Berlin Park Restroom Project Moves Ahead

BERLIN – Plans for a permanent restroom at Henry Park are moving ahead as the town has selected a contractor for the project.

On Monday the Berlin Town Council agreed to accept a bid submitted by Green Flush Technologies to install a permanent restroom at Henry Park.

According to Mary Bohlen, the town’s administrative services director, the town contacted six companies with an invitation to bid. Just two submitted proposals. Green Flush Technologies submitted a bid of $90,200 for the manufacture, delivery and installation of a prefabricated outdoor restroom. Hunter Knepshield submitted a bid of $57,267 for the manufacture and delivery of a restroom. Bohlen said the Hunter Knepshield bid was deemed incomplete because it did not include installation.

In order to truly compare the proposals, town staff would have had to seek a bid from a local contractor for installation of the Hunter Knepshield unit.

“This would add the cost of staff time and resources and delay the project,” Bohlen wrote in a memo to the council.

The new restroom, which will be located near where the park’s water fountain is, will be funded primarily through a grant from Community Parks and Playgrounds. The overall project is expected to cost $106,550. The grant will cover 90 percent of the cost while the town is expected to cover the remaining 10 percent, although Bohlen said that may be done through providing in-kind services.

“Town forces will be used to extend water, sewer and electric service to the site,” Bohlen said.

She said the town submitted grant applications for restrooms at both Henry Park and Stephen Decatur Park but had only received funding for the former. Officials recently submitted a new grant application for Stephen Decatur Park but don’t expect to find out whether the town has received funding until next year.

The council agreed to approve staff’s recommendation to award the Henry Park contract to Green Flush Technologies.

Bohlen also advised the council that she was exploring the feasibility of installing lights at the Henry Park basketball courts. Though community members initially indicated they didn’t want the courts lit, when the council approved purchasing lights for the tennis courts at Stephen Decatur Park Bohlen was asked to reinvestigate the possibility. She said Monday she’d sent a survey to 52 households in the area of the park to determine whether they supported adding lights to the courts, and if so, what hours they would consider appropriate.

“We were trying to get input from those most affected,” she said.

Bohlen said the surveys were due back by Nov. 30. She said this week that even if the surveys revealed that the majority of area residents wanted to courts lit, the mayor and council would still have to weigh in and consider the costs associated with installing lights.

“It may still be some time before it happens,” Bohlen said.

About The Author: Charlene Sharpe

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Charlene Sharpe has been with The Dispatch since 2014. A graduate of Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond, she spent seven years with the Delmarva Media Group before joining the team at The Dispatch.