OCTOBER 23, 2025
BERLIN • NORTH WORCESTER COUNTY• OCEAN PINES
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Town electric rates hike will secure supply Current deals expire soon, new contracts would be for 2026/27, maybe longer
TARA FISCHER/BAYSIDE GAZETTET
A sapling from a 2,630-year-old bald cypress is pictured being planted at Berlin’s Decatur Park by resident Lara Mulvaney, Mayor Zack Tyndall and Joan Maloof, who was recognized at the event for her lifelong dedication to trees through her Old-Growth Forest Network.
Cool sapling from ancient tree Offspring of 2,600-year-old bald cyprus finds life anew as planting in Decatur Park By Tara Fischer Staff Writer (Oct. 23, 2025) A tree grown from seeds of an over 2,000-year-old bald cypress in North Carolina, the oldest of its kind in the Eastern United States, found its way to the Town of Berlin’s Stephen Decatur Park earlier this week. On Tuesday, Oct. 21, Berlin Mayor
Zack Tyndall, with help from environmental activists and professionals, planted a tree at Stephen Decatur Park as part of the “Keep Berlin Cool” initiative, led by the municipality’s Horticultural Advisory Committee. The sapling was grown from seeds of a tree from North Carolina’s Black River Swamp. The tree is estimated to be about 2,630 years old. The planting is part of a tree growth project, known as “Keep Berlin Cool.” The initiative was the brainchild of Berlin resident Lara Mulvaney, who brought the idea to
the municipality’s Horticultural Advisory Committee, a group charged with promoting sustainable landscaping in town. Horticulture committee member Victoria Spice was present at Tuesday’s tree-planting, where she provided some insight into Keep Berlin Cool. The environmentalist said that the project was made possible by a grant from the Maryland Coastal Bays Program. The organization awarded the team $2,890 to plant 30 native trees at ten sites across Berlin. See CYPRESS Page 6
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By Tara Fischer Staff Writer (Oct. 17, 2025) Consumers in the Town of Berlin should expect their electric bills to increase early next year, after the Town Council last week approved a new energy contract to secure the municipality’s power supply through the end of the decade. Craig Kleinhenz, vice president of power supply planning from American Municipal Power (AMP), a nonprofit energy agency that buys power on behalf of more than 130 municipal electric systems, was present at the Oct. 14 mayor and Town Council meeting. He informedthe governing body that two main electricity contracts expire at the end of 2025, requiring the town to lock in new agreements. These updated deals will result in higher costs. To ensure that electricity continues to flow to the town’s consumers, AMP recommended that the municipality approve a new “requirements deal,” which will supply 52% of the municipality’s energy needs at a cost of 7 cents per kilowatt hour ($70 per megawatt hour), an increase from the current contract’s fee of 3.5 cents per kilowatt hour ($35 per megawatt hour). That existing agreement was purchased in 2020 and extends through the end of 2025. Kleinhenz said that his team will have the authority to buy this updated deal through 2030, but the energy agency will commit only to 2026 See RATE Page 8
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