Billerica Cemetery Commission Authorizes Tree Removal to Protect Fox Hill Headstones

BILLERICA -- April 14, 2025, Billerica Cemetery Commission moves to remove trees threatening Fox Hill headstones and takes up a range of maintenance issues. Chairman Peter Blaisdell and member Jim O'Donnell, meeting without the absent Paul Matthews, agreed to remove approximately five shallow-rooted trees whose roots are lifting ground-level headstones and creating tripping hazards that an 88-year-old walker-dependent resident cannot safely navigate, with costs expected to come from perpetual care funds. The commission also directed staff to contact a vendor called Sign Effects about installing roughly 10 dog-leash requirement signs at Fox Hill after social media complaints about off-leash dogs on grave areas. A discussion of broken and fallen markers at the North Cemetery, some dating to the Revolutionary War, ended with Blaisdell pledging to solicit assessments from monument specialists and potentially bring a warrant article before town meeting voters for restoration funding. The commission set its next meeting for June 23, 2025.