Town rejects bids for fixing cemetery wall
This marks the second time an effort to secure a contractor for the work has been unsuccessful.
RHINEBECK, N.Y. » The Town Board has rejected two bids for repairing a 300-foot long section of the 134-year-old stone wall at the Town of Rhinebeck Cemetery.
It was the second time an effort to secure a contractor for the work has been unsuccessful.
“We don’t have enough money to build that wall,” Councilman Ed Roberts said. He said the only acceptable bid this time around was $318,900, “and that’s about $150,000 more than we estimated.”
That bid, for a stone veneer repair of the wall, was submitted by J.C. Millbank Construction Co. of Pleasant Valley. The company did not bid on an option for stone masonry repairs.
The second bid, from John Stinemire of Kingston, did not meet the town’s specifications.
Town officials said they’re not sure how they’ll proceed.
“We’ll have to deal with it at budget time,” Supervisor Elizabeth Spinzia said.
The town sought bids a second time after giving contractors incorrect cost estimates during the first round.
An 2017 engineering report to the town said the wall will last another 70 years if repaired with stone or about 100 years if the work is done with cement.
In a March 2017 engineering report officials were told that the wall would last about 70 years using stones or about 100 year if repaired with cement.
Some sections of the wall, which ranges from 1 to 2 feet high, are use as a retaining wall for hills along U.S. Route 9.
Park of the wall project is to be funded with a $75,000 grant from the Rhinebeckbased Frost Foundation and $10,000 from the group Friends of Rhinebeck Cemetery.