Mayor Zack Tyndall has asked Berlin Fire Company leadership to determine if the department would consider leasing some of its property behind the station to the town to be used for parking.
Berlin fire station
File photo
By Charlene Sharpe, Associate Editor
Town officials hope to work with the Berlin Fire Company to create another parking area.
Mayor Zack Tyndall this week asked Berlin Fire Company leadership to determine if the department would consider leasing some of its property behind the station to the town so it could be used for parking.
“We’ll revisit that with the fire company,” said David Fitzgerald, president of the Berlin Fire Company.
During a quarterly presentation from the fire company this week, Tyndall brought up the issue of parking. Lack of available parking in Berlin is a common complaint among visitors, particularly as the town’s special event season is underway. The fire company currently offers parking in its lot and on the grass behind headquarters in exchange for a donation during special events. Fire company officials have said it’s hard to speculate how much they’ll actually receive in donations as it varies each event and is weather dependent.
As a result, after this week’s presentation from Fitzgerald, Tyndall said he thought the town and the fire company could work together to improve the parking situation. Tyndall said he’d like to propose the town lease the grassy space behind headquarters for overflow parking. If the town leased the land, it could be improved and potentially metered, Tyndall said. He said revenue from the meters could go toward the fire company’s capital equipment costs. He asked that Fitzgerald take the concept back to the fire company.
Fitzgerald said he’d have the fire company’s attorney reach out to the town’s attorney to discuss the concept and then would take it to the membership.
In 2021, the fire company proposed improving the grass area with American Rescue Plan Act funds. While the project was not pursued, the department wanted to spend about $228,000 designing and building a parking lot and the associated stormwater facilities. It was estimated at the time the lot could accommodate approximately 100 spots.