Photo by Doug Clark

Roseboro mayor Roland Hall discusses the issue of having mausoleums in the town at a recent meeting.

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It has been an issue in question for over a decade now, but a decision to keep 12 designated spaces for a mausoleum at Roseboro Cemetery could come as early as mid-August.

The issue came up back in 2000, when a resident made a formal request to the Roseboro Board of Commissioners for permission to put a mausoleum in the new section of the cemetery, located on about five acres just off of N.C. Highway 242 and North Street. Although, at the time, the board and the Cemetery Committee did not allow mausoleums in the new section of the cemetery, several plots were eventually set aside in 2001 to accommodate the resident’s request.

“Since then, those plots have sat empty,” said mayor Roland Hall, explaining that the resident who initially made the request went somewhere else to find a cemetery that would immediately handle the request. “No one has come forward since to ask us about that area for the mausoleum. From 2001 until now, those plots have been empty and nothing has been built.”

Hall brought the issue up at a recent meeting, asking the board if they wanted to leave the designated graves as they were, allowing the mausoleum, or to undesignate them.

“With little interest over the years and not one person asking about making that area a mausoleum, the question then becomes, do we really need to hold those plots?” Hall explained. “That is why I brought it up to the board, to let them think about it.”

The mayor, along with his commissioners, will meetwith the Cemetery Committee within the next week to discuss the issue further.

“There has been no decision on it yet,” Hall stressed. “Right now, we are just discussing it and we will talk more about it with the committee and probably have a decision by next month’s (board) meeting.”

Mosquito spraying

Although initially expected to take place earlier this month, the town will most likely begin its annual mosquito spraying tonight or Saturday.

“It has to be the right time,” emphasized Hall. “We had been advised by our public works folks that because of the hot weather and dryness, it would have been just a waste of money and effort if we began the spraying earlier this month.”

The cost, which is about $4,000, was already factored into the board’s budget.

“It looks like they will begin spraying Friday night or Saturday night,” Hall said. “It is going to be hot those days, but it looks like it will be a little damp and it would be the right humidity to be the most effective. It was something that this board made a decision early on to do, because if you don’t get a handle on it, the mosquitoes will get out of hand and we don’t want that for our residents.”

To reach Doug Clark call 910-592-8137 ext. 123 or email to sisports@heartlandpublications.com.