If it has right name total, annexation will go to vote
PHOTO COURTESY ANDREW HELLER
Berlin resident Jeff Smith hands Town Administrator Laura Allen a petition Friday afternoon with 709 signatures calling for a referendum on a previously approved annexation agreement for a pro- posed gas station and convenience store on Route 50 in Berlin.
By Rachel Ravina, Staff Writer
(July 18, 2019) Berlin government’s plans to annex a small parcel on the northwest corner of town near Route 50 is now on hold for an undetermined amount of time, as town officials verify the signatures on a petition calling for a referendum on the Town Council’s May decision.
Berlin resident Jeff Smith presented a petition with 709 signatures, opposing the annexation of a proposed gas station and convenience store on Route 50 in Berlin, on Friday afternoon to officials at Town Hall.
“This really was a townwide effort,” Smith said. “… I made a very concerted effort of trying to hit at least in some part every neighborhood in town.”
Smith began circulating the petition after releasing a video on Facebook on June 14 calling for townspeople to have a voice on the previously approved agreement.
The council passed the annexation at a May 28 meeting in a 4-1 vote with CouncilmanZackTyndalldissenting. Roughly six acres of land on Route 818, across from Berlin Main Place near its intersection with Route 50 was to be brought into the municipal fold.
Spiro and Mary Anne Buas, of Athena Properties Inc., own the land, “Athena Plaza,” where the proposed gas station and convenience store would sit.
The petition needed signatures from 20 percent of the town’s registered voters within 45 days of the annexation’s approval. With 3,407 registered voters on the town’s rolls, according to the Worcester County Board of Elections, the 20 percent requirement comes to 681.4 signatures necessary to force to a referendum.
Smith said he and several residents spent canvassed the area, discussing the proposed referendum with people.
“Friday morning, I certainly questioned whether we were going to get enough signatures,” he said.
“I think the difficult task was physically knocking on the doors,” he said.
While Smith encountered some who were not interested in providing a signature, he said they were still willing to have a conversation about it.
“Even people who didn’t necessarily agree with the petition itself, they did agree with the idea of … giving the townspeople the voice and giving everyone the option of having their say,” Smith said.
Although, Smith did stress “this is really the first stage of the process,” and officials are charged with verifying the signatures.
“We’re taking all immediate steps. The count has begun,” Town Administrator Laura Allen said. “We are dealing with it as quickly as we can.”
For Allen, this is somewhat uncharted territory.
“Well, we haven’t had a lot of annexations go to referendum,” Allen said.
While she said “there’s nothing in the state statutes that provides for a deadline”, they are working to complete the verification process in a timely fashion.
If the petition “meets that standard,” the issue would go to a special election, which would cost between $2,000 and $3,000, according to Allen.