Town Council on Monday approves list of priorities estimated to cost $3.5M

By Josh Davis, Associate Editor

(March 1, 2018) As the Town of Berlin prepares to wrap $2 million in grant-funded stormwater projects on Flower Street and William Street, planners are eyeing five new projects estimated to cost $3.5 million.

At Monday’s Town Council session, Town Administrator Laura Allen and Darl Kolar of EA Engineering, Science and Technology Inc. went over what they said were two tiers stormwater-related projects.

The first tier referred to finished or nearly completed projects, which include culvert replacement and installation of a large stormwater pond, or offline wetland, on Flower Street.

A new culvert with increased capacity was also put in on William Street, as was a smaller offline wetland.

Construction is scheduled to start soon on the final tier-one project, storm drain replacement on Franklin Avenue and Pine, Grice and Nelson streets.

Kolar said each project had both a water-quality and a water-capacity component. Asked by Mayor Gee Williams if the improvements helped reduce flooding, Kolar replied, “we like what we see so far.”

Allen said the town would seek Department of Natural Resources grants of $750,000 to finish the storm drain replacement and $350,000 for channel stabilization on Bottle Branch Road.

She said a separate Department of Natural Resources funding source, through the Community Resilience Grant Program, could pay for design work for stormwater improvements at Henry’s Green and Henry’s Mill.

The town will then seek $1.2 million to increase conveyance and piping capacity, and create an offline wetland, near West Street and Abbey Lane.

Allen said the final tier-two project would be stream relocation and restoration of Bottle Branch at Decatur Street, estimated to cost $725,000.

“We did submit a letter of intent with all five projects and the feedback we’ve received from [The Department of Natural Resources] is there’s some interest in projects one and two,” Allen said, adding representatives from the Community Resilience program expressed interest in the third project.

Allen said there could be additional funding available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We would probably focus on leveraging the funding that we’re getting for existing projects first … before we move onto [projects] four and five, partly because they’re pretty significant in size,” Allen said.

The Town Council unanimously approved the priority list.

Kolar said the town “went a long way” with the initial $2 million in grant funding.

“I am so pleased with the outcome of the completed projects and how we are progressing toward addressing the flooding situation throughout the entire town,” Councilman Dean Burrell said.

“I have sat up here years and heard citizens concerns about flooding, flooding, flooding. It may not be perfect, but we’re trying to address the concerns of the entire thing, and I think it’s a good thing,” Burrell added.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, resident Marie Velong expressed her disappointment with West Street being placed fourth on the priority list. She said flooding in the area was eroding her property.

“The people on the other side of the road have had to replace basements and their downstairs several times,” she said. “It just seems that, that being a main road … we need a sidewalk and the sidewalk won’t come unless you do the [stormwater] work there.

“I would like to see it be the number three [priority],” she said.

Williams said the sooner funding could be obtained, the sooner the town could deal with those issues.

“I am hopeful,” he said, adding he met with representatives from the Department of Natural Resources to “discuss our general approach and … make sure that we were applying for the right grants in the right places for the right needs.”

“I felt very good about that [meeting],” he said. “We all know we’re ahead of most communities in Maryland and it’s still a new venture, so I feel that our funding support is going to be given a very fair chance.

“My experience so far has been … if you do a good job it makes it a little easier,” he added. “The better job we do, the sooner we’ll get the additional money to get all the projects done in both tiers.”