BERLIN — With some heartfelt kind words and a proclamation from the town, long-time Berlin Councilwoman Paula Lynch served at her last meeting this week, ending a 26-year run as an elected official in the town.
Lynch announced in August she would not be seeking re-election after serving on the council for six full terms. Her spot on the council will be taken by Thom Gulyas, who ran unopposed for the vacancy and will likely fill the chair and be sworn in at the next meeting.
On Tuesday, however, it was Lynch who had some unfinished business in her final official meeting as a Berlin councilmember. Mayor Gee Williams read an official proclamation into the record and had many kind words to say about his long-time colleague.
“This is very bittersweet,” he said. “She is surely going to be missed, and not just because of her length of service, but for her contributions to this town. Everything she has ever done has been in the best interest of Berlin.”
Indeed, Lynch served as a councilmember for nearly three decades and much has changed in the former sleepy town on her watch. During Lynch’s tenure, Berlin grew from an afterthought stopover on the way to Ocean City to a powerful player in local and regional tourism. The renovation of the old Atlantic Hotel helped spark a renaissance in Berlin that is still moving forward.
Under Lynch’s watch, Berlin has experienced significant commercial and residential growth and the downtown area has been recognized regionally and nationally for its transformation. Just last spring, Berlin was named “The Coolest Small Town in America,” a designation Lynch said she saw coming.
“Long before everybody else figured it out, I always knew Berlin was the coolest small town in America,” she said. “It’s been a pleasure and it’s been a lot of fun and I’ll take a lot of great memories from my time on the council.”
Beyond the glowing renaissance in the downtown area and beyond, Lynch served on the council during a remarkable renaissance of a different kind, including significant upgrades to the town’s water and wastewater systems, several annexations and major commercial and residential developments.
At two meetings a month for 12 months a year, Lynch has served on the council dais for over 600 meetings. Some were short and sweet, but many lasted late into the night while the town’s elected officials and its citizens debated weighty issues. Council Vice President Elroy Brittingham has served on the council for over two decades as well and he fondly recalled his years serving alongside Lynch.
“We’ve been through a lot of long nights working through these things,” he said. “You have helped shepherd Berlin through some pretty exciting times.”
Councilman Troy Purnell has served on the council with Lynch the last four years, but his relationship with the retiring elected official goes back much further. Lynch serves as the business manager for the Worcester Preparatory School, where Purnell was a student and is a member of the Board of Trustees.
“I just want to thank Paula for her years of service,” he said. “I’ve known her since I was in the third grade and probably longer.”
Lynch has always been the fiscal watchdog on the council and has a reputation for closely watching expenditures, counting pennies and keeping an eye on the books. In one of her last official proceedings during Tuesday’s meeting, that tenacity was on display as the council reviewed a rather mundane contract for a sidewalk project on Tripoli Street. After learning of the successful low bid by Worth Construction for the project, Lynch questioned where the money was coming from in the town budget.
“I don’t see it anywhere in this year’s budget,” she said. “It’s just one of my things. I just want to make sure we can pay for it.”
Water Resources and Public Works Director Jane Kreiter assured Lynch and the council the sidewalk expenditure was in the budget and vowed to show them where the allocation was listed. Lynch then made a motion to approve the contract with the caveat the budget documentation was provided.
In terms of the Tripoli Street sidewalk project, Kreiter explained Worth was the low bidder and had worked closely with the town on other projects.
“They’ve done a lot of the sidewalks in town,” said Kreiter. “It’s been a long time coming for this one. We’d like to see it get done before the bad weather gets here.”