Also at its latest meeting, two policemen were appointed to serve as SROs at Berlin Community School.
At its latest meeting, Berlin Borough Council passed a resolution introducing its 2018 general, water, sewer and open space budgets.
The general budget is $8,846,386.47, the water budget is $3,332,700, the sewer budget is $865,700 and the open space budget is $110,950.
A public hearing is scheduled for May 10 at 7 p.m.
Also at the meeting, council swore in two SLEO III police officers, Harold J. Talbot III and Robert H. Brunges III, as the new school resource officers at Berlin Community School.
At its March 17 workshop meeting, the council unanimously passed a resolution that partially funds the Berlin Borough School District’s hiring of school resource officers.
The motion came three days after the March 14 board of education meeting, at which the district agreed to enter into a contract with the borough, pending the review of both entities’ solicitors, to jointly fund two school resource officers at Berlin Community School.
These expenses include uniforms, equipment, weapons and a police vehicle. The borough will also partially fund the officers’ extensive training, as the district, which will be funding the $25 per hour salary, according to Mayor Jim Bilella, will pay the other portion of the training.
“Our police chief has been workly very swiftly and diligently to make this happen as quickly as possible,” Bilella said at the meeting, “It’s very important that we get somebody — get officers in the school as quick as we can.”
Also at the meeting, council passed an ordinance on second reading installing prohibited parking signs along Colonial Park Drive and parts of Wayside Road. The parking would be confined to permit-only privileges for nearby residents.
The ordinance was passed in response to an issue unfolding in Centennial Square on Colonial Park Drive, including sections of Wayside Road, near the Farmer’s Market and Haasman Research Institute. Motorists who were visiting the Hassman Research Institute and other neighboring offices should have been parking in the institute’s designated lots, but instead continued to park in Centennial Square.
The homeowners, including their potential houseguests, residing in that area, will strictly use the permits.
In other news:
- On first reading, council passed a bond ordinance authorizing the purchase of various capital equipment, along with the completion of various capital projects throughout the borough for a total of $820,440.
- On first reading, council passed an ordinance authorizing the lease of land and the building located at 11 Jackson Road to the Downtown Berlin Revitalization Corporation.
- The 2018 state Department of Transportation road program grant is in a design status and will most likely go out to bid in May. There’s another study embedded within the program, which evaluates all the streets in the borough’s downtown area, spreading from the White Horse Pike to Park Drive.
- Councilman Dan MacDonnell says engineers have been working with the Berlin Police Department in determining which areas need the most remediation as far as traffic concerns. After the completion of the study, council plans to hold a public meeting for residents living in that section of town, so they can consider the engineers’ recommendations.
- The department of public works water crew is continuing training for the sewer camera system. Once software training is complete by mid-May, the crew will start videotaping and recording all sewer mains following the plan that was designed.
- Hydro flushing will be complete by April 30.
- Throughout March, the Berlin Police Department handled 1,334 calls. It conducted 139 investigation reports, 22 drug arrests, 42 criminal arrests and 16 warrant arrests. The total adult arrests for March were 61 with no juvenile arrests.
- The police department’s No Need for Speed campaign is continuing its focus on Berlin and New Freedom roads, East Taunton and Jefferson avenues and Westbury Drive and Stockton Boulevard.
