BERLIN – Town officials have agreed to waive the permitting fees associated with wheelchair ramps being installed by charitable groups Berlin.
Following a request from the Chesapeake Housing Mission, the town council agreed last week to waive the permitting fees for nonprofits building wheelchair ramps for citizens in need. Volunteers from Chesapeake Housing mission are preparing to build a ramp for 91-year-old Berlin resident Nadia Shockley and expect to have other projects in town.
“We’ve found out through the years that the wheelchair ramp is an area that’s fallen through the cracks,” said Rick Nelson, vice president of Chesapeake Housing Mission. “There’s no government program for it and there’s definitely a need for it.”
Nelson told the council his organization was formed in 2009 and had spent the past several years providing vital housing repairs to low income families throughout the region. While they do perform minor repairs, housing mission members are most frequently asked to build wheelchair ramps.
Don Taylor, executive director of the nonprofit, said last year, the Chesapeake Housing Mission did 58 projects, 14 in Worcester. He explained that individuals in need of ramps are referred to his group by their local health department. Taylor and his volunteers then build and install the ramp at no cost.
“The need here is great,” he said, “as it is in other counties.”
Taylor said that often, local students volunteered to help build the ramps. Last year, Chesapeake Housing Mission worked with 1,000 volunteers who put in 7,000 hours of service.
“It’s not just a ramp, we’re bringing people together,” he said. “We ask people to give a day, just one day. Not only will you change the life of the person you’re building the ramp for but you’ll probably change your own. You’re going to show that person you care.”
Taylor and Nelson requested the town waive the $65 in fees associated with building a ramp at Shockley’s home and asked officials to consider extending the waiver to future projects in Berlin.
Dave Engelhart, the town’s planning director, told the council a precedent had been set in 2014 when the town waived the permit fees associated with another charitable group’s wheelchair ramp projects.
The council agreed to waive the fee for this ramp and for any others proposed by nonprofits in the coming year. Engelhart was instructed to update the council on the amount of fees that were put aside during next year’s budget process.
