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Berlin Council passes Baker Street truck ban

(May 11, 2017) Representatives from the Adkins Company on Monday accused the Town of Berlin of trying to obstruct its business and demanded certain protections.
The Town, however, would not budge and insisted the issue – a truck ban on Baker Street – was meant to safeguard town property and protect the taxpayers rather than slight Adkins or any other business.
Representing Adkins at the Town Council meeting were Executive Vice President Richard Holland, his son, Adkins Secretary Rick Holland, and attorney Gil Allen.
During a public hearing to redefine “truck” in town code, an ordinance that needed to be amended to pass a resolution prohibiting trucks, Holland said closing Baker Street to large vehicles would cut off deliveries to his business.
“The only access that the Adkins Company has in and out of our property, as a legal access, is Baker Street. And if you pass this ordinance you’ll shut our business down,” Holland said.
Not so, according to Town Attorney David Gaskill, who said Adkins trucks could use Harrison Avenue, the street where all but about 60 feet of Adkins land is based.
Holland argued that Harrison Avenue was not a public road, but was owned partially on the north end by members of the Harrison family. If that were closed and company trucks could not travel down Baker Street, he said, the business was effectively finished.
“We have been told, of course by Mr. [Hale] Harrison, that the Town of Berlin owns that section of Harrison Avenue,” Gaskill said. “So, you don’t have a problem. If the town owns that section of Harrison Avenue, then you have access.”
If that is the case, Holland said, the Adkins Company would simply move the barricade it put up on Harrison Avenue almost a year ago. The company owns the part of that road in front of the business.
Efforts to deal the section of road to the town have dragged on for almost a year. Adkins wants $400,000 based on its appraisal and the town countered at $60,000 based on its own estimates.
Holland and Allen said the word of town officials was not good enough and asked several times for a quick claim or a deed as evidence the portion of Harrison Avenue north of Adkins is a public road.
Gaskill said obtaining land records could take some time, as they were not in Worcester County because the deal was made so long ago – possibly more than 100 years.
When Holland again argued that Harrison Avenue was not a public street and that his business would have limited access, Gaskill said that was not true and noted the irony of the barricade.
“The town owns the part of Harrison Avenue that goes up to your property. If you take the barriers down, you have access up and down Harrison Avenue,” Gaskill said. “So what you said is not true.”
Holland offered some background on the dispute with the town, which apparently dates back years and originated with a prior administration. He made reference to former Mayor Thomas Cardinale.
He said town officials approached him several years ago and said they wanted to fix and pave the road and remove the railroad tracks on Harrison Avenue – and handed the Adkins Company a bill for $37,500.
“The town had never paved the section that Adkins owns – they had always paved the other two [Harrison and Parks properties],” Holland said. “We always paved it.
“We just said this has gotta stop,” Holland continued. “We went and got it appraised, we got it appraised for a number. We offered that to the town [and] town didn’t accept it.”
Holland said he gave the town a 15-day window and threatened to close the street, then put up the barricade when no deal could be reached. That was last June.
“We did that because we can’t pay for a public street to be paved every time it needs to be paved – we’re not going to,” Holland said. “If we’re going to pave it for whatever number of years and … then at the end just give you the road because you say you’re going to pave it and start paying you $37,500, something’s wrong with this picture. And it’s been wrong and it is remaining wrong, and it is wrong for you to try and bring on a resolution whereby that we are blocked from using Baker if it’s our only access.”
Mayor Gee Williams asked why the Adkins Company broke off talks during the negotiation to sell its part of the road.
“We would rather do a Cannery Village [development] is the reason we stopped talking to you,” Holland said. “It’s not our position. We’re trying to sell the land.”
The ordinance to redefine “truck” passed with an amendment from Councilman Troy Purnell that set the weight limit to 14,000 pounds, or seven tons. The vote was 4-1, with Councilman Zack Tyndall dissenting.
Tyndall pushed for a delay of the vote to ban trucks on Baker Street until the ownership of the disputed part of Harrison Avenue was confirmed, but his efforts failed.
Before the vote, Allen asked the town to direct Gaskill to confirm the claim that Harrison Avenue was a public road. Councilman Dean Burrell rejected that notion.
“We’re trying to protect the town investment and taxpayer money of the improvements that we’re going to make on Baker Street,” Burrell said. “We have, as a mayor and council, no control over the operation of the Adkins Company. That is not our responsibility.
“If you want assurances that Harrison Avenue is a public street or whatever you need, you need to obtain that. We’re not going to put [ourselves] on the spot for that information. And the deliveries of the Adkins Company, as I see it … is entirely under the control of the Adkins Company,” Burrell added. “We are considering insurance and safeguarding the investment of Baker Street. That’s all we’re doing.”
Williams reiterated the vote was not about Adkins.
“Your … self-imposed access problem is not something the town has done – you’ve done it to yourself,” he said. “You talk about moving the barrier – you don’t need a barrier.”
Councilman Thom Gulyas asked what, exactly, the Adkins Company was fearful of.
“We’re fearful that you adopt this resolution prohibiting Adkins’ trucks use of Baker Street, and then subsequent to you adopting that resolution, it is determined or the Harrisons decide to limit access to Harrison [Avenue] north of the Adkins property,” Allen said. “And therefore [the company] does not have that means of ingress and egress.”
“There’s only been one person that’s closed a street in this town to the best of my knowledge,” Gulyas said. “And that one person can open it up and continue what they’ve been doing for the last 140 years. So just do it.”
Williams said he did not understand “the mistrust that’s coming from” Adkins officials.
“All we want to do is continue to maintain Harrison Avenue,” he said. “All we want to do is buy it at a fair price and fix it up.
“Given that we’re a small town, I think a little bit of good will, a little bit of not acting like we’re out here to cut each other’s throats when we don’t even have a reason to, would go a long way in beginning this process,” Williams continued. “We would like to continue [the negotiations] and we’d like to continue it in a good faith way and not assume that everybody here is out to screw everybody.
“I think you have this irrational fear of something that doesn’t even exist and I can’t help you [with that],” Williams said.  
Burrell did offer an olive branch to Holland.
“You talked about things that had happened in the past,” Burrell said. “From your presentation I got the impression that you have a problem with that – a big problem. I’m here to offer you our apology for that happening in the past. But, going forward we would like to improve Harrison Avenue as much as we possibly can to make it a win-win situation for the Town of Berlin and its citizenry, and the Adkins Company.
“If you feel the Adkins Company has not been treated equitably, I apologize,” Burrell added.
Holland said he accepted the apology, but added, “I think if you’re going to spend a lot of money on Harrison Avenue eventually you need to find out if you own it and how much of it [you own]. That is paramount.”
As Holland got up to leave, resident Gary Caldwell, who spoke against Adkins during the public hearing, could be heard saying, “tear down the barricade, Gorbachev!”
“No. It’ll just switch [locations],” Holland said.