By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(June 8, 2017) The Town of Berlin announced in January the hiring of former Bowie City Manager David Deutsch as project coordinator at Berlin Falls, the 60-plus acre former industrial site purchased for $2.75 million in 2015.

In an interview with the Gazette this week, Deutsch talked about his expectations and what he’s been doing since then – and what might happen next for the park.

Deutsch said he and the town are waiting for the results of several significant studies: an EA Engineering Science & Tech report on the ponds, a Davis, Bowen & Friedel (DBF) study of the main building and a Conservation Community Consulting analysis of some of the wildlife aspects of the property.

Deutsch expects to see the results of the EA study within the next few weeks.

“That will be helpful,” he said. “That will give us some information and help inform decisions on the scope of activities that could or ought to occur on or near the water.”

As for what that data might say, Deutsch said he had no preconceived notions.

“I’ll leave that up to the scientists,” he said. “There is a range of expectations from everything is great, go ahead and drink it, to stay away, Love Canal. I suspect the reality is somewhere in between.”

Deutsch said the town understands that Berlin Falls’ was once an industrial processing site for Tyson’s Chicken, but that doesn’t necessarily rule out any future developments there.

“It wasn’t a Hooker Chemical Company,” he said with a laugh. “We’re going to get that data and then we’ll analyze that. That will help.”

By the end of this week, Deutsch said the town expects to receive the structural analysis from DBF. He said that report would give the town an idea of the cost to rehabilitate the main building.

It’s possible, he said, that it’s not salvageable.

“You can do anything if you want to throw enough money at it,” he said. “Obviously, there are certain types of numbers [the town] wouldn’t want to go near – seven-figure type numbers.

“I’m not one who prejudges these things, because I really don’t know. That’s why we hired experts to give us some analysis,” he added.

The third report, from the Conservation Community Consulting group run by Dave Wilson and Jim Rapp, is also expected back by the end of the month.

“They’ve been contracted to do some environmental analysis in terms of what can be done onsite to provide an environmental experience. Protecting birds, how we can perhaps inform park users about what’s on the site with some interpretive signage – that kind of thing,” Deutsch said.

Although the town has discussed passive uses for the park during the last year, Deutsch said he expected a mix of both active and passive enhancements to find a home at Berlin Falls.

“I think we’ve got to decide what [the park] is,” he said. “You do that a couple of ways. The environmental information will give us some parameters in terms of things that are possible or things that are not practical – swimming, for example. I have my opinion on that – I’ll withhold that – but I think we’re going to find out soon. So, the environmental data from the various sources will be helpful.”

Once those data sets are received and analyzed by town officials, public opinion will help inform the next steps. Deutsch said Mayor Gee Williams has discussed the creation of a citizen advisory committee to that end.

“[The committee] would get input to the mayor and council and us, to kind of channel residents’ ideas that way,” Deutsch said. “Once there is a consensus, whether that takes a few months or a year, as to what the active uses ought to be, then it’s a question of figuring out how and when and where the dollars come from. Right now, there’s no pot of money at the end of some budget rainbow.”

He said the town would “leave no stone unturned” in terms of funding solutions.

Deutsch met with Joanne M. Throwe, deputy secretary of the Maryland Department of Natural Resources (DNR), in February and discussed preliminary plans for Berlin Falls. He has a working relationship with Throwe and she is familiar with the town because DNR supplied close to $1 million for stormwater improvements in Berlin.

It’s those kinds of relationships that Deutsch brings to the table, along with the town’s success with winning and using grant money, which could help fund a number of future developments.

“State government, nonprofits, the county, foundations – we’re going to look at all of those,” Deutsch said. “The town’s been fairly successful in drawing support over the years for its activities, which is good. That’s very positive. We want to build on that and we have existing relationships.

“I think the more that you can demonstrate success in other properties, funding agencies will say, ‘these folks know what they’re doing. Let’s continue to support their efforts,’” Deutsch continued. “Berlin has a good story to tell in that regard.”

He and other town officials have also met with potential park development partners, like the YMCA.

“There is an ongoing analysis or investigation of the possibility of the YMCA locating a facility here,” Deutsch said. “That potential is one we need to continue to explore, because if it happens that will have a major impact on the park – what it is and how it’s perceived.”

Deutsch said he met with Robbie Gill, the CEO of the YMCA of the Chesapeake Corporate Offices. He and Town Administrator Laura Allen and Councilman Zack Tyndall toured the Pocomoke YMCA and have plans to visit the Salisbury facility this month.

“They spent $5 million [in Salisbury] and they raised 75 percent of the money in the community. One of the things that would have to happen if we’re going to go that way is to seek some donors and work with the Y to develop a fundraising plan,” Deutsch said. “But we’re not there yet.

“Even if a Y is on the site, there’s still a lot of other things that can happen,” he added.

As for other potential uses, Deutsch mentioned an outdoor amphitheater, skateboard park and a train station as a few of the amenities that have been discussed. On the proposed excursion train, he said that deal was “stalled out, but not dead.”

“It could still happen. The missing component is money,” Deutsch said. “[According to feasibility studies] it’s about $2 million at the lowest-end cost for, essentially, track rehabilitation.”

Deutsch said the Maryland and Delaware Railroad company, which owns the existing infrastructure, would probably have to put up most of that money, with the state and county contributing additional funds and the Town of Berlin coming in at the low end, adding “a little bit of money.”

“I don’t think anybody sees Berlin spending $2 million on somebody else’s tracks,” he said. “These kinds of ventures are interesting. They work in some places – they may not work in others.

“Part of my role, I think, is to inject some reality into those ideas — not to say ‘no’ at this stage to anything,” Deutsch continued. “The way I look at it, all the ideas that have already come up are good and worth exploring – even if it sounds crazy. Folks have talked about zip lines and all kinds of things. All of that is still on the table.

“I think most folks say, ‘hey, neat idea, how do we get there?’ We get there by crossing a huge chasm, and the chasm needs to be filled with money,” Deutsch said.

Any major developments at Berlin Falls are almost certainly a long way off. Deutsch said the public, meanwhile, wants to see something happen there “yesterday.”

“I understand that,” he said. “That’s a little frustrating, but it’s the nature of it. With these data sets that we’re going to get this month on the environmental study and the structural study and the report from Wilson and Rapp, all of that information will help move the project.”

Deutsch was hesitant to project when things might start to happen, but said, “I don’t think it’s a decade.”

“We can’t get there unless we know where we’re going,” he said. “A lot of what I’m doing now is figuring out how we got here and I’ve been asking a lot of questions and gathering a lot of information and talking to as many people as I can, so that I can understand the nuances.

“In a sense we already have a citizen’s advisory group with the [Berlin] Park Commission,” Deutsch added. “And God love the mailman – that was a bit of a diversion, but those folks meant well. I don’t think this is going be, in terms of making decisions about what it is, a five-to-10-year process. But I’m not naïve enough to think that whatever plan is developed, it’s going to happen immediately.”