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Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette Logo Berlin, Ocean Pines News Worcester County Bayside Gazette

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Berlin Council mtg. canceled, but majority of agenda passes

(Aug. 11, 2016) Although Monday’s Town Council meeting in Berlin was canceled because of a lack of quorum, several items on the agenda were still approved via electronic polling.
The council endorsed a contract for $171,282.23 to Southside Land Management related to the Hudson Branch and Flower Street Culvert Replacement Project. The bid was approximately $400,000 less than another bid, by Clean Venture Inc.
In a separate item, a grant application to build permanent restrooms in Stephen Decatur Park was approved at a cost of $106,660. That includes a $96,000 grant from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Program Open Space, Community Parks and Playgrounds Program, and $10,660 in matching funds.
According to the grant application, the park currently has portable toilets, which are “not aesthetically pleasing” and are often subject to “vandalism and other mischief — such as tipping over.”
Prefabricated, ADA compliant restrooms with two gender-specific units will replace them. Also per the application, the restrooms will be “as dependent on solar power as feasible.”
One purchase order, for $57,000 to purchase a John Deere cab tractor from Atlantic Tractor, was also approved by the council.
 In an interview on Tuesday, Town Administrator Laura Allen said a “combination of individual issues” came together to cancel the meeting.
“Lisa [Hall] had work to do on her business and was making purchases related to opening her business. We had a councilmember who wasn’t feeling well and wasn’t able to make it for what I would consider health reasons, and another councilmember was tied up and wasn’t going to be able to make it either,” Allen said.
She added that Maryland state law allows the town to poll the council electronically under such circumstances.
“We asked them to approve the Flower Street culvert contract, we asked them to approve the Community Parks and Playgrounds grant application, and we asked them to approve a tractor that we were purchasing that’s going to be a shared piece of equipment by some of the departments,” Allen said. “We got approval for all of those items.”
The next town council meeting is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 22 at 7 p.m. at town hall.