By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(Nov. 23, 2017) The Berlin Town Council discussed the following items during a public meeting at Town Hall last week.

Council meeting canceled

A Berlin Town Council meeting originally set for Monday, Nov. 27 has been canceled. Town Administrator Laura Allen said there were no discussion items and the cancelation was endorsed by Mayor Gee Williams. The next mayor and council meeting is Monday, Dec. 11.

Baker Street update

Allen said paving on Baker Street would likely occur this week, weather permitting. Work there started earlier this month.

The Town Council in October approved a $139,364.57 contract with Goody Hill Goundwork Inc. for work on Baker Street.

The contract was about $20,000 over budget, but included additional drainage improvements not part of the original scope of work. Additional funds will be taken from town reserves to pay for the overage.

The council appropriated $120,000 for the project in the fiscal year 2018 budget approved in June. Work was originally estimated to finish this year.

Police station update

Contractor Crosby & Associates from Cambridge provided town officials with a second tour of the new Berlin Police Station, last week. A previous tour of the in-construction building, near the corner of Assateague Road and Flower Street, was held in August.

The new station will be much more spacious than the current quarters, attached to Town Hall on William Street, and will include separate rooms for processing, interrogation, evidence, dispatch, record keeping and training.

During the previous tour, Tim Crosby of Crosby & Associates touted a highly efficient split-level heating and cooling system, as well as a high-tech emergency operations center where planning for hurricanes and other weather-related disasters can occur.

An official move-in date was not set. Williams suggested holding a community open house at the new facility next spring.

Tattoo committee

Allen said the Tattoo Ordinance Committee, approved by the Town Council during a meeting on Nov. 13, would meet for the first time next month. An exact date was not set as of press time, but Allen said mid-December was likely.

The committee was formed because the town did have an ordinance regulating the practice of tattooing.

The committee includes tattoo artists Matthew Amey and Dana Helmuth, councilmen Dean Burrell and Zack Tyndall, and Patricia Dufendach from the Berlin Parks Commission.