JOSH DAVIS/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
The owner of Wainwright’s Tire Center in Berlin on Monday said town officials were not honoring an agreement to clean up the lot after town events. A formal contract was apparently severed, but an oral agreement remains to allow town workers onto the property to pick up trash.

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(June 14, 2018) Wainwright’s Tire Center owner Brooks Davis told the Berlin Town Council Monday that he is ending his written agreement with the town that allows municipal workers on his property and clean up after events. An oral agreement, however, apparently still exists.

Davis told the council in January that trash accumulated on his lot after events and asked the town to be responsible for cleanup, according to meeting minutes.

Mayor Gee Williams at the time said town workers could not enter private property “without an understanding/agreement in place” and asked Town Administrator Laura Allen and Town Attorney David Gaskill to come up with a contract.

An agreement apparently was drafted and honored during Spring Celebration in March, but Davis on Monday said no one cleaned up the lot after the May 11 Reggae Playday despite his requests and emails of trash photos sent to town officials.

“After Reggae Playday, the agreement that myself and you signed March 5 … is terminated,” Davis said during the Monday council session. “There was no cleanup. I sent you pictures that morning.

“I don’t know where the ball was dropped,” he continued. “I’ve come to the conclusion I can’t let your [unwillingness] to help clean up the parking lot affect the town’s [opinion] of me, so I’m not going to block the parking lot – but I’m not going to ask you to clean it.”

Williams said because Reggae Playday was primarily held on north end of Main Street, while Wainwright’s, on 18 Broad Street, is on the south end of downtown, those cleaning up after the event simply forgot.

“Forgotten is fine – but ignored is two different things,” Davis said. “Did you get the pictures?”

“Yes I did,” Williams said.

Davis went on to suggest public opinion would paint him as “the bad guy” if he chose to block off his lot and keep people out during events.

“If they don’t know the whole story, I’m the bad guy,” he said. “I’m not going to be the bad guy.”

He went on to say cleaning up the lot was “what should be done.”

“You can’t do what you said what you were going to do, [and] you signed it personally,” Davis said. “It’s kind of disappointing.”

Councilman Thom Gulyas asked if Davis would allow workers, if they see trash on the lot after an event, to enter his property it and collect it.

Councilman Zack Tyndall added, “I understand you sent pictures … I think we dropped the ball maybe, but give us another chance. Hopefully we can make it right.”

“You got it, but I’m not asking you to do it. You all do what you feel is right. That was my whole point in January,” Davis said. “I don’t need a signed agreement.

“For years, we’ve always felt like a little island down there,” he continued “I thought, after January … I didn’t think I had nothing to worry about.

“It is what it is,” Davis said. “You all are more than welcome to come on in and clean it up, but I don’t feel that I need a signed agreement. I’m not going to ask you to do it [and] if you don’t do it, I’m not going to block it, because I’m not going to be the bad guy.”