By Ally Lanasa, Staff Writer

(Nov. 12, 2020) Berlin’s check for $171,033 in federal CARES Act funding dispersed by Worcester County is the maximum amount it could receive, Town Administrator Jeff Fleetwood said to the mayor and council Monday.

ALLY LANASA/BAYSIDE GAZETTE
The Berlin Mayor and Council agreed to establish a new account at the Bank of Ocean City for the $171,033 the town received in CARES Act funding, which will help create a stabilization reserve fund.

“That is a reimbursement check,” he added.

Fleetwood also said the period of eligibility for funding is from March 1, 2020 through December 30, 2020 but the town had expenses that exceeded the awarded amount well before the ending eligibility date.

Fleetwood and the town staff recommended that the Berlin Mayor and Council establish a separate account at the Bank of Ocean City to create a stabilization reserve fund with the check.

“I’d like to put that money away, so that we can get started on this stabilization reserve that we talked about four or five months ago,” Fleetwood said.

Councilmember Dean Burrell asked why not use the check for the funds that had been expended since the pandemic began.

“The overwhelming majority were already planned,” Fleetwood said because they were payroll dollars. “They were already budgeted.”

By establishing the money as a reserve fund, it could be used for covid-19 emergencies.

“If the town occurred any further expenses as a result of covid-19, this is some funding that, once it’s placed in that fund, will allow us to have that ability to pull from,” Mayor Zackery Tyndall said.

Fleetwood added that the account would not be set up with checking.

Councilmember Troy Purnell made the motion to establish the account with a second from Burrell. The council agreed unanimously with the absence of Councilmember Shaneka Nichols.