Worcester buys 12 acres of Berlin Lions Club property

By Jack Chavez Staff Writer

(July 21, 2023) The Worcester County Commissioners completed the purchase of 12 acres from the Berlin Lions Club for about $1.2 million on Tuesday.

The purchase completes a project that includes the county’s acquisition of the Lion’s Club land adjacent to the Northern Worcester Athletic Complex.

The purchase was made with Project Open Space funding and is intended to expand the athletic complex and renovate the fields on the property.

The figures attached to the lengthy process changed over time, and Commissioner Jim Bunting felt that it justified the county not having to pay for the surveying costs.

“We’re responsible for the cost of deeds, filing deeds and I voted against this previously,” Bunting said. “We had an agreement that we were going to buy this property (and) they were going to take two acres out. We had a price. Now they’ve come back and now they want to give us 12 acres of the property and keep six and then add two more acres for the Lions Club, at a cost that’s more than we verbally agreed to during the meeting.

“At that time they had a surveyor survey the whole property and all we had to do was draw a line for two acres. My understanding now is it’s more complicated because it’ll be three parcels instead of two and I’m just concerned that it’s going to get very expensive. I’ve been told that they’re not even talking to the surveyor of the original work, which didn’t agree. I would like for us to not be responsible for any of the surveying costs.”

The commissioners agreed unanimously to take out the surveying costs.

The Berlin Lions Club property consists of six baseball-softball fields and a permanent concession stand. Once the 18-acre property is fully owned by the county, the Department of Recreation and Parks will began repairing the baseball-softball fields.

The requested project asks for an engineering firm to formulate a master plan that includes the fields as well as trails, playgrounds, site amenities and other recreational features, according to a June memo from Recreation and Parks Director Kelly Rados.