Livermore official asks for markers for suspected veterans' graves

LIVERMORE — Cemetery Committee member Peter Stokes asked selectpersons Tuesday night to consider getting name plates for suspected veterans gravesites in town cemeteries.

Many gravesites have flags indicating a veteran is buried there but there is no marker, he said.

“Somehow somebody needs to be able to identify who is in those graves,” he

said.

“For a lot of veterans, you don’t get a stone,” Stokes said. “You get a plate that lays flat on the ground, it says the veteran’s name and the branch of service.”

Donald Simoneau found and marked all the veteran graves in the area, Selectperson Scott Richmond said. “I believe Jim Manter has the list now, he has kind of taken over for Don.”

If the town would approve, foot plaques, or plates, with names on them could be obtained, Stokes said.

“I think that is a good idea,” Richmond said.

“The military pays for the markers,” Selectperson Jeremy Emerson said.

“These gravesites, there is Civil War people here,” Stokes said. “These are historic gravesites and I just wondered if we could get some federal money to help us out.”

Administrative Assistant Aaron Miller said he would check into it with his contacts and asked Stokes to get an estimate on the number of gravesites involved.

Stokes, who was appointed to the committee in May 2021, suggested having a ceremony once the gravesites are marked.

He also expressed concern about the amount of time and money being put into the main road into Lakeside Cemetery, suggesting hiring a contractor to fix it once instead of constantly patching it.

Selectperson Mark Chretien said the budget is set and he didn’t know if there would be money to do that. He suggested getting a rough estimate from a contractor.

Stokes also asked about pay for town firefighters and if more volunteers were needed.

Richmond said members are paid $12.75 per hour, per call. “Compared to other towns, we’re in pretty good shape,” he noted.

Stokes spoke of increasing the pay, given the price of gas.

“Before I became a selectperson, the board wanted to pay us more and we voted as a department we didn’t want more money because we didn’t want people to do it for the money,” Richmond said. “We didn’t want people coming in saying, “We can make some extra change here.””

Stokes suggested providing gas vouchers to those answering calls “out of gratitude for the fact you guys are doing this when times are really tough.

“I just feel bad,” he said. “Times are bad and everybody is reaching into their pockets.”

In other business, Miller told selectpersons the office would close at noon June 30 to close the financial books for the 2021-22 fiscal year.

Following an executive session, Brian Lee was hired as a highway driver to replace Dan Boothby, who retired.

Lee worked for the town last year, left and has returned, Miller said. He will be paid $21 per hour and receive two weeks vacation.