(April 13, 2017) The Berlin Town Council on Monday approved the first phase of an estimated $120,000 project to restore Baker Street, the last oyster shell road in the town.
The town will pay $20,000 for design work, to be done by Salisbury engineering firm Davis, Bowen & Friedel Inc., to start the project.
Several residents of Baker Street spoke about the poor state of the road during the meeting.
Resident Suzanne Parks, who approached the Historic District Commission last Wednesday to ask the town to do something about the street, reiterated on Monday that it was in a state of disrepair.
She said the street was once a dirt road, and that the remaining concrete and oyster shell center strip represented its original width. As vehicles got wider, the street was broadened with blacktop.
“We’ve lived on the street for 40 years. There has not been any maintenance done on that street since then,” she said.
Resident Todd DeHart thanked the council for being sensitive to the historic nature of the street.
“I just wanted to show appreciation for the fact that the mayor and council is looking into doing something that is very obviously needed … in terms of helping to preserve the historical look and curb appeal and all the wonderful things about the street that represents the town,” he said.
Robert Poli, who sits on the Historic District Commission, wondered if that panel should have the power to review plans for historic roads within the district. Poli said he was concerned about urban sprawl in the town.
“As the town continues to grow area wise, the historic district is going to get smaller and smaller,” he said. “It’s inevitable. There’s been so many annexations in this town over the years that there’s not going to be much of a historic district for people to come in.
“If we want to keep a historic district and have people attracted to the area, we have to try to maintain it that way. That’s a beautiful street. That’s old concrete with shells in it. I would like to see that whole thing expanded to the curbs,” Poli added.
Town Administrator Laura Allen said she looked into that, but estimates came back two or three times the cost of pavement.
Instead, Allen said the town and DBF would look for a company that could restore the center strip of the road. The surrounding pavement would simply be repaved.
“One of the challenges we have with that concrete portion is it has oyster shells embedded in it, so we’ve asked Davis, Bowen & Friedel to see if they can find somebody who does this work … and if not, at least somebody who’s got some sensitivity around the historic aspects of that center portion and can handle it with a little TLC,” she said.
Allen said the project, including the construction phase, had an estimated price tag of $120,000-$130,000.
Also during the meeting, a proposed resolution that would close through traffic on Baker Street to trucks, excluding deliveries to businesses or residents on the street, was tabled because of an apparent conflict with town code.
Last Wednesday, Parks told the Historic District Commission cars, tractor-trailers and pickup trucks that traveled down the street sounded like they were going over rumble strips. She said heavy traffic, exacerbated by the closing of Harrison Avenue, had further damaged Baker Street.
Trucks, however, are defined in town code as any vehicle weighing more than a ton. Councilman Thom Gulyas pointed out that virtually every automobile produced today would qualify as a truck by that definition.
“I don’t know one car that doesn’t exceed one ton,” Gulyas said. “The average weight of [vehicles] in 2012 was over 4,000 pounds – that’s two tons.”
Town Attorney David Gaskill said he would work on a revision to town code. He said that would likely come up for a first reading during the next Town Council meeting, April 24, and require a period of advertising before a public hearing could be held in May.
If that passed, the first reading to close Baker Street could then be reintroduced, Gaskill said. That would also require a first reading, period of advertising, and a public hearing.
Council Vice President Elroy Brittingham, filling in for Mayor Gee Williams during the meeting, invited residents of Baker Street to contact elected officials and town staff if they had any more suggestions regarding the street.
“It’s been a long time coming, so we’re going to make sure to get it right for the residents,” Brittingham said.
The town will pay $20,000 for design work, to be done by Salisbury engineering firm Davis, Bowen & Friedel Inc., to start the project.
Several residents of Baker Street spoke about the poor state of the road during the meeting.
Resident Suzanne Parks, who approached the Historic District Commission last Wednesday to ask the town to do something about the street, reiterated on Monday that it was in a state of disrepair.
She said the street was once a dirt road, and that the remaining concrete and oyster shell center strip represented its original width. As vehicles got wider, the street was broadened with blacktop.
“We’ve lived on the street for 40 years. There has not been any maintenance done on that street since then,” she said.
Resident Todd DeHart thanked the council for being sensitive to the historic nature of the street.
“I just wanted to show appreciation for the fact that the mayor and council is looking into doing something that is very obviously needed … in terms of helping to preserve the historical look and curb appeal and all the wonderful things about the street that represents the town,” he said.
Robert Poli, who sits on the Historic District Commission, wondered if that panel should have the power to review plans for historic roads within the district. Poli said he was concerned about urban sprawl in the town.
“As the town continues to grow area wise, the historic district is going to get smaller and smaller,” he said. “It’s inevitable. There’s been so many annexations in this town over the years that there’s not going to be much of a historic district for people to come in.
“If we want to keep a historic district and have people attracted to the area, we have to try to maintain it that way. That’s a beautiful street. That’s old concrete with shells in it. I would like to see that whole thing expanded to the curbs,” Poli added.
Town Administrator Laura Allen said she looked into that, but estimates came back two or three times the cost of pavement.
Instead, Allen said the town and DBF would look for a company that could restore the center strip of the road. The surrounding pavement would simply be repaved.
“One of the challenges we have with that concrete portion is it has oyster shells embedded in it, so we’ve asked Davis, Bowen & Friedel to see if they can find somebody who does this work … and if not, at least somebody who’s got some sensitivity around the historic aspects of that center portion and can handle it with a little TLC,” she said.
Allen said the project, including the construction phase, had an estimated price tag of $120,000-$130,000.
Also during the meeting, a proposed resolution that would close through traffic on Baker Street to trucks, excluding deliveries to businesses or residents on the street, was tabled because of an apparent conflict with town code.
Last Wednesday, Parks told the Historic District Commission cars, tractor-trailers and pickup trucks that traveled down the street sounded like they were going over rumble strips. She said heavy traffic, exacerbated by the closing of Harrison Avenue, had further damaged Baker Street.
Trucks, however, are defined in town code as any vehicle weighing more than a ton. Councilman Thom Gulyas pointed out that virtually every automobile produced today would qualify as a truck by that definition.
“I don’t know one car that doesn’t exceed one ton,” Gulyas said. “The average weight of [vehicles] in 2012 was over 4,000 pounds – that’s two tons.”
Town Attorney David Gaskill said he would work on a revision to town code. He said that would likely come up for a first reading during the next Town Council meeting, April 24, and require a period of advertising before a public hearing could be held in May.
If that passed, the first reading to close Baker Street could then be reintroduced, Gaskill said. That would also require a first reading, period of advertising, and a public hearing.
Council Vice President Elroy Brittingham, filling in for Mayor Gee Williams during the meeting, invited residents of Baker Street to contact elected officials and town staff if they had any more suggestions regarding the street.
“It’s been a long time coming, so we’re going to make sure to get it right for the residents,” Brittingham said.