ROCKLAND — At their regularly scheduled Oct. 8 meeting at the County Courthouse in Rockland, the Knox County Commissioners heard a request from Owls Head to soften internment language for one town cemetery that borders the county airport.

Owls Head Selectman Richard Carver, along with Owls Head resident Bonnie Post and Ken Crane, chairman of the Owls Head Cemetery Committee, and Jeff Northgraves, Knox County Regional Airport Manager, addressed the county commissioners about the town’s newest cemetery.

Owls Head has nine cemeteries. The newest cemetery sits on county land at the corners of Ash Point Drive and Dublin Road. Because the cemetery is on county property that was purchased by the Federal Aviation Administration for the airport the cemetery plots must be leased and not sold to individuals who wish to be buried there.

The three from Owls Head asked what could be done to soften the wording of the interment agreement and proposed that the county sell the land to the town.

“I believe this is a long shot because it has to do with the FAA and not just the county,” said Crane. “Our main purpose today is just to begin a dialog and see if there’s a way we can pursue this and get to an eventuality of ownership of the land." 

“I can answer that,” said Northgraves. “You will never be able to buy that land as long as the airport is there. That is land the FAA purchased. It is considered runway protection land. This isn’t the first time you’ve asked this question. The first time was in 1995, then again in 2000, and again in 2004. And the answer hasn’t changed. The best that land can ever be is what they call concurrent use. Cemeteries traditionally are concurrent use acceptable and there are other airports where they do this exact same thing, but it requires a long-term lease.”

Northgraves said there is a 99-year lease option on the land and all the FAA cares about is fair market value in that lease. 

“If there is a future change to that land, and because you have people buried there it’s unlikely a change will occur, and then the disinterment would have to come in multiple steps,” said Northgraves. “Personally, I don’t ever see that happening, but the way the language is, anyone who is thinking about putting a loved one there is going to think the worst, so maybe we can change that language so that it’s clearer and paints it as being less likely.”

Commissioner Roger Moody, of Camden, suggested the cemetery might be better suited for cremated remains. Commissioner Carol Maines suggested that softer wording be adopted and presented to the FAA with a word from the commissioners that say they are in support of the town. Maines urged the three to reword the document and present to the commission for a vote.

In other business, the commissioners approved the purchase of two new patrol cars, Ford Police Interceptors, for the Knox County Sheriff’s Department at $25, 635 for each vehicle. The new all-wheel drive, six-cylinder vehicles will be purchased from Quirk Ford of Augusta.

A bid for jail medical services was awarded to Quality Correctional Health Care for $249,000. QCHC will now submit a three-year contract for the commissioners to approve by vote at their November meeting.

Reach Chris Wolf at news@penbaypilot.com