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Shaftsbury to Replace Fence at Cemetery

Posted: April 8, 2025

SHAFTSBURY - The Select Board voted Monday to approve replacing the fence that runs along the Village Cemetery at Route 7A and Cleveland Avenue.

The money will come from the cemetery capital fund. Legacy Fence will replace it for $38,461.

In other business, officials said that the replacement of two culverts by the on Route 7 in Sunderland in the fall will result on traffic being detoured onto Route 7A through town.

Town Administrator Paula Iken said the Cemetery Committee got two quotes for the fence replacement last fall. The quotes were from $46,700 from AFSCO Fence and Legacy Fence $35,552.

"There was a little bit of a delay in getting these approved by the Select Board, because we had to do a lead test, and the Home Depot lead test really didn't give us the results that we that we trusted," she said. "So, we got a professional one done. It's perfectly safe to take down (the fence) given the very small amount of lead. We wanted to make sure that public safety was a concern attended to."

However, in the meantime, the price from Legacy Fence had increased to $38,461. The Cemetery Capital Fund balance is $56,159.33.

"That difference of $2,000 and change isn't really big deal, but we need the Select Board's approval on behalf of the cemetery committee to make that purchase," Iken said. "And it's going to be a beautiful fence. So, (it will look) much better when you're driving to Shaftsbury."

The current fence and the new fence will be on just the Route 7A side of the Village Cemetery. The new town office facility will be on the north side of the cemetery, separated by a line of trees and brush, and there's a possibility of an entrance of sorts there.

"I think it remains to be seen what happens on the side where the new building is," Iken said. "This may be like an archway, and like a walk-through from the public property into that would be a lovely feature later. But there's so much brush in there."

ROUTE 7A

Iken said that information about the culvert replacement project is on the town website. Though the culverts are in Sunderland, traffic will be diverted onto Route 7A The Route 7A detour distance between exits 2 and 3 on Route 7 will be 12.9 miles, adding 3.3 miles to the Route 7 through-distance between the exits of 9.6 miles. The proposed detour runs about a mile through the northern Bennington stretch of 7A and the entire length of Route 7A in Shaftsbury.

The timing of the project has changed over the years.

"First, they didn't have the funding, and they were going to do the project in 2030 but all of a sudden, now they have funding," Iken said. "It is going to be in either August or September this year, and that timing will be up to the contractor.

"So rather than being closed for a week on each side of the project, they're just going to close that section of Route seven for two weeks, get it over with," she said. "And we're still working with the state as far as safety and traffic, making sure that citizens of Shaftsbury remain safe."

Board Chair Zoe Contros Kearl said the board has shown the state areas of concern on Route 7A with increased traffic, such as near the Buck Stop gas station and convenience store, which is near the intersection with Route 67.

"This will definitely increase the amount of traffic, and also large trucks. So, everybody during that period should account a little bit extra time for their commute, and also be extra careful, as there will be people on our roads who are unfamiliar," she said. "But it should be a short period. So, as we have more updates about the timing of that, we'll let everybody know."

According to VTrans, more details on the construction schedule and traffic management will be shared with the project stakeholder email list later this year. Community members are encouraged to stay informed by signing up for email updates.

Compliments of: The Bennington Banner
Posted/Author: Mark Rondeau

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