(Nov. 26, 2015) It took more than a year, but county government approval of an easement for a stormwater improvement project on a segment of Hudson Branch near Flower and Bay streets in Berlin came through during a Worcester County Commissioners meeting last week.
The county had granted conditional approval of the easement in November of last year, but another 12 months was required before the deal was set.
County Attorney Sonny Bloxom said last Friday, “Typically, in our easements, we put a certain language in there and we needed it to be right. So we had to go back and forth a couple times with their lawyer to make sure the thing was written the way we wanted.”
Bloxom added that the town was required to perform a survey, which was sent to the county last month.
“We can’t just give you an easement based on a copy of the assessment records with you drawing a line on there,” he said. “It needs to be an actual survey, but there was no argument over it.”
Town Administrator Laura Allen confirmed that Bloxom and attorney David Gaskill, who represents Berlin, worked out the deal behind the scenes.
“They simply worked out the specifics of the easement language,” she said. “The town is very happy that the county has approved the easement. We’re looking forward to moving quickly on the project.”
Allen said the easement pertained to the planned water quality system, which would be located behind the multipurpose building on Flower Street, on county property. She added the Maryland Department of the Environment also recently granted approval for the project, and that the target date for completion, July 2016, was still on track.
“We’re just appreciative of the fact that they approved the easement, which is going to enable us to really make this project very successful,” she said.
The county had granted conditional approval of the easement in November of last year, but another 12 months was required before the deal was set.
County Attorney Sonny Bloxom said last Friday, “Typically, in our easements, we put a certain language in there and we needed it to be right. So we had to go back and forth a couple times with their lawyer to make sure the thing was written the way we wanted.”
Bloxom added that the town was required to perform a survey, which was sent to the county last month.
“We can’t just give you an easement based on a copy of the assessment records with you drawing a line on there,” he said. “It needs to be an actual survey, but there was no argument over it.”
Town Administrator Laura Allen confirmed that Bloxom and attorney David Gaskill, who represents Berlin, worked out the deal behind the scenes.
“They simply worked out the specifics of the easement language,” she said. “The town is very happy that the county has approved the easement. We’re looking forward to moving quickly on the project.”
Allen said the easement pertained to the planned water quality system, which would be located behind the multipurpose building on Flower Street, on county property. She added the Maryland Department of the Environment also recently granted approval for the project, and that the target date for completion, July 2016, was still on track.
“We’re just appreciative of the fact that they approved the easement, which is going to enable us to really make this project very successful,” she said.