BERLIN– After months of speculation, the massive Tyson’s Park project could be moving forward next month.
The project would be set on the former Tyson’s Foods Inc. chicken processing plant on Old Ocean City Boulevard, land that has gone unused since the company closed in 2003, laying off 600 Berlin workers.
In April a mockup of “Tyson’s Park,” a huge indoor/outdoor recreation complex with a fairgrounds and an amphitheater created by Vista Design, Inc., began circulating in the town. The company declined to comment on the project, and some labeled it as a publicity stunt.
Berlin officials shelved the matter for most of the summer, but members of the town’s Ethics Commission met on Tuesday, Aug. 12, to discuss the project, and the impending release of the advisory opinion could trigger movement towards a feasibility study as well as serious debate by the Mayor and Council.
District 2 Councilmember Lisa Hall wrote a letter to Town Administrator Laura Allen on July 21 to request an ethics meeting on the matter.
“As you know, I have publicly stated that I believe the Town should explore the purchase of property on Old Ocean City Boulevard, formerly known as the Tyson chicken plant,” the letter stated. “This property has the potential to provide amenities to our community such as an amphitheater, skate park, recreational facility, nature trails, and office space for a non-profit organization, etc. I personally, do not believe that we should take a pass on this opportunity.”
The letter said that the issue with the property is that District 1 Councilmember Troy Purnell holds ownership interest, which could pose a conflict of interest.
“I would request that this matter be referred to the Town’s Ethics Commission for an Advisory opinion as to how the Town could negotiate the potential purchase of this property without the participation of Councilmember Purnell pursuant to Chapter 2, Article II, Division 3 of the Town of Berlin Code,” Hall stated in the letter.
Allen said the commission closed a portion of the meeting to consult with counsel to obtain legal advice on the matter, and that the town was in the process of finalizing an advisory opinion.
“We’re waiting for their report that they will issue to the Mayor and Council, and I expect that any day now,” Berlin Mayor Gee Williams said. “As soon as they do, I’m sure we’ll hop on it.”
Williams said the town would not move on the matter until he had a chance to review the report, but that the next step could be a strategic planning session.
“That’s just a practical matter, it’s an ethical matter,” he said. “From the input that I’m receiving from the public there’s a lot of interest, but I also think that once we find out if this is something we can pursue then we’ll employ that strategic planning process – that will be one of the things that will encourage people to tell us what they think.
“The timing will be very good,” Williams continued. “Obviously this is not a formal poll – it’s just from being in the community that a number of people have mentioned over the last several months or more that they have a variety of ideas how they would like to see that property used for public use. It looks like it’s all going to fall in place in terms of finding out what we can do and get the input about what the public would like to be done.”
Strategic planning sessions on the possible purchase of the property – as well as its exact use – could begin as soon as September.
“We’re going through that transition between summer and all the things that have to be done,” Williams said. “Fall is a whole other season for us. We actually have more town events in the spring and fall than we do in the summer.
“That will become a very high priority in September, but we’re not quite in September yet,” Williams continued. “Like everybody else we’re trying to make all the transitions between now and Labor Day that need to be made.”
Hall said the most important step was securing the property, and that the town could use slot machine revenues in the purchase.
“We need to do a feasibility study to figure out what grants are available and what uses that we could use the plant, and we have to figure out how to pay for it,” she said. “This present Mayor and Council – when the (slot) funding became available – we voted how to use that money and we decided that we wanted to use that money to purchase land for the town that we normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to do because we wouldn’t have a funding mechanism.”
Purnell said the property lists for $3.9 million. He agreed slot money could pay for the purchase.
“I would have thought that what they would use is all of the money that has been for land acquisition and was identified way early on as the slots money,” he said. “Every month (the fund) gets some more – it’s a continuing revenue stream. But that’s entirely up to them. My two cents will not be in (the discussion).”
Development of the project could cost 10s of millions of dollars in additional funds.
Hall believes the town could purchase the land and then seek grants and/or help from outside investors to pay for the development of the property.
“We’re going through the various steps to get to that point,” she said. “The first thing was to go in front of the ethics board and get direction from them as to how to ethically and legally pursue this purchase with one of the owners being a councilmember. Two, we need to do an appraisal of the property and then we need to do a feasibility study to see what the best use of the property would be to benefit the town as well as the county.”
The project would be set on the former Tyson’s Foods Inc. chicken processing plant on Old Ocean City Boulevard, land that has gone unused since the company closed in 2003, laying off 600 Berlin workers.
In April a mockup of “Tyson’s Park,” a huge indoor/outdoor recreation complex with a fairgrounds and an amphitheater created by Vista Design, Inc., began circulating in the town. The company declined to comment on the project, and some labeled it as a publicity stunt.
Berlin officials shelved the matter for most of the summer, but members of the town’s Ethics Commission met on Tuesday, Aug. 12, to discuss the project, and the impending release of the advisory opinion could trigger movement towards a feasibility study as well as serious debate by the Mayor and Council.
District 2 Councilmember Lisa Hall wrote a letter to Town Administrator Laura Allen on July 21 to request an ethics meeting on the matter.
“As you know, I have publicly stated that I believe the Town should explore the purchase of property on Old Ocean City Boulevard, formerly known as the Tyson chicken plant,” the letter stated. “This property has the potential to provide amenities to our community such as an amphitheater, skate park, recreational facility, nature trails, and office space for a non-profit organization, etc. I personally, do not believe that we should take a pass on this opportunity.”
The letter said that the issue with the property is that District 1 Councilmember Troy Purnell holds ownership interest, which could pose a conflict of interest.
“I would request that this matter be referred to the Town’s Ethics Commission for an Advisory opinion as to how the Town could negotiate the potential purchase of this property without the participation of Councilmember Purnell pursuant to Chapter 2, Article II, Division 3 of the Town of Berlin Code,” Hall stated in the letter.
Allen said the commission closed a portion of the meeting to consult with counsel to obtain legal advice on the matter, and that the town was in the process of finalizing an advisory opinion.
“We’re waiting for their report that they will issue to the Mayor and Council, and I expect that any day now,” Berlin Mayor Gee Williams said. “As soon as they do, I’m sure we’ll hop on it.”
Williams said the town would not move on the matter until he had a chance to review the report, but that the next step could be a strategic planning session.
“That’s just a practical matter, it’s an ethical matter,” he said. “From the input that I’m receiving from the public there’s a lot of interest, but I also think that once we find out if this is something we can pursue then we’ll employ that strategic planning process – that will be one of the things that will encourage people to tell us what they think.
“The timing will be very good,” Williams continued. “Obviously this is not a formal poll – it’s just from being in the community that a number of people have mentioned over the last several months or more that they have a variety of ideas how they would like to see that property used for public use. It looks like it’s all going to fall in place in terms of finding out what we can do and get the input about what the public would like to be done.”
Strategic planning sessions on the possible purchase of the property – as well as its exact use – could begin as soon as September.
“We’re going through that transition between summer and all the things that have to be done,” Williams said. “Fall is a whole other season for us. We actually have more town events in the spring and fall than we do in the summer.
“That will become a very high priority in September, but we’re not quite in September yet,” Williams continued. “Like everybody else we’re trying to make all the transitions between now and Labor Day that need to be made.”
Hall said the most important step was securing the property, and that the town could use slot machine revenues in the purchase.
“We need to do a feasibility study to figure out what grants are available and what uses that we could use the plant, and we have to figure out how to pay for it,” she said. “This present Mayor and Council – when the (slot) funding became available – we voted how to use that money and we decided that we wanted to use that money to purchase land for the town that we normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to do because we wouldn’t have a funding mechanism.”
Purnell said the property lists for $3.9 million. He agreed slot money could pay for the purchase.
“I would have thought that what they would use is all of the money that has been for land acquisition and was identified way early on as the slots money,” he said. “Every month (the fund) gets some more – it’s a continuing revenue stream. But that’s entirely up to them. My two cents will not be in (the discussion).”
Development of the project could cost 10s of millions of dollars in additional funds.
Hall believes the town could purchase the land and then seek grants and/or help from outside investors to pay for the development of the property.
“We’re going through the various steps to get to that point,” she said. “The first thing was to go in front of the ethics board and get direction from them as to how to ethically and legally pursue this purchase with one of the owners being a councilmember. Two, we need to do an appraisal of the property and then we need to do a feasibility study to see what the best use of the property would be to benefit the town as well as the county.”