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Berlin Mayor and Council Briefs

(Sept. 17, 2020) The following occurred during the Berlin Mayor and Council meeting on Monday:

Flu vaccines

Town Administrative Manager Kelsey Jensen said flu vaccines will be administered to town employees and anyone on their medical plans on Sept. 30 from 11 a.m. t0 1 p.m. in in town hall, 10 William Street.

Finance

Natalie Saleh, the town’s finance director, said Monday was the first day of the virtual audit for the 2020 fiscal year.

“The way it’s going to work is we’ll be communicating through the emails and the phone only with our auditors,” she said. “They will not be present on site.”

Saleh said the process is more time-consuming, but the first day was productive.

In addition, Blakely Shord, the town’s customer service representative, will begin maternity leave later this month. The finance department will be slightly short-staffed, but Town Administrator Jeff Fleetwood has arranged for two employees to assist with customer service.

Power outages

Electric Utility Director Tim Lawrence said the town has experienced a total of nine power outages over the last year. Three of the outages were caused by equipment failures such as overheated transformers, while two outages were caused by high winds and lightning related to hurricanes.

“Then, we had three non-Berlin contractors that damaged our power run,” Lawrence said. “Two of them were created by the same tree company that were taking trees down. They dropped a limb into our power line and knocked out the power, and then they left a limb in one of the trees that they trimmed. When the wind got up, it caught the limb and then it flew it into the overhead power lines.”

A boring contractor bore through a secondary service on Decatur Street Extended, Lawrence added.

The most recent power outage occurred about 9 p.m. on Sept. 9 and all power was restored by 11 p.m.

Water valve repairs

The water resources department discovered a leak between Franklin Avenue and Bryan Avenue and replaced two valves, Fleetwood said.

Additional maintenance on three values near the water tower on Franklin Avenue was scheduled to be completed this week.

“That will not cause disruption of water,” he said. “Those three valves will be replaced, and then we’re well aware of two other leaks, one up in front of the fire company and one a little bit further north on Main Street.”

Jamey Latchum, the town’s stormwater and wastewater superintendent, will likely fix those leaks next week.

Street erosion

A Berlin resident sent a letter to town officials about street erosion on Evans Road caused by water and drainage issues.

“We did install a concrete rain gutter that goes down to the catch basin,” Fleetwood said.