Dorchester Burial Sites Preservation Board gets another chance

CAMBRIDGE — A board designed to help preserve grave sites in Dorchester County has one year to prove it is able to accomplish its mission or it will face dissolution.

After holding a public hearing about repealing a chapter of the county code regarding burial sites preservation, the Dorchester County Council agreed Jan. 21 to keep the chapter — which includes the Burial Sites Preservation Board established within it — for a test period.

“A one-year test from today to see what you can accomplish and see if it is a worthy board to have within this county,” Council Member Ricky Travers said before making the motion.

Throughout the public hearing and following discussion, council members brought up concerns of past problems with the board’s participation and its ability to work cohesively. Council President Lenny Pfeffer said that in the one-year test period, the board would need to prove it can fill its seats and provide a quorum at its meetings.

Travers said board members would need to work together, not against each other as has been the case in the past.

“As passionate as people might be about grave sites, … we cannot have this controversy,” Travers said. “So whomever comes on that board needs to be willing and ready to work side-by-side.”

County Planning and Zoning Director Susan Webb said the Maryland Historical Trust is the state’s enforcing entity regarding burial sites preservation.

“And we were basically duplicating the effort,” she said. “While this may be a good board for a nonprofit, being under the county’s umbrella, I don’t think it’s working out.”

Dorothy Samonisky, the chair of the Burial Sites Preservation Board, said the Maryland Historical Trust only gives guidance and does not “act as an arm of the law” like the county can.

“So right now, this burial site preservation is the only thing that gives you as county members anything to stand on if there is an incident with a grave site.”

Pfeffer clarified that the board is an advisory group to the council.

Samonisky said people have been buried in Dorchester County since 1669, and many of those burial sites are on private property. She said the policy in county code gives the county the authority to “act upon destruction of those cemeteries.”

Ashley Samonisky, who also spoke during public comment, said the board can guide council actions and help with outreach and education. She said there needs to be something in the code that addresses what happens if a person “maliciously destroy(s) a property or (tries) to hide the fact that it was there,” in order to build a beach house, for example.

“There needs to be fines,” she said. “There needs to be penalties up to and including the cost of restoring it to the pre-demolition stage. These are just a few ideas that this body can help with.”

Dorothy Samonisky acknowledged that there were “internal conflicts” between several board members at one point. She said she also was out due to two major surgeries in 2024.

“We had met up through ‘23 and had things on the agenda and topics to discuss,” she said.

Council Vice President Mike Detmer, who ultimately voted in favor of the board having a one-year test period, said he thinks the board has value, but would function better if not affiliated with the county.

“It being a law and having to be constituted a certain way and done a certain way is holding an effort to preserve burial sites back,” he said, later adding, “I think it could be more flexible and more dynamic as a stand-alone.”

Detmer said as long as he is on the council, if someone comes to the council with “a salient point” about something in the county, it will get attention. That doesn’t require a board, he said.

Before the council unanimously agreed to give the board a test period, Travers said the board had previously gone through an “extremely adversary” time that got to the point where some board members felt unsafe coming to the meetings. He said the county practically had to act as a referee.

“And that’s not what we need on our boards,” he said.

Pfeffer warned the this can’t happen again.

“The last board that was assembled … had brought things to this chamber,” he said. “Had brought thoughts of slander. Had brought disagreements. I will not allow that to happen during these meetings.”