(Oct. 20, 2016) The Berlin Mayor and Council discussed the following items during an Oct. 11 public meeting at Town Hall:
Enterprise zone
The council voted unanimously to re-designate an enterprise zone in Berlin.
Managing Director Jeff Fleetwood said the designation would be good for 10 years, and that the most recent businesses added to the enterprise zone were SonRise Church and Twisters.
“Sometimes it’s the smallest things that make the biggest difference,” Mayor Gee Williams said. “Like all of us here, I’m hopeful we’ll bring some new businesses within these preset limits.”
Cannery update
Planning Director Dave Engelhart said Cannery Village had a “punch list walk through” on Oct. 4 of items that needed to be addressed in order to pass a final inspection. Those items are also apparently holding up repaving of Flower Street, where work trucks have damaged the roadway.
Engelhart said he was pressing the developer, Osprey Properties, to speed up the process because he feared Berlin would “run out of asphalt season.”
“We don’t want to have to wait until spring,” he said. “We were trying to get an answer [from the developer] this week or next so we could arrange for that fix of Flower Street.”
Rain report
Public Works and Water Resources Director Jane Kreiter said Hurricane Matthew spilled about 1.5 million gallons into Berlin’s wastewater treatment plant. The average daily load is about 400,000.
During the prior weekend, Kreiter said rains “showed up virtually out of nowhere” and led to a small overflow at the plant, about 200 gallons.
“It was completely treated wastewater – it was in our effluent tank that we use to hold water while we’re pumping it out to our spray irrigation facility, so it was completely treated and disinfected,” she said.
Minor flooding at the power plant on Williams Street during that same weekend led to damage to the oldest generator there. The council unanimously approved a $60,500 requisition order for repairs.
Fleetwood said the town had insurance on the generator with a $10,000 deductible, meaning the majority of the cost would be recouped.
Enterprise zone
The council voted unanimously to re-designate an enterprise zone in Berlin.
Managing Director Jeff Fleetwood said the designation would be good for 10 years, and that the most recent businesses added to the enterprise zone were SonRise Church and Twisters.
“Sometimes it’s the smallest things that make the biggest difference,” Mayor Gee Williams said. “Like all of us here, I’m hopeful we’ll bring some new businesses within these preset limits.”
Cannery update
Planning Director Dave Engelhart said Cannery Village had a “punch list walk through” on Oct. 4 of items that needed to be addressed in order to pass a final inspection. Those items are also apparently holding up repaving of Flower Street, where work trucks have damaged the roadway.
Engelhart said he was pressing the developer, Osprey Properties, to speed up the process because he feared Berlin would “run out of asphalt season.”
“We don’t want to have to wait until spring,” he said. “We were trying to get an answer [from the developer] this week or next so we could arrange for that fix of Flower Street.”
Rain report
Public Works and Water Resources Director Jane Kreiter said Hurricane Matthew spilled about 1.5 million gallons into Berlin’s wastewater treatment plant. The average daily load is about 400,000.
During the prior weekend, Kreiter said rains “showed up virtually out of nowhere” and led to a small overflow at the plant, about 200 gallons.
“It was completely treated wastewater – it was in our effluent tank that we use to hold water while we’re pumping it out to our spray irrigation facility, so it was completely treated and disinfected,” she said.
Minor flooding at the power plant on Williams Street during that same weekend led to damage to the oldest generator there. The council unanimously approved a $60,500 requisition order for repairs.
Fleetwood said the town had insurance on the generator with a $10,000 deductible, meaning the majority of the cost would be recouped.