Dudley Town Meeting To Vote On Purchasing Land Islamic Society Wants For Cemetery
DUDLEY (CBS) -- Dudley Town Meeting members could vote Monday night to purchase land that might otherwise be used as the site for a Muslim cemetery.
The Islamic Society of Greater Worcester's plan to purchase a plot of farmland in Dudley for a proposed cemetery has drawn opposition in the town over the past several months, since a local landowner said he was going to sell 55 acres to them.
According to Dudley Town Administrator Greg Balyukonis, there could be a whole new twist in the story, as the town may buy the land instead.
"We have an article on our Town Meeting warrant this evening, and the purpose of the article is to give the town the opportunity to acquire the property under a section of state law called chapter 61A," said Balyukonis.
That law gives the town of Dudley the right of first refusal for the sale of agricultural land. Balyukonis has previously said that the town's opposition has nothing to do with religion.
"I think that there have been individuals who have spoken out with concerns on the fact that it is an Islamic cemetery, but that's not necessarily reflective of the community," said Balyukonis. "The community's job is to deal with everyone fairly and treat everyone fairly regardless of their race or religion. And I think from the town's perspective, and the town officials' perspective, we've done that."
In April, Islamic Society attorney Jason Talerman said of the opposition to the proposed cemetery, "Unfortunately…bigotry has reared it's ugly head."
"What's been picked up has been, unfortunately, some of the anti-Islamic statements that have been made by individuals maybe not even necessarily with the town of Dudley--from a wider area," said Balyukonis.
Balyukonis said the town would welcome any effort by the Islamic Society of Greater Worcester to scale down their proposal.
"We want to work with everyone, including the proponents of this cemetery, but the concerns that we had were about the size of the cemetery," said Balyukonis. "It was just very large."
The problem is, there's no purchase price right now--so even if Town Meeting members approve the concept of buying the land, there would likely be further approval needed for a specific expenditure.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Carl Stevens reports