MIDDLEBORO — Town Meeting voters could be asked whether to appoint a Cemetery Commission to oversee six historical cemeteries that have been refurbished and, in some cases, are available for burials.

The discussion at the July 15 Select Board meeting followed a recommendation from a committee created by the Select Board last year to consider the formation of a Cemetery Commission. After numerous meetings, the study group recommended the town form a commission that would be in charge of the six cemeteries, Town Manager James McGrail said. 

The six cemeteries in question are Fall Brook Cemetery on Tispaquin Street; Gammons Cemetery on Sachem Street; Tack Factory Cemetery on Taunton Street; Reed Cemetery on Marion Road; Gilbert Peirce Cemetery on Marion Road and Warrentown Cemetery on Summer Street. All of them were once considered abandoned. 

In October 2012, Town Meeting voters agreed to allow the Historical Commission to spend from long-standing accounts to clean headstones and restore the graveyards. In some cases, even larger gravestones were not visible from the road before work was done, cemetery commission study group member Chip Mangio said.

Now the graveyards have been cleaned and people have inquired about burials on the sites, McGrail said. Burials cannot be overseen by the Historical Commission, he said. That would have to be the responsibility of a Cemetery Commission or the Select Board.

Select Board member Theresa Farley said she supports the voters having the final say as to whether a commission should be formed. Select Board member Brian Giovanoni questioned what costs might be incurred by having a commission oversee the cemeteries.

McGrail said he would provide more specifics at a future meeting.

If Town Meeting in the fall approved the formation of a commission, the issue would then go to the ballot box next spring, McGrail said.