(Nov. 3, 2016) Inspections for the residential complex Cannery Village in Berlin appear to be close to complete as of Tuesday this week, and damages to streets associated with construction there have been finished, according to town officials.
The road getting to this point had its own share of bumps and cracks, both literally and figuratively.
In September, several members of the Berlin Town Council complained that large construction vehicles at Cannery had damaged nearby Flower Street, which the town had to patch several times. A unanimous vote ordered Berlin Town Administrator Laura Allen to “proceed with all haste” in pushing the developer, Osprey Properties, to make the necessary repairs.
Allen said that would be done as part of the eventual closeout of the project, and a portion of bond money set aside by the developer could be used if town standards were not met.
Construction at Cannery broke ground in May of last year, but met with several delays. Some of those were related to weather, while others had to do with problems with the sewer lines, among other things.
“They have come out and done what we needed them to do with regard to the portion of Flower Street that they contributed to the damage on,” Allen said on Monday.
She said the town had created a punch list of items that needed to be addressed in order to pass a final inspection. The developer had apparently addressed those, and Allen said she expected a follow-up on Tuesday to go well.
“The items of significance have been addressed,” she said. “Now we’re just getting down to the details, and I’ll think we’ll work through those very quickly.”
Allen said another item related to Cannery, a barrier fence between the development and residents of Flower Street, had gone up in response to complaints by residents.
In July, the council voted to pay $90,000 to buy a small piece of land between Cannery and the existing homes. That deal included building a six-foot white vinyl fence between the first three homes along the border, closest to the entrance. A vegetative fence would then separate the remaining homes.
“I’m not sure about everybody being happy, but I think the vast majority of folks are happy that issue has been resolved,” Allen said. “Right now, what we’re doing is we’re looking at the tree selection for the vegetative buffer.”
Allen said a walking path there would be installed during the spring.
“I believe Cannery Village is done and done and done,” Berlin Mayor Gee Williams said on Monday. “I think it was a bigger hurdle to jump over than we thought, but every time you do something you learn, and you learn to, mainly, anticipate what are the questions that could come up. I think that’s a thing we’ll be doing as a community together.
“You can never fix what you never do,” he added. “Multiple generations have been working to get us to this point, and we’re definitely going to be adapting to the things that are needed to make our community economically viable, vital and sustainable. That’s a pretty good order to fill, and each time we do something we learn something.”
The road getting to this point had its own share of bumps and cracks, both literally and figuratively.
In September, several members of the Berlin Town Council complained that large construction vehicles at Cannery had damaged nearby Flower Street, which the town had to patch several times. A unanimous vote ordered Berlin Town Administrator Laura Allen to “proceed with all haste” in pushing the developer, Osprey Properties, to make the necessary repairs.
Allen said that would be done as part of the eventual closeout of the project, and a portion of bond money set aside by the developer could be used if town standards were not met.
Construction at Cannery broke ground in May of last year, but met with several delays. Some of those were related to weather, while others had to do with problems with the sewer lines, among other things.
“They have come out and done what we needed them to do with regard to the portion of Flower Street that they contributed to the damage on,” Allen said on Monday.
She said the town had created a punch list of items that needed to be addressed in order to pass a final inspection. The developer had apparently addressed those, and Allen said she expected a follow-up on Tuesday to go well.
“The items of significance have been addressed,” she said. “Now we’re just getting down to the details, and I’ll think we’ll work through those very quickly.”
Allen said another item related to Cannery, a barrier fence between the development and residents of Flower Street, had gone up in response to complaints by residents.
In July, the council voted to pay $90,000 to buy a small piece of land between Cannery and the existing homes. That deal included building a six-foot white vinyl fence between the first three homes along the border, closest to the entrance. A vegetative fence would then separate the remaining homes.
“I’m not sure about everybody being happy, but I think the vast majority of folks are happy that issue has been resolved,” Allen said. “Right now, what we’re doing is we’re looking at the tree selection for the vegetative buffer.”
Allen said a walking path there would be installed during the spring.
“I believe Cannery Village is done and done and done,” Berlin Mayor Gee Williams said on Monday. “I think it was a bigger hurdle to jump over than we thought, but every time you do something you learn, and you learn to, mainly, anticipate what are the questions that could come up. I think that’s a thing we’ll be doing as a community together.
“You can never fix what you never do,” he added. “Multiple generations have been working to get us to this point, and we’re definitely going to be adapting to the things that are needed to make our community economically viable, vital and sustainable. That’s a pretty good order to fill, and each time we do something we learn something.”