FARMINGTON – A suit has been filed by two Farmington Cemetery Corp. stockholders in order to dissolve the corporation for financial reasons.

Acting on behalf of the remaining stockholders, John Wilbur and Arthur Perry have filed a “friendly” suit designed to obtain permission for dissolution from the court, corporation attorney Lee Bragg of Augusta said.

“The corporation is hoping to transfer two cemeteries and assets to the town subject to town meeting approval. It is necessary to obtain permission from the court in order to make the transfers,” he said.

For several years, the town has appropriated money for for general maintenance of Riverside and Fairview cemeteries, which are located across from each other on Farmington Falls Road, south of the town office. Last year, $30,000 was appropriated.

The assets, including a perpetual care fund of approximately $360,000, would be transferred. Only money for certain things can be drawn from the perpetual fund, causing the six to eight directors of the corporation to look to the town annually for operating expenses, he said.

Incorporated in 1917, the group was formed to acquire the Riverside Cemetery and other lands to enlarge the cemetery, to care for and maintain the cemetery, receive donations and bequests for the benefit of the cemetery and enter into contracts for the care of the cemetery, as noted in the court file. The corporation expanded in 1924 by purchasing real estate for what is now Fairview Cemetery.

At the time of incorporation, 23 stockholders were issued stock and became directors. Now, the original 23 stockholders are no longer living and the identity of their heirs is not certain. The corporation has been unable to locate most of the stockholders for more than three decades, as stated in the court document.

Members of the board of directors are stockholders, Bragg said, but it’s not a venture that was intended to make money or earn a profit. Directors have served for good of the community.

At a special stockholders meeting last April, the group decided it was in the best interests of the corporation to dissolve and transfer its assets to the town. The corporation is no longer able to raise enough money to maintain operations.

Daily management has gone beyond the capabilities of the corporation but not knowing the identity of most of the stockholders, the corporation is deadlocked in its ability to conduct business, including the ability to vote to dissolve, as stated in the suit.

Economics is the basic reason the stockholders have filed the suit, said Arthur Perry on Monday. Everything is more expensive, with lot sales down and charges for cremation less than normal burials.

“The transfer has been in the works for years, but it hasn’t been clear as to when this would happen,” Town Manager Richard Davis told selectmen last week.

Operational questions about handling the cemetery caused the board to invite Bragg to their next meeting Feb. 12.

Neither Davis nor Bragg foresee any major change or additional expense to the town if they vote to accept the transfer.

“The town is really covering all operating expenses now, and it’s likely to be more efficient resulting in cost savings. Some of the expenses paid out by the corporation will no longer be necessary,” Bragg said.

If the town chose to not accept the transfer of the cemeteries, the corporation would remain in tact but the maintenance and operation of the cemeteries could suffer, Perry said.