The controversy surrounding the possible disturbance of graves on Trickum Creek Road in Tyrone may be headed to court.

During Thursday’s Town Council meeting, town attorney Brad Sears recommended the item be pulled from the agenda, because the issue may soon evolve into a lawsuit. The request to pull the item was met with a stony silence, but Councilman Paul Letourneau said he would not be part of any discussion on the issue because of the legal questions surrounding the issue.

Doug Best, who placed the item on the agenda, asked if he could speak to the council, and Sears said there was nothing wrong with listening to Best, but suggested the council refrain from making any comments.

“I’m the living person that is most affected by this issue,” Best said.

Best told the council that he had recently bought two lots in Trickum Creek Estates and understood the council had annexed the property four years ago.

“The original plat shows a road going around the cemetery, but the developer put the road through the cemetery,” he said.

In September, the council had significant discussion about the issue, with numerous questions on the prior identification of the gravesite, its clear presence on the plat from the time the area was annexed in 2003 and the impact of state regulations on the identification of a cemetery and its subsequent preservation.

Noted in the discussion was a July 2005 police incident report by then Lt. David Mullis. The report referenced a response to the property under development and indicated the presence of an old cemetery. Also noted was recent damage to one of the headstones. Another incident report dated Sept. 10, 2007 said that unknown persons had placed a silt fence within the cemetery in an apparent attempt to stop dirt runoff and had placed one of the large stones back in place over the top of an open grave.

While archaeologists cannot offer definitive proof on whether any graves were disturbed, Best said the situation needs to be resolved. Another issue is that multiple homes are served by one road, which makes it difficult for fire and police to have proper access to residents in the subdivision.

“There’s one road serving five homes,” he added.

Best urged the council to take away the emotion from the issue and resolve the situation.