intention to move the Court for an order directing Summary Judgment in favor of the Club.

In the Notice of Motion, the Fire Place History Club contended that all necessary factual issues are settled or so one-sided that they need not be tried.

The Town had claimed that it had no obligation to remove the grass and weeds from nine of the ten cemeteries on the Fire Place History Club's list because these nine graveyards were "private cemeteries." The Town further implied that in order to be a public cemetery, a cemetery must have been one formed by a cemetery association (or, at least, the Town implied that in order for any of the cemeteries on the Club's list to have "a public nature,"

they must have originally operated under the cemetery association laws of the State of New York).

The Club's Notice of Motion made the following points:

1. The Town had contended that it is only through the sale and purchase of mapped lands or plots to the public, such as provided for in the Rural Cemetery Act of 1847, that a cemetery can be rendered "public." The Rural Cemetery Act of 1847 was the first general cemetery association law passed in New York State.

In the motion, the Fire Place History Club showed that the history of Section 291 (Town Cemetery Law) pre-dates that of cemetery association law by several decades.

The first sentence of the current Section 291 derives directly from a Revised Law of 1828 (which itself was a re-enactment of a law passed in 1826). When that law became effective, it applied to cemeteries that had existed in 1813 and earlier. The Town had stated that the provisions of Section 291 applied only to "public" cemeteries, so there must necessarily be conditions that can cause a cemetery to have "a public nature" other than the single method stated by the Town; that is, the "sale and purchase of mapped lands or plots to the public." The sale of plots to the public became an activity sanctioned by law long after the first sentence of Section 291 was written, a sentence which has changed very little in its wording over a span of 182 years.

2. The Fire Place History Club then described three other methods by which a "private cemetery" might acquire "a public nature."

a. A cemetery acquires "a public nature" when it is purchased by a public governmental entity. A "private cemetery" can no longer be "private"

if it no longer has a "private" owner.

One of the cemeteries on the Fire Place History Club's list, the Rose cemetery, is on land owned by the Town. In its Verified Answer, the Town acknowledged that it had a duty to care for that cemetery.

In its Verified Answer, the Town had referenced an Opinion of the State Comptroller. In that opinion, the State Comptroller stated that even though the governmental entity owning a cemetery might not be the Town, it was still the Town's responsibility, under Section 291, to remove the grass and weeds and preserve, care for, and fence the cemetery. Section 291 places the obligation of preserving and maintaining such cemeteries on the Town, even when the property on which they are located is not owned by the Town Section 291 places the duty on the Town of caring for such cemeteries, "by whomsoever owned."

Four additional cemeteries on the Fire Place History Club's list were acknowledged by the Town to be owned by other governmental entities. The Town claimed it had no responsibility for caring for these cemeteries, but the Opinion of the State Comptroller shows that claim to be invalid.

b. A cemetery acquires "a public nature" when the property where it is located reverts to the people of the State of New York as a result of the title having failed "from a defect of heirs." Under the Abandoned Property Law of the State of New York, a cemetery on a property for which no one any longer holds the title escheats to the people, and thus it acquires "a public

nature."

The "public nature" is acquired upon there being a defect of heirs, not when some public agent files to acquire the title to the property for the State of New York. In fact, no public agent can make such a filing until after the property has reverted to the people.

So the "state of having a public nature" can exist for a cemetery whether or not any public agent may have claimed title to it for the state; that "public nature" exists from the time when there existed "a defect of heirs." At that moment, the land "reverted to the people." Land that has reverted to the people is undeniably public land, "by whomsoever owned," and when such land is a cemetery, it is the duty of the Town to remove the grass and weeds from it and preserve, care for, and fence it.

Four of the remaining cemeteries on the Club's list were declared in an affidavit filed by the Town to have no known owners. A burial ground can be private only if there exists a private owner who controls who may be buried in it and regulates access to it. The Town is unable to show that there are any longer any living persons who hold title to any of the four cemeteries.

Thus, these properties have reverted to the people and have "a pubic nature."

The cemeteries on those properties, being owned by the people, are public cemeteries which the Town must maintain and preserve.

c. A cemetery can acquire "a public nature" by "public user." An opinion of the State Comptroller in 1965 affirms that a cemetery may become public by "public user." That opinion implies that use of a cemetery by the public for a period of fourteen years can cause a cemetery to take on "a public nature." Unless an owner takes some positive action "amounting to an interruption to the "adverse user," the continued enjoyment and use of the cemeteries by the public over an extended period of time can establish "a public easement interest" in them.

The remaining cemetery on the Club's list was shown to be just such a cemetery, and therefore one that the Town was obligated to maintain and preserve. In fact, all ten cemeteries had been shown by the Town's own actions to have been adopted by the Town through its caring for and maintaining them from as early as 1937. The public had continued to use the cemeteries even after the Town ceased caring for them, so the public user easement had not been extinguished. All ten cemeteries were cemeteries of "a public nature" based on this fact alone (regardless of whether or not any heir might someday be found). These cemeteries are cemeteries, by whomsoever owned, for which the Town must remove the grass and weeds and which the Town must preserve, care for, and fence.

[Note: In addition to the three methods given above through which a cemetery may acquire "a public nature," and the single method given by the Town --- through a cemetery association operating under the laws for such associations passed in 1847 and later, there is a fifth way, through a special act of the New York State legislature. This fifth method is represented by an act incorporating the Westfield cemetery in 1843 and by an act reviving the Utica Cemetery Association in 1844.]

Fire Place History Club Responds to Town of Brookhaven on Cemetery Maintenance Suit

January 25, 2010

On January 13, 2010, the Fire Place History Club of Brookhaven hamlet, NY, received a response to their lawsuit against the Town of Brookhaven forcing the Town to maintain the historic cemeteries in Brookhaven and South Haven Hamlets, as required by New York State law. The efforts of the Fire Place History Club are documented elsewhere in this blog, and are further documented at the BrookhavenSouthHaven.org cemetery pages.

Immediately on receiving the Town's response, a subcommittee of the Fire Place History Club was formed to prepare a response. Dr. Richard A. Thomas, a retired physicist, took on the task of researching the specific objections in point of law raised by the Town of Brookhaven. He spent several days on this research and prepared a paper for our attorney, Regina Seltzer. After reviewing his research, she decided that it was appropriate to ask for a summary judgment in favor the Fire Place History "on the grounds that Brookhaven Town violated its lawful Town duties as explicitly set forth in Cemeteries Town Law Section 291 and that respondents have raised no triable issue of fact a summary determination is appropriate based on the pleadings, papers and admissions ...." She further concluded that the Town's answer, denying knowledge or information as to allegations in our original filing and objections in point of law "are shameful, blatantly false fabrications, without any basis in fact, intended to mislead the Court."

The subcommittee—Marty Van Lith, Richard Thomas, and John Deitz then met with Regina Seltzer for over four hours on Sunday afternoon, drafting the reply to the Town's specific contentions. This document was then filed with the Supreme Court of the State of New York at Central Islip on Monday, January 25, 2010.

The argument section of this filing is found in the first link. This version, a pdf file, is identical to the court filing except that a few typographical errors have been corrected. Since it is based on the original word processing document, it is considerable smaller than the scanned versions. The second (11 MB), third (12 MB), and fourth (7 MB) links are scanned pdf versions of the actual documents, including affidavits and exhibits, as filed with the court.

1-Arguments

Actual scanned documents included in the 25 January 2010 filing:
2- Arguments and Affidavits 3- Exhibits 4-Orginal Town Response
If you are having difficulty downloading these documents from this blog, please go to this page

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At a luncheon meeting of the Fire Place History Club on Tuesday, January 26, 2010, Regina Seltzer discussed the suit with club members. It should be noted, Regina is doing this work pro bono. She is also a former Town of Brookhaven councilwoman.

L-R: Jeb Barry (head split), George Koch, Bob Brown, Betty Bundy, Richard Thomas, John Deitz, Diane Martens, Marty Van Lith, Regina Seltzer, Ron Kinsella, Eban Ludlow, Faith McCutcheon, and Anita Cohen

Town of Brookhaven Responds to Cemetery Maintence Suit

January 13, 2010

In July of 2009, the Fire Place History Club filed a lawsuit with the New York State Supreme Court in an effort to force the Town of Brookhaven to maintain the ancient historic cemeteries in the hamlets of South Haven and Brookhaven, NY. This action followed three years of efforts to get the Town to maintain the cemeteries in accordance with State law, and repeated promises by Town officials that they would do so—but with no substantitive action. The efforts of the Fire Place History Club are documented elsewhere in this blog, and are further documented at the BrookhavenSouthHaven.org cemetery pages.

The Brookhaven Town Attorney, on 13 January filed a response to the July court filing—nearly six months after the original filing with the court—obviously an attempt to delay in the hope of discouraging that the reasonable requests of ordinary citizens.

Their response was essentially that the Town had no obligation maintain the cemeteries, and the that the Fire Place History Club had no standing to sue the Town.

To view the Town of Brookhaven's January 2010 response, click

Cover Letter and Affidavits | Town Arguments | Exhibit D

The Town arguments document included all their Exhibits except Exhibit D. Exhibit D is a copy of an inventory of all cemeteries in New York State prepared by the Association of Municipal Historians of New York State. Ironically, it's preface contains the following:

I suspect that the Association of Municipal Historians would be appalled that their informative inventory would be used by the Town as one of the justifications for not maintaining historic cemeteries.

The Fire Place History Club is proceeding with the suit, and has organized a sub-committee to work with our attorney Regina Seltzer on the document.