By Rachel Ravina, Staff Writer

(Dec. 19, 2019) Members of the Berlin Planning Commission began reviewing a potential policy addition to the town’s comprehensive plan during a meeting last Wednesday.

Planning Director Dave Engelhart brought forth the “resiliency element,” which would be “designed to take into account sea level rise and climate change and how it’s going to affect the town.”

Engelhart also said the municipality’s infrastructure, including the electric, stormwater and wastewater treatment plants could be involved.

Engelhart said preliminary discussions began last January, with several meetings to inform area residents of the proposal. Taking this next step would allow for a more formal procedure.

“We want to have something to review and put out for public comment,” Engelhart said.

Engelhart said Worcester County does have a hazard mitigation plan, but having a town-specific procedure is im- portant because “it does affect us far as our infrastructure.”

Engelhart said he wanted to continue the conversations with the commission to gain feedback on potential revisions to the addendum.

However, Planning Commission Member Pete Cosby said he might need more time.

“It just seemed to me this is an awful lot to digest in a month,” Cosby said.

Engelhart said the element’s amendment to the town’s comprehen- sive plan would need to be approved before the end of 2020.