(Sept. 28, 2017) Burley Oak Brewing Company owner Bryan Brushmiller last week took issue with Berlin officials who accused him of pulling down or ignoring several stop-work orders.
He said the incident was being overblown and called the behavior “immature.”
The Berlin Planning Commission last Wednesday discussed the orders, which Planning Director Dave Engelhart said he posted after noticing that an outdoor expansion at the brewery was not being done according to the site plan the commission approved in April.
Brushmiller said he missed last Wednesday’s commission meeting, which started at 6 p.m., because he thought it started an hour later. He said he pulled up to Town Hall that night just as he received a text message from a member of the planning commission.
“Ron Cascio had texted me and said ‘there’s a lot of people that are upset you didn’t attend our meeting. Care to comment?’” Brushmiller said. “I thought I was running late, but I didn’t think it was that late.”
Brushmiller called reports he removed several stop-work orders “very accusatory.”
“I wish I was there to say, ‘did you see me take down the signs?’” he said. “They’re in a [commission] meeting accusing me of doing something where they have no proof. For one, I didn’t take down any stop-order signs.”
After the brewery’s plans for a four-foot fence were approved in April, Brushmiller said he was asked by the county liquor board to raise the height to five feet. He said he was not aware he needed to ask the Berlin Planning Commission to approve the modification to the original plan.
“I had an architect that I paid thousands of dollars to design a project that I got approved by the [commission], and then, when we were building the fence, I told my carpenter the liquor license [board] wants it at five [feet], let’s just be a good neighbor and put it at six to make sure we’re not a nuisance,” he said. The higher fence, he said, would benefit the neighbors because it would further reduce noise from the new outdoor stage.
“The fact that we went two feet higher … it never even occurred to me that I had to get a permit. They already approved the fence being built,” he said.
Brushmiller said he got a town permit for the fence just before receiving the order to stop work.
“That was the very moment they came out – the very moment that the town came out cussing at me and yelling,” he said. “Dave Engelhart was dropping the ‘f bomb’ at me and stuff. It was ridiculous. His face was all red.”
Brushmiller said he didn’t understand why Engelhart was upset.
“[He said], because you don’t know how to get your f***ing permits,’” Brushmiller said. “I went to the planning and zoning. I got everything approved. Now I’ve gotta get a fence permit to built a fence that was already approved?”
No one, Brushmiller said, told him to resubmit the site plan to the planning commission as he was filling out the fence permit.
“It’s so inconsistent … I filled everything out [for a six-foot fence], they take my money, they give me a receipt, and then I come back and I remember I was so excited. I was like, ‘alright guys, we can [finish]!’” he said. “And, literally, the fence was already done. So there was no work to actually be stopped … we basically were just putting up a door. The fence was built already, a day before.
“They come out again, Dave Engelhart, yelling, pissed off,” Brushmiller said. “I said I just filled out everything and he said, ‘but you’ve gotta get it approved.’ So you took my money, I filled out all the paperwork, at no point did you say … you can’t start work again. They gave me the f***ing receipt.
“Him going in there saying I pulled [the order] off the fence – he’s actually lying,” he continued. “It’s slanderous and it makes me look bad. You’re portraying me as this bad person that doesn’t care about what the town has to say and now you’re going into the planning and zoning meetings … with no proof.”
The original order, he said, was blown off by high winds.
“That sign is still in my bush. We never touched it,” he said. “For them to say I ripped down things is super accusatory – and pretty immature.”
The planning commission eventually voted 4-2 to allow the fence, although several commission members expressed their trepidation.
Brushmiller met with town officials on Sept. 13 to discuss other issues, including noise complaints, parking concerns, the need for three additional EDUs and the possible need to install a pre-treatment system to reduce pollution from the brewery into town wastewater.
He described the session as “a nice meeting with the town,” but said reports of noise complaints were exaggerated.
“We had one national act – a national artist that we brought to Berlin, this town of the arts – and our [liquor] license says to stop at 10 [p.m.] – we stopped at 10. There’s no reason for complaints,” Brushmiller said. “We did everything right.
“There was one lady that complained and there was one event – it’s not plural,” he added.
Brushmiller said he spent $50,000 to buy three additional EDUs two years ago “and they want me to buy more.”
He was also told Burley Oak couldn’t use public parking at Berlin Falls, across the street, for personal financial gain.
“That’s totally fair,” Brushmiller said. “I’m happy to rent that from you. I’m happy to contribute to the town … if I use it, I’m happy to pay for it and complete maintenance on it.”
Brushmiller declined to comment on the record about the pre-treatment system.
He did say he was baffled by the onslaught of issues being presented to him.
“What does a small business do? I’m literally being contacted by state officials to [give] seminars for how towns can work better with small businesses – they’re calling me to give a speech on this as a model,” he said. “I’m the biggest proponent for working together with the town. I’m even actually going above and beyond and giving f***ing talks about how to do it better!”
In an interview last week, Mayor Gee Williams said discussion of the pre-treatment system occurred after Public Works Director Jane Kreiter tested of all the wastewater collection systems along Old Ocean City Boulevard, where Burley Oak is based.
“There appears to be higher level of pollutants in the wastewater nearest to the lift station where the brewery is,” Williams said. “She and Bryan are working together … and they are trying to determine what pre-treatment, if any, may be necessary by the brewery so it does not have an adverse impact on our wastewater collection system.”
Williams said those discussions were preliminary and a potential cost was not clear, although he added, “I don’t think any solution is inexpensive.”
“From what limited knowledge I have, based on being a resident, a council member and then mayor, there is rarely any inexpensive solution,” he said. “Pre-treatment usually involves purchase of equipment onsite by the business to address the issue.”
As for the noise complaints, Williams said he and several council members received calls after Burley Oak held its first outdoor concert, last month.
He said he expected the Berlin Planning Commission to help resolve those issues, along with the matter of the expansion that was not in line with what the commission originally approved.
“The mayor and council are not the planning commission and any issues with the planning commission need to be discussed directly with them,” he added. “Apparently that didn’t happen.”
He said the incident was being overblown and called the behavior “immature.”
The Berlin Planning Commission last Wednesday discussed the orders, which Planning Director Dave Engelhart said he posted after noticing that an outdoor expansion at the brewery was not being done according to the site plan the commission approved in April.
Brushmiller said he missed last Wednesday’s commission meeting, which started at 6 p.m., because he thought it started an hour later. He said he pulled up to Town Hall that night just as he received a text message from a member of the planning commission.
“Ron Cascio had texted me and said ‘there’s a lot of people that are upset you didn’t attend our meeting. Care to comment?’” Brushmiller said. “I thought I was running late, but I didn’t think it was that late.”
Brushmiller called reports he removed several stop-work orders “very accusatory.”
“I wish I was there to say, ‘did you see me take down the signs?’” he said. “They’re in a [commission] meeting accusing me of doing something where they have no proof. For one, I didn’t take down any stop-order signs.”
After the brewery’s plans for a four-foot fence were approved in April, Brushmiller said he was asked by the county liquor board to raise the height to five feet. He said he was not aware he needed to ask the Berlin Planning Commission to approve the modification to the original plan.
“I had an architect that I paid thousands of dollars to design a project that I got approved by the [commission], and then, when we were building the fence, I told my carpenter the liquor license [board] wants it at five [feet], let’s just be a good neighbor and put it at six to make sure we’re not a nuisance,” he said. The higher fence, he said, would benefit the neighbors because it would further reduce noise from the new outdoor stage.
“The fact that we went two feet higher … it never even occurred to me that I had to get a permit. They already approved the fence being built,” he said.
Brushmiller said he got a town permit for the fence just before receiving the order to stop work.
“That was the very moment they came out – the very moment that the town came out cussing at me and yelling,” he said. “Dave Engelhart was dropping the ‘f bomb’ at me and stuff. It was ridiculous. His face was all red.”
Brushmiller said he didn’t understand why Engelhart was upset.
“[He said], because you don’t know how to get your f***ing permits,’” Brushmiller said. “I went to the planning and zoning. I got everything approved. Now I’ve gotta get a fence permit to built a fence that was already approved?”
No one, Brushmiller said, told him to resubmit the site plan to the planning commission as he was filling out the fence permit.
“It’s so inconsistent … I filled everything out [for a six-foot fence], they take my money, they give me a receipt, and then I come back and I remember I was so excited. I was like, ‘alright guys, we can [finish]!’” he said. “And, literally, the fence was already done. So there was no work to actually be stopped … we basically were just putting up a door. The fence was built already, a day before.
“They come out again, Dave Engelhart, yelling, pissed off,” Brushmiller said. “I said I just filled out everything and he said, ‘but you’ve gotta get it approved.’ So you took my money, I filled out all the paperwork, at no point did you say … you can’t start work again. They gave me the f***ing receipt.
“Him going in there saying I pulled [the order] off the fence – he’s actually lying,” he continued. “It’s slanderous and it makes me look bad. You’re portraying me as this bad person that doesn’t care about what the town has to say and now you’re going into the planning and zoning meetings … with no proof.”
The original order, he said, was blown off by high winds.
“That sign is still in my bush. We never touched it,” he said. “For them to say I ripped down things is super accusatory – and pretty immature.”
The planning commission eventually voted 4-2 to allow the fence, although several commission members expressed their trepidation.
Brushmiller met with town officials on Sept. 13 to discuss other issues, including noise complaints, parking concerns, the need for three additional EDUs and the possible need to install a pre-treatment system to reduce pollution from the brewery into town wastewater.
He described the session as “a nice meeting with the town,” but said reports of noise complaints were exaggerated.
“We had one national act – a national artist that we brought to Berlin, this town of the arts – and our [liquor] license says to stop at 10 [p.m.] – we stopped at 10. There’s no reason for complaints,” Brushmiller said. “We did everything right.
“There was one lady that complained and there was one event – it’s not plural,” he added.
Brushmiller said he spent $50,000 to buy three additional EDUs two years ago “and they want me to buy more.”
He was also told Burley Oak couldn’t use public parking at Berlin Falls, across the street, for personal financial gain.
“That’s totally fair,” Brushmiller said. “I’m happy to rent that from you. I’m happy to contribute to the town … if I use it, I’m happy to pay for it and complete maintenance on it.”
Brushmiller declined to comment on the record about the pre-treatment system.
He did say he was baffled by the onslaught of issues being presented to him.
“What does a small business do? I’m literally being contacted by state officials to [give] seminars for how towns can work better with small businesses – they’re calling me to give a speech on this as a model,” he said. “I’m the biggest proponent for working together with the town. I’m even actually going above and beyond and giving f***ing talks about how to do it better!”
In an interview last week, Mayor Gee Williams said discussion of the pre-treatment system occurred after Public Works Director Jane Kreiter tested of all the wastewater collection systems along Old Ocean City Boulevard, where Burley Oak is based.
“There appears to be higher level of pollutants in the wastewater nearest to the lift station where the brewery is,” Williams said. “She and Bryan are working together … and they are trying to determine what pre-treatment, if any, may be necessary by the brewery so it does not have an adverse impact on our wastewater collection system.”
Williams said those discussions were preliminary and a potential cost was not clear, although he added, “I don’t think any solution is inexpensive.”
“From what limited knowledge I have, based on being a resident, a council member and then mayor, there is rarely any inexpensive solution,” he said. “Pre-treatment usually involves purchase of equipment onsite by the business to address the issue.”
As for the noise complaints, Williams said he and several council members received calls after Burley Oak held its first outdoor concert, last month.
He said he expected the Berlin Planning Commission to help resolve those issues, along with the matter of the expansion that was not in line with what the commission originally approved.
“The mayor and council are not the planning commission and any issues with the planning commission need to be discussed directly with them,” he added. “Apparently that didn’t happen.”