by David Flint
Berlin Town Supervisor Rob Jaeger was proud as a peacock showing visitors around the Town’s new Municipal Complex at the Open House last Saturday. The buildings, he said, have been insured for $2.1 million replacement cost. “We paid $499,000. I think that’s a pretty good deal,” he said.
[private]In the Town Hall building itself there is a meeting room for Town Board meetings and Court sessions. The Court office is adjacent to that and will have its own entrance. Next to that is the Town Clerk’s office. Anne Maxon is almost finished moving all of her stuff out of her basement. Jaeger’s office is at the east end of the building, and the Bookkeeper’s office is on the second floor above that. With donations of furniture from the Berlin School District and from some town residents and purchases of surplus government property from the NYS Ebay Store, Jaeger is satisfied that he has been able to tastefully furnish the Town Hall and the office building next door for the grand sum of $102.
Jaeger said the Highway Department staff have taken real pride in the complex and are keeping everything neat and tidy. Highway Superintendent Jim Winn, he said, had never really had an office. The space where he had his desk in the old Town Garage was also used by all the staff to congregate in and as a lunch room. Staff now have their own break room in the new Complex. In the same building where Winn has his new office are also located offices and meeting rooms for the Assessors, the Code Enforcement Officer, the Planning Board, the Tax Collector and the Zoning Board of Appeals.
The garage shop next to that building can hold two plow trucks with the wings down, and it also includes parts storage space. Next to that is a building housing a workshop and a salt shed. Another space in that building will be fixed up for a teen center. The Youth Commission will also use space on the second floor of the Town Hall building.
Food And Entertainment
In the large Highway shed the Berlin High School FCCLA and the Taconic Valley Soccer Club had barbecue grills fired up cooking hot dogs and hamburgers accompanied by lively bluegrass and country music provided by the Hill Hollow Band. The Town’s four highway trucks were lined up in the back. Jaeger said that in the winter time all of these trucks can be housed in there with the wings down and sanders loaded ready to go. There is also enough space for the grader and the Gradall. Four new insulated doors have been added, and the furnace also has the capability of using wood for fuel.
Jaeger said thanks were due to the Seventh Day Baptist group that did a nice job on Community Day of painting the doors on the large shed at the north end of the complex, the one that the Town expects to lease to the County Highway Department. This shed has a separate electrical system so the County will be able to keep their trucks warm at their own expense.
Jaeger said six different groups of the Taconic Valley Soccer Club had been using the soccer field that morning in the front of the Complex. For now the field will be used for practice. Later it is expected that with proper leveling and sizing they can be used for games. Jaeger is also envisioning that with the assistance of private grant money the land on the other side of the Little Hoosic can be turned into a park with a track and ball fields. Some have suggested, too, that a pavilion be constructed at the north end of the Complex for concerts and movies on Saturday night.
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