Berlin council members have agreed to ask Worcester County for state Program Open Space funding to buy property that could help with stormwater management.
A stormwater pond near Flower Street in Berlin.
File photo
By Charlene Sharpe, Associate Editor
The Town of Berlin is seeking state funding to buy property that could help with stormwater management.
Council members have agreed to ask Worcester County for Program Open Space funding to buy property that could be used as a passive park and stormwater mitigation area.
“This has come up very quickly,” Town Administrator Mary Bohlen said. “The information that’s included here is still somewhat protected.”
Bohlen told the council that Worcester County this year hadn’t asked for the town’s entire wish list of potential projects, but rather just the portion of Program Open Space requests the county could process. Bohlen said that would be acquisition projects. As a result, she said she was asking the council to approve the town’s 2025 Program Open Space acquisition request for the purchase of three contiguous parcels of land. The listing price for the parcels is $599,000.
“The Town’s project to be considered for Acquisition for 2025 is the purchase of three contiguous parcels of land for the purpose of the development of a passive park and stormwater mitigation facility,” the proposed letter from the town to the county said. “The availability of this land has only very recently come to the Town’s attention and, unfortunately, is not yet at a stage for public disclosure. The listing price for the three parcels is $599,000, and they are listed as one purchase package. The Town understands that appraisals to determine fair market value must be completed.”
The letter goes on to say that the location cannot yet be disclosed but that one of the three parcels is within town limits while two are not, which is why the town needs county partnership in seeking the state funds.
“We just to have to give the little bit of information we can and go from there,” Bohlen said.
The council voted unanimously to approve the acquisition request as well as the town’s parks plan for development, which lists projects the town would like to see implemented at municipal parks.