BERLIN – Town officials approved two agreements with the developer of Oceans East this week that will allow the apartment project to move ahead.
On Monday the Berlin Town Council approved the a water and sewer allocation for the first 24-unit apartment building as well as a public works agreement for the overall project. Developer Blair Rinnier told the council he was eager to move forward with the Seahawk Road project.
“I feel really good about Berlin,” he said. “I’m excited to get started.”
According to Dave Engelhart, the town’s planning director, the project’s water and sewer EDU allocations were being divided among the project’s buildings. The agreement approved Monday allows Rinnier to purchase 24 EDUs for the project’s first 24-unit building.
“It just enables him to build one building at a time without purchasing 180 EDUs all at once,” Engelhart said. “It’s more of a budget conscious thing for their organization.”
Mayor Gee Williams said Rinnier breaking his investment up was good for the town too. He explained that when the town’s wastewater treatment plant had been upgraded, it had been designed so that it could be easily expanded in the future to allow for more growth. At the time, many residents hadn’t seen the need for that.
“When we tried to have the growth discussion, six years ago we could only get so far because most people said ‘why are you wasting your time it’ll never happen in our lifetime,’” Williams said. “Here we are six years later in the midst of real growth. It’s not theoretical. We now have to make a lot of decisions about where and what kind of growth. That is still something a lot of folks haven’t come to terms with. From that standpoint buying as you go is good for all parties.”
Staff said it was a bit unusual for EDUs to be purchased building by building but stressed that it was in line with town code, as the EDUs would still be purchased before buildings were permitted.
“It doesn’t say all 180 must be paid for,” Engelhart said. “It says the ones I’m permitting must be paid for.”
Councilman Zack Tyndall asked if the town would be strapped with extra costs if Rinnier for some reason didn’t finish the project.
Rinnier explained that the town would not, as he was funding the infrastructure changes associated with the development.
The council approved the allocation agreement and followed that with consideration of the public works agreement.
“Town staff feels it includes everything necessary to protect the town’s interests,” said Jane Kreiter, Berlin’s director of water resources and public works.
Tyndall questioned the dates in the agreement, which appeared to jump around.
Williams told him that was an administrative concern and not something the council needed to address.
“I appreciate your concern but that’s why we have a town administrator and a planning and zoning director,” he said. “We do not operate like Washington. Because of that we actually have good partnerships with nonprofits, with for-profits, the whole spectrum. If there was a problem, that’s also why we have the town attorney. Such technical things are not the responsibility of the council.”
Williams asked Rinnier if he had any idea whether the apartments would be leased gradually or whether they’d all fill up quickly.
“I’m optimistic,” Rinnier said. “If you drive by now you can see the site work. We’ve been talking about Oceans East since 2013. Really getting to the ground and getting to build it, that’s the exciting part for us.”
Rinnier said the project, which will include six 24-unit apartment buildings and one 36-unit building, would take eight to 10 years to complete.
