This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Politics & Government

Council Moves Forward on Projects

Lots of business gets done as police department, road repair and Beckley Road bridge gain approval.

At its April 5 meeting, the Town Council agreed to move forward on several items related to the town’s infrastructure. The council discussed town roads that are in need of repair, the roof at McGee School, the site for the new police station, and the Beckley Road Bridge project.

The council authorized the preparation of bond documents in the amount of $6 million for the construction, repair and improvements to town roads. A public hearing on the bonding for the ‘Berlin Road Improvement Program’ will be held on April 19 at 6:45 p.m. The consulting firm Beta Group will present an overview of the road conditions in Berlin during the public hearing.

Councilor Robert Dacey explained that while the council is currently seeking authorization for $6 million for road repairs, that amount would not be bonded all at once. He said the town would likely borrow $2 million initially which would allow for about three years of operation. Another two million would be bonded after that and so forth over a period of about eight or nine years. Mayor Adam Salina said this bonding authorization assures the “proper funding for road repair.” He said expenses related to road repair used to be included in the budget process and they would get cut every year. Councilor Dacey initiated the bonding process for road work about six years ago.

Find out what's happening in Berlinwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The Town Council also authorized the Town Manager to award the roof replacement contract for McGee School to Silktown Roofing of Manchester, CT, the lowest bidder. According to Public Works Director Arthur Simonian, the construction bid amount of $1,444,100 for a new 30-year roof comes in at about $40,000 less than the budget approved for the project. State reimbursement of approximately $642,000 is expected to be applied to the project as well.

The Town Council approved an amendment to the purchase agreement concerning 903 and 913 Farmington Avenue. In the initial purchase agreement dated November 2010, the Town agreed to purchase the former Kensington Furniture properties for the price of $900,000. Site analysis performed afterwards indicated that the cost of cleaning up the hazardous materials at the location would be more than expected, so the Town renegotiated the purchase price of the property, reducing it by $200,000.

Find out what's happening in Berlinwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Last year, the Town also purchased 889 Farmington Avenue at foreclosure. This property is adjacent to the Kensington Furniture location, and according to town officials the site is known to have environmental contamination. The engineering firm of Fuss & O’Neill is currently conducting an environmental site assessment that is being funded the Environmental Protection Agency. “Hopefully we’re getting to the end of this testing process,” said Jim Mahoney, Economic Development Director. Once the testing is complete, engineers can provide recommendations as to how to go about remediating the site.

Town officials foresee the Farmington Avenue property as the site of a new 30,000 square foot police station. If plans are carried through, the building at 903 Farmington Avenue, the former furniture warehouse, will be remodeled to house the new police station, while the building at 913 Farmington Avenue, the old furniture showroom, will be torn down to accommodate traffic and parking. The new police facility will replace the current 10,000 square foot station located at the town complex on Kensington Road.

On the Beckley Road Bridge project, the plan to install a permanent bridge is finally moving forward with the authorization to purchase twin precast box culverts in the amount of $54,674. By way of background, it was determined in 2008 that the original steel beam bridge over Spruce Brook was deteriorating and was insufficient for the load capacity of Beckley Road. While plans to construct a new bridge were initiated, a temporary bridge was installed. The new plans, however, could not move forward without approvals from the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection. It has taken two and a half years to complete all of the necessary paperwork and to receive the required permits from the DEP, but now it appears the new bridge project is finally underway. “We will have approvals this week,” said Mayor Salina. He said the DEP delays were “a bit much” but that the agency is trying to streamline the permit process so other towns don’t incur the unnecessary rental costs Berlin has incurred. The temporary bridge costs the town about $3,000 per month.

Salina said the project was also held up by the fact that the bridge couldn’t be replaced until July of any given year due to the water table. He said even if permits were received in August 2010, the town would still have had to wait until July 2011 to fix the bridge.

According to Art Simonian, the $54,674 cost only covers supplying the culverts themselves, not the related installation and construction work. The purchase of a water line in the amount of $29,850 was also approved as part of the bridge construction project.

The purchase of three thermal imaging cameras from Thermal Imaging Concepts for $9,120 each was also approved. These cameras are primarily used by firefighters to see in smoky conditions, but they can be used by police in various emergency situations as well. The cameras currently in use by town firefighters are over ten years old. LOCIP (Local Capital Improvement Program) funds from the State will be used to purchase the cameras. 

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?