Mike Romano brought the Liverpool Village Board of Trustees some good news at its July 21 meeting. The chairman of an eight-member committee formed last December to study the 168-year-old Liverpool Cemetery, Romano told the trustees that the cemetery could be eligible for designation as a national historic destination.
Romano is also chairman of the village Zoning Board of Appeals. He was joined at the July 21 meeting by cemetery committee member Jim Farrell, a former Liverpool mayor and former Onondaga County legislator.
Since the mid-1840s, more than 3,500 persons have been buried in the graveyard bounded on the east and west by Tulip and Alder streets and by Fifth and Sixth streets on the south and north.
If the cemetery becomes a national historic destination, the village could apply for grants from state and federal sources to help pay for upkeep, Farrell said. He specifically pointed to the New York State Historic Preservation Office as a possible source of future funding.
Since spring of 2013, orange mesh fences have blocked motorists from driving on the two-ramp cemetery entrance on Tulip Street where the stone retaining wall is crumbling. Village engineer Greg Sgromo has been working with Onondaga County on plans to repair the ramps, but work has yet to begin.
Romano urged the trustees to hold off on its Tulip Street repairs until the historic designation is determined. “There’s more money available if we get the designation first,” he said.
Sgromo suggested that, because the stones on the ramp’s retaining wall are quickly coming loose, something needs to be done soon. Galvanized baskets could be installed, he said, to catch falling stones.
The ramps probably date back to the early 20th century, according to village historian Dorianne Elitharp Guiterrez. Ornamental chain fences replaced oft-vandalized wooden fences in late-1949 on the street side of each ramp.
Trustee Nick Kochan, who’s also a member of the cemetery committee, said the village will have to hire consultants to write a report supporting the historic designation.
Mayor Gary White likes the idea. “I think we should go ahead and see what we can get from these funding sources,” White said.
For cemetery information, visit villageofliverpool.org/content/cemetery.
LPD arrests 18 in June
Via a memo read by Trustee Jim Rosier, Liverpool Police Chief Don Morris informed village trustees at their July 21 meeting that officers made 145 traffic stops and issued 106 citations for violations of the state’s vehicle and traffic laws during June. In addition, eight traffic accidents were investigated and one arrest was made for driving while intoxicated.
Officers made 217 residential checks during the month while answering a total of 358 complaints and calls for service.
During June, LPD officers arrested 18 individuals on a total of 24 criminal charges.
Morris also reported that LPD recently received a grant through the state Attorney General’s Office for the purchase of naxolone kits and training for each officer. Also known by the brand name Narcan, naxolone is used to revive individuals who have overdosed on heroin.
The number of heroin overdoses in in Onondaga County rose from 14 in 2009 to 84 in 2013 – an increase of 500 percent, according to the Upstate New York Poison Center.
