(Sept. 29, 2016) Berlin officials believe they are closer to a solution regarding road repairs on Flower Street necessitated by development at Cannery Village.
Apparently, it took more than a week for Town Administrator Laura Allen to reach Osprey Properties, the company behind Cannery.
The issue was raised by several councilmembers during a Sept. 12 Town Council meeting, when the council voted unanimously to add “haste” to insistence that the developer address the issues.
During that meeting, Councilman Elroy Brittingham said the entrance to Cannery was playing havoc with roads in the area, including a portion of Flower Street that the town has had to patch several times because of potholes.
Councilman Dean Burrell, added the problem had been ongoing “for, really, a long time” and that poor conditions were causing damage to vehicles that traveled on the busy road.
During a phone interview last Thursday, Allen said she had only just been able to reach Osprey Vice President Andrew Hanson by phone.
“He told me MDE [Maryland Department of Environment] has given him clearance for the back stormwater pond, and that he’s very close to asking for his final inspection,” she said. “This is important because there’s a couple things we need them to address, including the patch of Flower Street, and so we’re at the point where we think the project is going to be … tidied up and wrapped up, probably within the next few weeks.”
Allen said it would work better to have the contractor, who will do the final paving of Cannery Roads, also patch the affected portion of Flower Street.
“That should make it seamless and all one nice project,” she said. “Our plan is to work with Andrew to get the project ‘finaled’ with an eye towards having the final paving done by the contractor and doing the final paving in the development and handling the repair of Flower Street as part of that.
“If that doesn’t happen within a reasonable timeframe, then we have talked to Andrew about a fallback position, whereby the developer will be paying for a different contractor selected by the town to come out and mill and overlay the portion of Flower Street that we want them to repair,” Allen added.
Asked to define “reasonable timeframe,” Allen said she “reserved the right to define that within the scope of [her] purview.”
“I’ve been asked to get it taken care of with all immediate haste. I can commit to having it taken care of within the next month,” she said.
There would likely be no cost to the town, Allen said.
“If we do the backup plan, there would be a little bit of staff time attached to getting that organized, but I think that’s going to be very minimal, and nothing we wouldn’t do for any other developer for any other project,” Allen said.
Apparently, it took more than a week for Town Administrator Laura Allen to reach Osprey Properties, the company behind Cannery.
The issue was raised by several councilmembers during a Sept. 12 Town Council meeting, when the council voted unanimously to add “haste” to insistence that the developer address the issues.
During that meeting, Councilman Elroy Brittingham said the entrance to Cannery was playing havoc with roads in the area, including a portion of Flower Street that the town has had to patch several times because of potholes.
Councilman Dean Burrell, added the problem had been ongoing “for, really, a long time” and that poor conditions were causing damage to vehicles that traveled on the busy road.
During a phone interview last Thursday, Allen said she had only just been able to reach Osprey Vice President Andrew Hanson by phone.
“He told me MDE [Maryland Department of Environment] has given him clearance for the back stormwater pond, and that he’s very close to asking for his final inspection,” she said. “This is important because there’s a couple things we need them to address, including the patch of Flower Street, and so we’re at the point where we think the project is going to be … tidied up and wrapped up, probably within the next few weeks.”
Allen said it would work better to have the contractor, who will do the final paving of Cannery Roads, also patch the affected portion of Flower Street.
“That should make it seamless and all one nice project,” she said. “Our plan is to work with Andrew to get the project ‘finaled’ with an eye towards having the final paving done by the contractor and doing the final paving in the development and handling the repair of Flower Street as part of that.
“If that doesn’t happen within a reasonable timeframe, then we have talked to Andrew about a fallback position, whereby the developer will be paying for a different contractor selected by the town to come out and mill and overlay the portion of Flower Street that we want them to repair,” Allen added.
Asked to define “reasonable timeframe,” Allen said she “reserved the right to define that within the scope of [her] purview.”
“I’ve been asked to get it taken care of with all immediate haste. I can commit to having it taken care of within the next month,” she said.
There would likely be no cost to the town, Allen said.
“If we do the backup plan, there would be a little bit of staff time attached to getting that organized, but I think that’s going to be very minimal, and nothing we wouldn’t do for any other developer for any other project,” Allen said.