BERLIN– Roundabouts, a pedestrian bridge over Route 113 and a dog park highlight the dozens of items included in Berlin’s capital planning discussion this week.
The municipality’s elected officials talked about a preliminary five-year capital plan at this week’s council meeting. Projects, suggested by council members, department heads and the mayor, have been broken down by department.
“This is just really the start of our capital planning process,” Mayor Zack Tyndall said. “It’s designed to help address some of the town’s aging infrastructure.”
Tyndall said the list he was presenting had been developed with input from town staff as well as from council members. Cost estimates were included where possible.
While some projects, such as new audio-visual equipment in the council chambers and an update to the town’s strategic plan, have been discussed before, others came up for the first time. As potential new projects in fiscal year 2023, Tyndall brought up a pedestrian bridge at Bay Street and Route 113 as well as roundabouts—one at Main Street and Old Ocean City Boulevard, the other at Flower Street where it meets Railroad Avenue, Schoolfield Street and Branch Street.
“I get a lot of complaints about speeding on Flower Street,” Tyndall said. “A nice decorative piece of street work there could help limit some of that speeding.”
As far as the pedestrian bridge over Route 113 and the roundabout at Main Street and Old Ocean City Boulevard, Tyndall said even though those were state roads involved he felt the town should prioritize the projects.
“I think for us to prioritize that project, we can then go to State Highway and say this is one of our capital needs and we really need to have a good conversation about this,” he said.
Other items included in the capital planning presentation included various vehicles, a pocket park memorial at the corner of Flower Street and Bay Street, paving, a new public works building, the digitization of town records and a dog park. The presentation also listed water safety equipment for Heron Park and Stephen Decatur Park as well as fishing piers and pond cleanup at Heron Park.
Tyndall said including certain projects in the town’s capital plan could help bring in grant funding. He said it would also help officials determine how best to allocate the town’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
An ARPA public input session hosted earlier in the evening gave citizens the chance to share their thoughts on the $4.7 million the town will get in federal funding. Resident Marie Velong said the town should use the funding to purchase new water meters, as a study presented in a work session last week revealed lost revenue related to aging meters.
“It was a very informative work session and kind of frightening,” she said. “I think that’s where the money needs to go first.”
Resident Gussie Sholtis said she too thought the town should focus on its needs first.
“I’d rather fix things that are broken than start new projects,” she said.
Sholtis said one issue she felt needed to be addressed was pedestrian safety on West Street. She said something as simple as a pedestrian lane could be painted to the side of the street.
Resident Mary Hedlesky agreed.
“People go flying up and down West Street,” she said.
She added that she also wanted the town to keep the poor drainage in the West Street area in mind. West Street resident Shane Warren also spoke in favor of pedestrian improvements and drainage projects.
Resident Constance Pena advocated for the town to move the Flower Street community center project along.
“There’s going to be money for projects like this, that help communities that have been left out,” she said. “We should seize on those opportunities.”
