BERLIN, Ala. – Monday night, members of the Berlin Volunteer Fire Department (BVFD) attended the Berlin Town Council meeting to discuss preparations for the town’s upcoming Census Day, which will also be a celebration the fire department’s 45th anniversary. The event will be held at the Berlin Community Center Saturday, June 27, from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. The BVFD will provide carryout meals from Luna’s BBQ for 300 people, and the Town will register guests for prizes given by the local census committee. Guests are asked to remain in their cars during their visit due to COVID-19. County Road 1615 (which runs behind the community center) may be partially closed off for the event. More details to come as they are announced.
The council announced that the farmers’ market will open Monday, July 6 and will accept SNAP payments for the first year as a trial run. Mayor Patrick Bates was authorized by the council to make the appropriate preparations for the initiative.
It also announced that based on the available budget, the simplicity of the road and the number of residents that live along it (roughly 20-25% of Berlin’s population), County Road 1600 was selected as the best choice for the town’s next road resurfacing project; however, there were no estimates on when the work might start.
The council also voted to purchase a new desktop computer for the town clerk to use in the permanent town hall, accepted a quote from MD Wells Plumbing Service to hook up the water to the town hall building and reviewed next year’s budget while factoring in a possible loss due to the census (as all the other municipalities have had 10 years for their population to grow while Berlin has only had two years of growth).
After the rest of the agenda was finished, but before adjourning, the council and the fire department members discussed the plans for the new subdivision that was approved by the County. Kingfisher subdivision will be located near the Berlin Plaza Quick Stop in the area of land bordered by U.S. Highway 278 to the south, County Road 747 to the west and County Road 1616 to the north and east, and will contain a total of 285 homes once complete. Bates said developers will be breaking ground within the next 60 days, and phase I of the project will start with 165 homes. It has not yet been decided whether the subdivision will be annexed into the town.
The fire department reported it has ordered two new trucks in preparation for the surge of new homes, and it also expressed concern about the water lines in the new development. Bates said he would get the department in contact with the County, saying, “The fire department needs to be in that conversation.”
Another concern that was brought up was the presence of storm shelters – even if the subdivision is not annexed into the town, the large influx of residents will require additional shelters if the developers do not build one on the property. The council discussed plans for future grants to be used to build storm shelters spread out around the community.
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