By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

(July 31, 2025) The Town of Berlin is set to go forward with a complete system replacement at its West Street pump station, intending to purchase new equipment for $137,708.

At its meeting on Monday, July 28, the Town of Berlin unanimously authorized the municipality to purchase a factory-built Smith and Loveless Everlast Series 3000 pumping station to replace the current equipment at the West Street pump station.

The West Street pump station “serves a critical role in the Town’s wastewater collection system,” a Berlin staff report reads. “The current infrastructure has reached the end of its service life, with increasing maintenance needs and a growing risk of failure.”

The enhanced equipment is the Everlast Series 3000, manufactured by industrial supplier Smith and Loveless. The hardware is a pre-engineered, factory-assembled pumping station that the staff memo says offers benefits such as compact, above-ground installation, ease of maintenance and operation access, an advanced control system, and dual vacuum-primed pumps with a 10-year volute/impeller warranty.

The equipment is to cost $137,708, which has been budgeted in the fiscal year 2026’s sewer fund.

Town of Berlin Director of Water Resources Jamey Latchum said that the council’s approval allows municipality staff to sign a letter of intent to purchase the equipment, to get ahead of price hikes expected next month.

“We are pretty much signing a letter of intent to buy it now to beat the tariffs,” Latchum said. “They’re talking about anywhere from a 15% to a 25% price increase starting in August. That could stop the project from moving forward, so we’re signing a letter of commitment that we’re purchasing it.”

Berlin Mayor Zack Tyndall added that as part of this project, the current lift station will be relocated from the center of the roadway to the area near Buckingham Elementary School, aiming to increase employee safety.

According to Latchum, accessing the lift station now requires laying in the street to work on and maintain it.

“A lot of the time you’re lying in the street while trying to hook up pumps, so this will get us out of the street and protect our employees much better,” the water resources director said.

The station’s move towards BES was green-lit earlier this month by the Worcester County Board of Education. The body approved the utility easement, allowing Berlin to implement the new pump station on land belonging to the elementary facility, ensuring the municipality can construct, access, and maintain the infrastructure to support the town’s sewer system. School staff ensured that the utility easement would not disrupt the daily learning operations of BES, nor would it interfere with the construction of the new school, expected to break ground in May 2027.