State grant to fund major infrastructure projects

By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

To ensure access to quality water and to comply with federal mandates, the Town of Berlin will begin a search-and-replace project to remove any service lines that contain lead.

With the assistance of a state grant, the town will begin by examining line on around 350 properties, starting with William Street in January or February 2026. The program is slated to proceed to Broad Street by roughly March 2026, and then Bay Street in April 2026.

Testing will be conducted at the properties to determine if the water lines contain lead, and if so, they must be replaced with safer materials. Pipes slated for replacement would be any that are “constructed of lead, are galvanized and currently or historically downstream of lead, or contain lead connectors, goosenecks, or fittings,” reads a project report.

Copper lines are not currently a concern for this effort, said Nick Bradley, an engineer at the firm Davis, Bowen & Friedel, at an information session in Berlin last week.

The Lead Service Line Inventory and Replacement process is required by the State of Maryland and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Per the EPA’s Lead and Copper Rule Revisions, water systems must have developed an inventory of service line materials by October 2024 and then take corrective action in instances where lead is present.

The project’s goal is to ensure that individuals’ drinking water is free from the dangers posed by this neurotoxicant, which can have a devastating effect on otherwise healthy individuals, but especially on children and pregnant women.

In children, the ingestion of lead can lead to serious developmental problems such as learning disabilities and lower IQs. It can also lead to kidney issues in adults.

Project leaders discussed the specifics of the endeavor at an assembly on Sept. 25. Water lines that feed each home run from the town water main to the house, which is divided into two parts: one owned by the town and the other by private property, Bradley said. Previously, the municipality had only been responsible for its portion, from the water main to the water meter. The property owner was responsible for the portion from the water meter up to the house.

However, under new federal requirements, the town is unable to use state funding for this initiative unless it replaces the line all the way up to the house from the water main, or in other words, both the town-owned and privately owned sections.

Still, the town itself will be unable to touch the part of the service line that runs from the meter to the house, said Jamey Latchum, Berlin’s water resource director. Instead, the contractor awarded to complete the work will select a licensed plumber for that segment of the project.

“From the meter to the house, the Town of Berlin will not be able to touch that, because you have to be a licensed plumber,” Latchum said. “We’re licensed to do the work out from the meter, but not the meter to the house.”

A grant from the Maryland Department of the Environment will cover the cost of Berlin’s water service line replacement project. In 2023, MDE awarded a total of $80 million in funding to be distributed among various local water distribution systems throughout the state. The Town of Berlin was awarded $172,040 for water line inventory and $1.1 million for the actual replacement of lead service lines.

Berlin Mayor Zack Tyndall maintained that if the municipality had not obtained the financial backing from the state, residents would have been burdened with the price tag.

“It is important to note that if we did not receive this grant, it would likely result in increased cost to our water department, which would then come from service charges to all of us, the customers,” he said.

Luckily, Berlin was able to secure the necessary funds, and that money will now be put to use. The town is gearing up to solicit bids from firms to conduct testing and construction work. The awarded contractor will be required to begin the project on William Street around January, as from April to June, that road will be repaved by the Maryland State Highway Administration—a plan that has been stalled for three years. Town officials hope first to complete the line replacement on William Street to make room for SHA’s surfacing plans.

At last week’s line replacement information session, Latchum addressed William Street residents directly about the upcoming intentions for their specific roadway.

“It’s going to look rough on that road for the first couple of months,” he said. “But the reason is that William Street was to be paved three years ago. I worked with State Highway to push it back a year. Then that year turned into another year…When we’re done [with William Street’s line replacement], I just have to tell the State Highway, and they’re coming in and paving the whole street. You will have a new road…We just want it done.”

Staff hope to make the line replacement project as painless as possible, but residents may still need to make some adjustments, such as modifying parking arrangements. Water service locations—which differ property to property—will be identified closer to each road’s construction start date. The contractor and the municipality will coordinate with residents of these sites, and in some cases, may ask tenants to move their cars to avoid interfering with the work.

Latchum said that any parking reconfigurations may only last a day, or even a half day, for each resident. The water resources director added that citizens will be notified at least three to five days in advance of the construction arriving at their house.

Officials note that they require written consent from property owners and tenants for the town’s team to complete the inspection and, if necessary, make replacements. Residents who have not yet completed the mandatory documentation are encouraged to contact the municipality to ensure their house can be tested.

Latchum also asks residents to share any previous work history that may have occurred on lines from the meter to their home. On properties where this is the case, the water resources director said that only the line from the main to the meter will be touched this time around.

“We might not have to go in your yard, but we still will replace the service from the main to the meter. We still have that obligation,” he said.

The three streets prioritized for this phase of the service line replacement project — William, Broad, and Bay — are run by the state. Latchum said that Main Street was “complicated,” but officials still plan for it to undergo the same type of upgrades sometime in the future.

“Our biggest goal was to get the state highway roads,” he said. “We did not accomplish Main Street. Main Street was complicated, but it’s still on our horizon. We’ll start applying for more grant funding in January. [Bradley] and I have already sat down for new projects to try to start with for next year.”

Residents should contact the town with any questions they may have regarding the lead service line initiative. Berlin wants to obtain consents from impacted properties prior to the start of the phased project.