Berlin Select Board Approves $240,000 Rail Trail Grant and Pole Petitions

BERLIN — July 13, 2026 — Berlin Select Board approves $240,000 rail trail grant and hears budget shortfall warning. The board voted unanimously Monday to authorize Chair Lisa Wysocki to execute the $240,000 rail trail grant agreement, with a required $59,000 match already covered by state ARPA funds held by the rail trail committee. Interim Town Administrator Jeff Nutting urged the board to begin planning for a special town meeting after flagging multiple short budget line items — including town clerk wages and oil and gas — and warning that semi-annual property tax billing leaves the town without new revenue until November. "You don't get any money till November," Nutting said. "So you have to live off what's cash." The board also approved $8,800 in year-end line item transfers, hired Timothy Hamlin as highway equipment operator, extended Nutting's interim contract, and approved two utility pole petitions tied to new residential construction on Randall Road East and the South Street bridge reconstruction project.