Acting Planning Director Ryan Hardesty

By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

The Berlin Planning Department budget is proposing a 102% increase in funding for fiscal year 2026, including two new employees, new professional services, an updated comprehensive plan, a vehicle and modern equipment.

At a Berlin budget workshop on April 7, the town’s acting planning director, Ryan Hardesty, went before the Mayor and Council to make her department’s general fund budget request for the upcoming fiscal year. The ask, $859,728, is a 102% increase from fiscal year 2025’s $425,480.

A highlight is the salary allocation increase due to onboarding two additional employees, including the already-hired GIS (Geographic Information System) analyst, Meghan Pfaller, who had been working in the wastewater department.

Furthermore, the town is accepting applications currently for a code enforcement officer, a position sought in Berlin for several years. The full-time salaries request for fiscal year 2026 to account for the positions jumps roughly 59% from $188,000 to $298,850.

The planning department has also requested a new vehicle, particularly for the GIS analyst, to fulfill her role’s responsibilities. There is already a vehicle in place for the new code enforcement officer.

“We are going to have two positions that are going to need to be out of the office,” Hardesty said. “We currently only have one vehicle right now. Our GIS person will need a car to get around to do her duties.”

Town Administrator Mary Bohlen added the vehicle will not be a “heavy-duty pickup truck” but will be enough to do the job.

The division’s budget included an increase from last year’s $25,000 to a request of $50,000 for professional services, particularly legal consultancy specific to the planning department and planning commission meetings.

The planning department’s FY26 spending plan also increases contracted services by around $30,000. The director said this is partially due to new code enforcement software, which is akin to a tracking program that can handle permits, licensing, and planning in addition to code enforcement.   The director added that she did a live software demonstration with a possible vendor.

“When I did the demo, it was pretty neat because they described it like when you order a pizza and how it says we received your order, preparing, baking, ready for pickup,” Hardesty said. “You could clearly watch it go through the process. We received your permit, reviewed it, and approved the permits. It shows it right down the line.”

Hardesty said that her department is looking at all potential options but will be looking to add the software over the summer.

The budget request allocates $100,000 for an updated comprehensive plan. Berlin Mayor Zack Tyndall noted that this figure is “light” because while in-house experts estimate $150,000 for the document’s much-needed upgrade, the town is facing budget constraints.

“We do a comp plan every 10-ish years,” Tyndall said. “Ours is outdated by several. We’ve not done one, so it’s hard to go back and say how much it costs … We don’t know where it will come in until we do an RFP (request for proposals), but we know this number is light because of the available funding within the FY26 budget.”

Funds are also being set aside for new equipment, including a plotter. According to Hardesty, a plotter allows officials to scan architectural plans when submitted as well as print large format.

“We are working with Becker Morgan to design our public works building,” Berlin Public Works Director Jimmy Charles said. “They can send a digital copy over to us. Instead of waiting until our next meeting … we can come to [Hardesty], she can print them out for us, and we would be ahead of the game.”

“[Architects] bring one set when they come, we go over it, and they walk out the door with the only set, and we have no record of the conversation to fall back on,” Bohlen added.

An operational plotter would give each party access to the plans, staff said.