Evergreen Cemetery, New Haven, Vermont
By-Laws Presented and Adopted, September 18, 2025.
1st
The Officers of the Evergreen Cemetery shall consist of a minimum of five Trustees and a maximum of seven Trustees. Any person interested in the perpetuation of the Cemetery may become a Trustee.
2nd
Said Trustees shall have entire charge of the grounds and of the affairs of the association. At the annual meeting, they shall elect a President, a Secretary and a Treasurer. They may appoint one of their numbers who, under their direction, shall be authorized to negotiate the sale of lots, and to take particular charge of the grounds and improvements therein.
3rd
The President when present shall preside at all meetings of the Corporation and of the Trustees. The President or his/her designee shall execute conveyance of all lots in said Cemetery which, under the direction of the Trustees, may be sold and shall furnish to the Secretary the date of the deed, the number or numbers of the lots sold, and name of purchaser in all cases.
4th
The Secretary or his/her designee shall be required to keep a correct record of all business done at each meeting of the board of Trustees. He/she shall also be required to keep correct alphabetical and numerical lists of the date of the deed, of all lots which may be sold.
The Secretary shall also be required to keep a correct record of all interments in said cemetery giving the name, residence, date of deceased age and nativity of the persons interred and the number or ownership of the lot in which said interment is made.
A copy of the minutes and the record of interments shall be given annually to the New Haven Town Clerk for safekeeping.
5th
The Treasurer shall keep a correct account of all receipts and payments and his/her accounts shall be adjusted from time to time – as often as once in each year – by a majority of the board of Trustees who shall audit the accounts. No payments greater than $5,000.00 shall be made by him/her without consent of the board. Said consent can be made via email for unexpected expenses to the Trustees.
Under the direction of said board any unemployed funds in the Treasurer’s hands may be invested temporarily, or until such time as needed by said Trustees.
6th
The annual meeting of the association shall be held prior to June 30 each year, at such place as the Secretary shall designate, and who shall give two weeks notice of such meeting by posting a legal notice in the local newspaper.
7th
Special meetings of the association may be held at any time by request of the Trustees, to the Secretary to call such meeting, who shall give the same notice as required for annual meetings.
8th
The By-Laws of this Corporation may be altered or amended at any annual meeting or special meeting, by a vote of a majority present, provided the Secretary shall designate such proposed alterations or amendments, in the notice calling said meeting, and not otherwise.
Rules and Regulations
1st
The descendants of lot owners may erect any proper stones or monuments thereon, and plant or enclose the same with small shrubs, flowers or other rural ornaments. Tree planting is not allowed without the permission of a majority of Trustees.
2nd
No solid walls or fences shall be erected for the enclosure of lots, as it is desired that the prospect throughout the cemetery shall be interrupted as little as possible.
3rd
If any erections whatever upon or around any lot or anything growing thereon, shall become and be determined by all the Trustees, improper and detrimental to said cemetery, or to any adjoining lot, said Trustees shall have the power and duty to remove such objects if the party owning or his/her descendant of said lot shall not cause the same to be removed, after three weeks notice from the Trustees that, in their opinion, the same ought to be removed.
4th
In the erection of all structures upon said lots materials for the same shall not remain longer on the grounds than is actually necessary for their construction, and all materials shall be conveyed too, and the rubbish consequent thereon shall be removed from said cemetery in a careful manner.
5th
Each person making an interment in said cemetery shall at once furnish to the Secretary a statement giving the name, age, residence, date of decease and nativity of the person interred, and the number or ownership of the lot in which said interment is made.
6th
Green burials are allowed in lots under the same conditions as any other burial. Lots will be cared for in the same manner as the rest of the lots. Per state statute (18 V.S.A. 5302(10), (11)), a green or natural burial is defined as one without embalming or a casket. The use of a non-toxic embalming is allowed. Cremations are not considered green. Burials may include a plain box, shroud, basket, etc. However, during the months of November through April if conditions arise, such as frozen ground and/or snow, it could be necessary to delay the burial until those conditions are removed.