BERLIN – Plans for stormwater improvements in the area of Cedar Avenue, Maple Drive and Pine Street continue to move ahead.
The town is currently waiting to receive bids for stormwater management upgrades in that neighborhood.
“We’ll probably award a contract in December,” Town Administrator Laura Allen said.
Last week, the Berlin Town Council approved a $73,635 proposal for construction administration and inspection services from EA Engineering Science and Technology for the project.
“This is consistent with the work they’ve done on other stormwater projects,” Allen told the council. “As you know they are our stormwater on-call engineer. The town contracts with EA for these services because we don’t have that expertise in house. Generally we’ve been happy with the work they’ve done.”
Allen said this week that Darl Kolar, project manager for EA Engineering, had made some minor changes to the scope of work but that bids for the project were still expected in the coming weeks.
“We’ve fragmented the scope of work a little bit,” she said. “We want to use as much as we can of the remaining grant money but not overspend.”
The town has received just under $2 million in grants through the U.S. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to help fund stormwater improvements.
The upcoming project will involve replacement of the area’s existing storm drain conveyance system. That should increase water flow and reduce flooding in the neighborhood. Allen says the timelines for the project will depend on the bids that are received.
“It may work more effectively to do this in the spring once the winter weather has moved on,” she said.
She added that the town would be submitting applications in January for the next round of grant funding from DNR and the USDA.
“There’s still more work to be done,” she said.
In 2017, the town has completed stormwater management upgrades on Flower Street, William Street and West Street.
