By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

(July 31, 2025) A comfort station will soon be installed at Stephen Decatur Park, featuring two restrooms, a drinking fountain, and a maintenance room, after town officials covered an unexpected funding gap of nearly $60,000.

At its meeting on Monday, July 28, the Berlin Town Council unanimously agreed to contract with Henley Construction of Montgomery County for the construction of the comfort station at Stephen Decatur Park, in the amount of $290,320.

The park’s upgrades will include the construction of a 225-square-foot block comfort station. The structure will feature two restrooms, a maintenance room, a drinking fountain, and site improvements. According to a staff memo, the scope of work to be completed by Henley Construction will include plumbing, mechanical, electrical, HVAC installation, doors, windows, sidewalk installation, transition to an asphalt parking lot, site grading, utility connections, and a complete restoration of the site.

“This project aims to significantly enhance public outdoor recreation access in Berlin by supporting existing park amenities, such as walking trails, a playground, a pavilion, tennis courts, and picnic areas,” the memo reads. “The comfort station is designed to meet accessibility standards and accommodate the long-term service needs of residents and visitors.”

The project is expected to cost $324,320. The town memo notes that when the initiative was resubmitted for consideration for a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant from the Maryland Department of Natural Resources in March 2024, the total price tag for the comfort station initially came to approximately $266,000, with $34,000 allocated for engineering and design and $232,000 for construction.

The funding sources are to be broken down as follows: $133,000 from the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) Grant, $99,000 from Maryland Community Parks and Playgrounds (CPP) Grants, and $34,000 from a match from the Town of Berlin.

However, upon receiving six bids, it was revealed that the lowest bid, from Henley Construction, totaled $290,320 for construction alone.

The original engineering costs of $34,000 remain unchanged, resulting in an adjusted total project cost of $324,320, which is $58,320 over the originally approved funding package.

Town staff reviewed three options to cover the gap, including allocating approximately two months of slot revenues, which would amount to $59,000. This was ultimately the recommendation that was approved unanimously by the Berlin Town Council this week.

Another option included reallocating $55,000 currently budgeted for a fence replacement at Henry Park and $4,000 from the general fund’s contracted engineering services budget line. Berlin Mayor Zack Tyndall expressed his disapproval of this suggestion, arguing that Henry Park’s fence replacement is a vital project that must be carried out in this fiscal year.

Staff also debated allocating $59,000 from the general fund contingency, which totals around $94,000, but Tyndall said that he would prefer to preserve this balance for the upcoming comprehensive plan update.

Thus, the town will use two months of slots revenue to cover the roughly $59,000 funding gap for the Stephen Decatur Park comfort station. Jamey Latchum, the town’s director of water resources, said that he intends for the work on the new structure to begin as soon as possible.