Cemetery Panel Reviews Green Burial Guidelines

Cemetery Commission · Meeting of October 20, 2026

SHUTESBURY — The Shutesbury Cemetery Commission reviewed draft guidelines letting families handle parts of a green burial themselves and discussed buying a storage shed for equipment. Members Dina Stander and Walter Tibbetts, the only two present, approved August 25 meeting minutes by a 2-0 roll call; member Susan Millinger was absent. Commissioners said the Green Burial by Family Guidelines need no changes but will wait for a formal vote until Millinger attends.

One member said, "it's like we don't have to be all black and white. We can do a hybrid." Commissioners also noted the Community Preservation Act's Determination of Eligibility Form is due December 10, with the full grant application due February 4, for planned gravestone restoration work. Stander described her new seat on the Cemetery Services Committee of the board of Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge.

In the full story:

• Call to Order and Approval of Minutes
• Cemetery Operations: Headstones and Burials
• Green Burial by Family Guidelines
• Equipment and Storage Shed
• Seasonal Groundskeeper
• Community Preservation Act Grant and Related Planning
• Commissioner Stander's Mount Auburn Cemetery Service
• Setting the Next Meeting and Adjournment
• Who Was There
• Organizations And Documents Referenced
• The complete report: 1,838 words

Source: the Cemetery Commission meeting of October 20, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

Checked against the record: before publication this article was automatically compared with the meeting transcript.