BERLIN — As the season for stormy weather draws nearer with the approach of spring, the town of Berlin is aiming to hit an emergency preparedness milestone that’s been years in the making. At its regular meeting this week, the Berlin Town Council reviewed progress on the placement of the community’s first public storm shelter, with optimism that the shelter could be ready for use as soon as next month.

Under the current timeline, the new shelter is set to be installed and in place atop its concrete slab foundation by Feb. 26, leaving the remainder of February for the town to coordinate the final touches of landscaping and accessibility work. The shelter will be located on town property immediately adjacent to the Berlin Town Hall just north of U.S. 278 along County Road 1615, and is sized to accommodate 96 people.

For Berlin leaders, the opening of the shelter marks the end of a lengthy process of finding funding and negotiating administrative hurdles; a sometimes byzantine process that had long delayed the project. The town initially had sought funding for the shelter through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, but later turned to less administratively cumbersome assistance offered through the North Alabama Regional Council of Governments. Under that grant, $75,000 of the shelter’s cost is grant funded, while the town contributes the remaining cost.

In other business, the council:

• Heard a status update on planned improvements to County Roads 1612 and 1614, with mayor Patrick Bates advising the council that he will consult with an engineering firm to fine-tune the project details necessary for advertising the work to potential bidders.
• Heard a status update on the council’s ongoing plans to create a municipal park area near and adjacent to the Berlin Farmers Market, with Bates informing the council that he will consult with engineers to make refinements to the current proposed design for the park property.
• Approved the minutes of the council’s Jan. 22 regular meeting.