The decision was made during the board's inaugural meeting on Wednesday when a quote by the West Otago Lions Club for $11,340 was tabled.
Representatives for the club said it had identified several areas of the cemetery that needed work, including removing trees, wall stabilisation, and sand-blasting and repainting the cemetery gates.
The Clutha District Council told the board $5000 was available for the project, but a budget for the remaining work would need to go through the 2011-12 annual plan process.
Cr Michelle Kennedy said a lot of money was involved.
"If we are going to spend along those lines, we should put it out to tender."
Lindsay Alderton said when looking at the amount of work to be done, he did not think the sum quoted was out of line.
John Herbert said the board was spending public money and needed to be transparent.
The board agreed the CDC should create a specification so other groups knew what type of work was required, then obtain written quotes from different sources.
Cr Kennedy also advised the board the cemetery information plaque identifying the location of plots had been hung incorrectly.
She suggested the plaque be rotated anticlockwise by 90deg and rehung.
