By Russ Tarby

Contributing Writer

At a special meeting on June 9, the Village of Liverpool Board of Trustees awarded the bid for renovation work at the Liverpool Village Cemetery to Shawn Malone Excavating of Hannibal.

The total amount awarded is $225,410, which will pay for projects such as installation of new pedestrian path pavement and construction of a new Tulip Street sign on masonry posts.

The 173-year-old graveyard is bounded on the east and west by Tulip and Alder streets and by Fifth and Sixth streets on the south and north.

At their May 18 meeting, the trustees – Mayor Gary White, Deputy Mayor Christina Fadden and trustees Matt Devendorf, Michael LaMontagne and Jason Recor – considered three bids that contractors had submitted. The low bid came in from Shawn Malone Excavating, at $383,200. Bouley Associates, Inc. bid $552,000, and Paul F. Vitale, Inc. bid the highest, $600,000.

Malone’s low bid of $383,200 would have paid for several alternate projects as well.

“We only approved two of the alternates,” said Village Clerk Mary Ellen Sims, “which lowered the cost to $225,410.”

The other alternates – which include light poles, benches, trash receptacles and additional signage – may be completed at a later date.

“We’re hoping for possible donations or additional grants for those items” Sims said.

Two and a half years ago, 128th District Assemblywoman Pamela Hunter announced that the village had received a $250,000 grant earmarked for cemetery improvements administered through the state Dormitory Authority.

On the recommendation of a cemetery advisory committee chaired by Dr. Michael Romano, the village hired Environmental Design & Research, a Syracuse-based landscaping firm, to prepare a schematic design for the restoration work. Prior to consulting with EDR, the cemetery committee had been meeting for more than four years during which it secured listings for the cemetery on both national and state Registers of Historic Places.