Should Some of Ossining Middle School Grounds be Sold as Cemetery Plots?

School and town officials discussed at Wednesday’s Ossining school board meeting a “shared unique opportunity,” namely a five-acre parcel of vacant wooded land behind the Anne M. Dorner Middle School they are hoping to partially use for burial plots.

A PDF bolstered presentation by Alita McCoy Zuber, Assistant Superintendent for Business, and Sue Donnelly, Town of Ossining Supervisor, considered what to do with this problematic piece of land owned by the school district and adjacent to cemetery land. 

They cited potential flood concerns and steep slopes on the landlocked piece as making it likely undesirable on the open market. The land, the presentation states, suffers “limited developmental potential due to physical limitations and land use restrictions.”

Their plan instead:

Leave a smaller lot for the Town to build salt shed and a portion of an emergency access road. The School District would have a permanent easement onto its property.

A larger portion of the land would be sold as “very desirable” cemetery plots, with the net proceeds from the sale used to maintain the property. 

The proposed timeline anticipates a special Board of Education meeting and vote to sell the land – following various further informational sessions – on January 22, 2014.

What do you think of this plan for the land?