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The aging fence at Windsor Cemetery has now received the replacement that the Windsor Town Council called for earlier this fall.

During the council’s Dec. 12 meeting, Windsor Town Manager William Saunders said, “The new cemetery fence, a 4-foot tall black vinyl-coated chain link fence approximately 495 feet in length, which was approved at the Oct. 10 Town Council meeting, has been installed satisfactorily.”

Windsor Mayor George Stubbs added, “If no one has been by and looked at it, you need to go see it. It looks very impressive. I’ve been by there. It’s very nice, very clean.”

To Saunders he said, “I appreciate your efforts on that and getting it done so quickly. Thank you.”

During its Oct. 10 meeting, the Town Council voted 6-0 to replace the chain link fence around the cemetery at 36 East Griffin St. with the sturdiest commercial-grade fence proposed to the town that also carried the highest price tag among the bids submitted.

Prior to the 6-0 vote, Councilman Walter Bernacki said he had not been over at the cemetery, so he asked for more detail on the state of the then-current fence.

“It’s rusted and in disrepair,” Saunders said after noting that it was likely around 20 years old.

Pondering the replacement, Bernacki said, “I guess my question is, if we go to a black vinyl, will that enhance or give (the fence) a longer life in the future?”

Saunders replied, “I don’t know if it gives you a longer life, and I could be wrong, but I believe it would look better for longer.”

Later Bernacki noted, “Well, it’s one of those things — you get what you paid for.”

Vice Mayor J. Randy Carr asked Saunders where the town would be pulling the money from to pay for the fence replacement.

Saunders said, “Well, we can pull it from unappropriated (American Rescue Plan Act) money right now, because we’ll be getting a good bit of that that we spent back from grants, and/or we could use contingency funds that we put into this year’s budget.”

Carr ultimately selected one of proposals in the form of a motion, and he reiterated his rationale during a Wednesday, Oct. 25, interview.

“We’ve got a fence that’s been there for longer than anybody can remember,” he said, “and why not go up there and put something up there nice this time, because it’s going to be up there way after I’m gone, and why are we going to sit here penny pinching?”

He emphasized that the cemetery is the resting place of departed loved ones and esteemed, prominent members of the community, and it is a place where people regularly go to honor their loved ones.

As for what fence proposal to accept, he said, “There’s no need to argue about it.”

At the Oct. 10 meeting, he said, “I’ll make a motion that we go with Rosenbaum Fence with the black vinyl and the 7-gauge commercial. The total price is $12,702.”

Bernacki seconded the motion, and there was no further discussion prior to the unanimous vote to approve it.

In a Wednesday, Dec. 27, interview, Carr noted that he had been by the cemetery and seen the new fence.

“I am glad that council decided to go with the fence we did and decided to go with the black (vinyl),” he said. “It turned out really nice. … To me, it’s almost like it adds a different appearance to the cemetery.”