At its Dec. 16 meeting, the Village of Liverpool Board of Trustees informally approved a plan presented by Zoning Board Chairman Mike Romano to form a new committee to study the 168-year-old Liverpool Cemetery.
The new citizens’ advisory committee will be chaired by Mike Romano and will include Jim Farrell, Jim Keib, Roberta Kompare and Peter Osborne. Ex officio members include Liverpool Mayor Gary White, Superintendent of Public Works Bill Asmus, Village Historian Dorianne Elitharp Gutierrez and Ken Palmer, commander of American Legion Post 188.
More than 3,500 persons have been buried in the graveyard since it was established in the mid-1840s. Approximately 200 plots remain vacant, and another dozen or so are available for cremains only.
The cemetery is bounded on the east and west by Tulip and Alder streets and by Fifth and Sixth streets on the south and north. Two roads run crosswise through the cemetery.
Cost for a plot is $650, $75 for a grave marker and a one-time fee of $50 for permanent maintenance per burial. The full purchase price must be paid before a deed will be issued or a burial allowed. To purchase cemetery plots, contact the village clerk’s office at 457-3441.
Village Clerk Mary Ellen Sims told trustees that other committees have overseen cemetery operations in the past but have become inactive over the years.
Tulip Street ramps
Since late last spring, orange mesh fences have blocked motorists from driving on the two-ramp cemetery entrance on Tulip Street where the stone retaining wall is crumbling. The ramps probably date back to the early 20th century, according to Liverpool Village Historian. Ornamental chain fences replaced oft-vandalized wooden fences in late 1949 on the street side of each ramp.
At its Oct. 21 meeting, the Liverpool Village Board of Trustees agreed to spend $3,000 for the creation of formal drawings and a proposal to seek county approval to make ramp repairs. Village Engineer Greg Sgromo estimated the entire project could cost approximately $10,000.
The engineer recommended eliminating of one of the two ramps. The southern ramp, which faces Fifth Street, will likely be closed while the northern ramp, facing Sixth Street, would remain open.
Sgromo suggested that traffic be permitted one-way allowing traffic to enter but not to exit at Tulip Street. The ramp leads into the cemetery’s main arterial which runs from Tulip Street down the hill to Alder Street.
For cemetery information, visit villageofliverpool.org/content/cemetery.
