A Chelsea church with a second, closed church in Edgecomb is offering Edgecomb an old cemetery, in hopes the closed church will have better luck attracting a buyer without it.

But some Edgecomb officials on November 4 were unsure the town should take the cemetery on Old County Road as a gift. They raised concerns about liability, the same issue a realtor said has scared away potential buyers of the church.

“Every time you say the cemetery's attached to it, people just back right up,” Realtor Lisa Kalloch told selectmen.

Kalloch is also a member of Grace Baptist Church, which picked up Edgecomb Baptist Church and the cemetery across the road from it several years ago.

The Edgecomb church later closed due to poor attendance; the parent church in Chelsea isn't doing much better, averaging only about 25 people at services there, Kalloch said.

The church has had Edgecomb Baptist Church listed for $79,500, she said. “They're definitely willing to listen to any offers.”

Edgecomb Fire Chief Roy Potter suggested the Chelsea church give the town the Edgecomb church along with the cemetery. Kalloch doubted the church would go for that.

The plan was to use the money from the church's sale to pay bills, she said.

Barry Hathorne, vice chairman of Edgecomb's planning board, raised the idea of the Edgecomb Historical Society using the church building, to keep its collection or to hold fundraisers there.

When participants in Monday's discussion asked if he was thinking of the historical society or the town owning it, Hathorne said he didn't know how that would work. He just meant it might be a good use for the property.

“We're throwing away all our heritage here in this town like it's nothing,” Hathorne said.

The cemetery has some impressive gravestones and some veterans’ graves, Selectmen's Chairman Jack Sarmanian said.

It was not known if there were any plots left that the town could sell. The cemetery takes up less than half an acre, Kalloch said.

The last burial there was in 1910, Town Clerk Claudia Coffin said.

Chubbuck couldn't see a benefit to the town owning the cemetery. Voters already agreed in 2007 to take over maintenance of it.

“You're asking the town to take the expense (of ownership) without anything in return,” Chubbuck told Kalloch.

The church property could bring jobs to town, if someone turns it into a business, Kalloch said.

In an undated letter Kalloch handed selectmen, Grace Baptist Church Pastor Gary Harvey tells the board: “We appreciate your time (and) hope that an agreement can be reached which will be helpful to both our interests.”

Selectmen asked Kalloch to return with proof that her church owns the property; there could be issues if it changed hands as a result of church votes, they said.

Without that information, Sarmanian said, “It would be almost impossible to determine what we're dealing with.” The board also asked Kalloch to meet with the planning board over questions about what a buyer for the church could do with the property, under town rules.

Cunningham Road project clears hurdle

Selectmen on Monday agreed to pay Jay Sibley $10,000 for an easement to his Cunningham Road property.

The easement will allow work to be done to improve visibility near Cunningham and Mill roads, selectmen have said. The project is planned for next spring.

“I think it's a great opportunity ... to be proactive, instead of reacting after there's been a serious accident,” Chubbuck said.

Special town meeting a go

Voters on November 18 will consider using $25,000 in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) money to do an engineering study selectmen say will help the town answer its sewer questions.

Selectmen on Monday signed the warrant for the special town meeting, which starts at 7 p.m. at town hall.

Voters will also look at taking $6,856 from surplus, to cover some more interest due on the town's road reconstruction loan.