BERLIN-The pedestrian bridge and dog park on the roundabout, Highway 113, highlight dozens of items in the planning discussions for the Berlin capital this week.

Elected officials of the city government discussed a preliminary five-year capital plan at this week’s board meeting. Projects suggested by council members, department heads, and the mayor have been broken down by department.

"This is just the real beginning of our capital planning process," said Mayor Zack Tyndall. "It aims to help solve some of the aging infrastructure problems in the town."

Tyndall said the list he proposed was based on the opinions of town staff and city council members. Where possible, include cost estimates.

Although some projects have been discussed before, such as the new audio-visual equipment of the parliament chamber and the update of the town's strategic plan, other projects are proposed for the first time. As a potential new project in fiscal year 2023, Tyndall built a pedestrian bridge at Bay Street and Highway 113 and roundabouts-one on Main Street and Old Ocean City Avenue, and the other on Flower Street, which is connected to Railway Avenue and School Field. Street and branch street.

"I received a lot of complaints about speeding in Huajie," Tyndall said. "A beautiful decorative street job there can help limit some speeding."

As for the pedestrian bridge on Highway 113 and the roundabouts of Main Street and Old Ocean City Boulevard, Tyndall said that although these are all state roads, he believes the town should give priority to these projects.

"I think let us prioritize the project, and then we can go to the national highway and say this is one of our funding needs, and we really need to have a good dialogue on this," he said.

Other projects included in the capital planning presentation include various vehicles, a pocket park memorial at the corner of Huajie and Wanjie, paving, a new public works building, the digitization of town records, and a dog park. The presentation also listed the water safety equipment at Heron Park and Stephen Decatur Park, as well as the fishing pier and pond cleaning at Heron Park.

Tyndall said that incorporating certain projects into the town’s capital plan may help secure grants. He said this will also help officials determine how to best allocate the town’s American Rescue Program Act (ARPA) funds.

The ARPA public opinion meeting held early in the evening gave citizens the opportunity to share their views on the $4.7 million in federal funding that the town will receive. Resident Marie Velong said that the town should use the funds to purchase new water meters because a study presented at a work conference last week showed the loss of income associated with aging water meters.

"This is a very useful work meeting, a bit scary," she said. "I think this is where the money needs to go first."

Resident Gussie Sholtis said she also believes that the town should focus on its needs first.

"I would rather fix broken things than start a new project," she said.

Sholtis said that one of the issues she thinks needs to be addressed is pedestrian safety on West Street. She said that simple things like sidewalks can be painted on the street.

"People are flying around on West Street," she said.

She added that she also wanted the town to keep in mind the poor drainage of the West Street area. Shane Warren, a resident of West Street, also expressed support for pedestrian improvement and drainage works.

Resident Constance Pena (Constance Pena) advocated that the town move along the Huajie Community Center project.

"Such projects will receive funding to help excluded communities," she said. "We should seize these opportunities."

Charlene Sharpe has been working at The Dispatch since 2014. She graduated from Stephen Decatur High School and the University of Richmond. Before joining The Dispatch team, she worked for Delmarva Media Group for seven years.

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