Brookline canceled its request for proposals seeking a caretaker for Walnut Hills Cemetery.
The town has been looking for a Walnut Hills caretaker since August. One full bid cycle passed without the town receiving a single proposal, and almost an entire second cycle lapped again with no takers — until Brookline.News reported on the opening, and town officials were overwhelmed with so many questions that they canceled the bid.
The caretaker would live in the house at 96 Grove St. — just outside the gates of Walnut Hills Cemetery, a 150-year-old public cemetery in South Brookline — and perform daily tasks including opening and closing the entrance gates, keeping up with the residence property and monitoring the grounds during operating hours.
Signing a caretaker agreement, rather than a regular lease, means the caretaker would receive a discount on rent. They’d be required to pay a minimum of $1,600 per month, in addition to water, heat, electric and utilities costs.
The former caretaker, retired Brookline police officer Bill McDermott, lived and worked at Walnut Hills Cemetery from March 2012 until last spring. He paid about $1,500 a month.
After Brookline.News reported on the lack of bids, and subsequent reporting by Boston25 News , the town received over 60 requests for the bid and more than 100 questions about the job, said Chief Procurement Officer Rick Saville.
With a regular request for proposals, Saville said that with every question submitted, the town must release an addendum providing the answer to ensure fairness. Questions included clarification on daily caretaker duties, occupancy rules and whether pets were allowed in the residence, Saville said.
In an attempt to keep up with the influx of questions, Saville said town officials issued a weeklong extension on the bid. But before they reached the opening deadline for the original timeline, they canceled the bid entirely Oct. 23.
“There were lots of questions, questions we didn’t have the answers to,” Saville said. “So we decided, in the best interest of everybody, we’re just going to cancel this.”
Before the town canceled the bid, it received four completed proposal bids, which were returned to their senders unopened.
Saville said the procurement, building and parks and open spaces departments will regroup, work to answer questions they received and release an updated request for proposals in the spring of 2027, after the busy November budget season.
“We bid this prior about a month and a half ago, and we didn’t get any bids, and no one asked any questions,” Saville said. “The problem [now] is, we only have one house for all those people looking for it, unfortunately. But I feel confident we’ll get someone now.”