Work Session - August 6, 2007
Mayor Danderson called the Work Session to order at approximately 6:30 p.m. Present were Councilors Nelson, Poulin, Roy, Grenier, Cusson, Donovan and Lafleur. Also present: City Manager MacQueen, Andre Caron, citizens and the press.
Railroad Lease.
Housing Coordinator, Andre Caron, requests Council to authorize the City Manager to enter into a temporary lease agreement with the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad Company for the purpose of using and maintaining two ground water monitoring wells. This agreement will remain in full force and effect until such time as the ground water monitoring is no longer required and shall terminate upon 30 days written notice by either party to the other.
Councilor Cusson moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to allow the City Manager to enter into a temporary lease agreement with the St. Lawrence & Atlantic Railroad Company as requested. Roll call resulted in unanimous affirmative votes including Mayor Danderson. The motion passed.
Sale of Tax Deeded Properties.
Housing Coordinator, Andre Caron, was seeking Council approval for two motions.
First recommendation:Retain 28 Spring Street and 738 Second Avenue for future demolition and once demolished, offer said land to the abutters.
Councilor Donovan moved with a second by Councilor Nelson to change the wording to say immediate demolition. Roll call resulted in negative votes by Councilors Roy, Grenier, Cusson, Poulin, Lafleur and Mayor Danderson. Voting in the affirmative: Councilors Donovan and Nelson. The motion failed.
Councilor Grenier was concerned about worse burned out buildings throughout the City which are a not only a safety hazard but pose a health hazard as well. He would like to see those buildings demolished first.
City Manager MacQueen explained that most of the burned out properties are privately owned and are currently going through the 155-B process. The only buildings we can tear down right now are the buildings the City owns. The others are going through the 155-B court process which takes time.
Mayor Danderson added he wants to educate the citizens about what processes the City must follow before any action can be taken. People are frustrated that buildings are not being torn down and they think that the Mayor and Council are not pursuing alternatives. He will actively recruit staff members to draft a presentation to give our citizens so they can understand what is going on.
Councilor Grenier also thinks we should preclude anyone with a 155-B action against their property not to be allowed to bid on additional property. Those requests should be denied at the get go.
Andre said the City's current policy is anyone who owes back taxes is not allowed to bid at all.
Councilor Grenier previously asked the City Manager to contact our City Attorney to see if it was legal to force a property owner to get insurance or to place a $5,000 bond to remove debris if the building burns down. He asked for the status of that request.
The City Manager replied he had not contacted the attorney yet but would do so now.
Councilor Cusson moved with a second by Councilor Lafleur to allow the City Manager to do the work as recommended by Mr. Caron. Roll call resulted in unanimous affirmative votes. The motion carried.
Second Recommendation: To offer for sale by sealed bid with prices to be set by Council in closed session the following: Map/Lot 130-01291.0000 land at corner of Burgess/Merrimack Street; Map/Lot 130-0282 & 130-1283 383 & 385 Burgess Street; Map/Lot 120-0037 land at 339 Portland Street; Map/Lot 120-0037 land at Harrington Street; Map/Lot 119-0035 land at 122 Pleasant Street.
Councilor Lafleur moved with a second by Councilor Roy to authorize the sale of land as stipulated in the recommendations by Mr. Caron. Roll call resulted in unanimous affirmative votes. The motion carried.
Bureau of Prisons Request for Conservation Easement - No Discussion
New Elementary School Feasibility Study Committee Report
School Superintendent, John Moulis, stated he is pleased with the report. The committee made two recommendations:
1) Close Bartlett School and use it as offices or mothball the building; Move all kindergarten classes to the new wing at Brown School and make offices in the old wing; Move entire grades 1-6 to Jr. High School; Move grades 7 & 8 to BHS and keep Superintendent's Office at present location. Mr. Moulis invited the committee members to speak at this time.
Councilor Grenier toured all the buildings and observed that Bartlett School is in bad shape and is overcrowded to the point they are using basement space and that is unacceptable. The Jr. High and High School however are in great shape and very well maintained but underutilized with empty classrooms. He went on to say that the committee was not charged to review operations. Their mission was about space utilization.
Nicole Plourde, School Board Member, for the record previously thought that Berlin needed a new school. After her tour of all the schools, she totally changed her mind. She saw that we have a beautiful High School and Jr. High School. Ms. Plourde feels good about the recommendations because we have really good core locations to work with for future needs.
Councilor Roy noticed the windows at both Bartlett and Brown Schools leak and need many upgrades.
Councilor Lafleur concurred and added that the layout at Bartlett is not streamlined at all and classrooms are outdated. The new Brown School wing has bathrooms within the classroom which is great for kindergarten.
Councilor Cusson inquired if we close down Bartlett will there be enough office space for everyone? Mr. Moulis reminded him that Brown School would accommodate office needs so there will be no lack of space.
Councilor Donovan asked if the committee considered selling Bartlett to the private sector for a profit? Councilor Grenier replied that in order to keep from having a Twenty-Five Million Dollar bond over our heads, Bartlett could be used as a buffer in case there is an overflow of students in the future. If the Board of Educations does not accept the recommendations, he'd like them to come up with a competing proposition.
Councilor Roy asked if there would be a bussing issue once Bartlett School is closed? Superintendent Moulis replied that timing would be the issue at hand and the challenge will be to keep on target with the various schedules.
2) The second recommendation is slightly different. Both First Grade and Kindergarten, special storage and office spaces would be at Brown School.
The Mayor conducted a straw poll to see how Council feels about the recommendations. All votes were in the affirmative and there was unanimous support for the report.
Councilor Lafleur added that the decisions are up to the schools at this point. There will be costs affixed with the recommendations, but the committee did not discuss finances.
Councilor Grenier commented that this puts an end to the regional school discussions since we will not have the room for expansion.
Mayor Danderson reminded everyone that we have spent a lot of money on the schools over the years which shows our commitment to the schools.
Councilor Roy asked if they would be ready to implement the changes by the September school year?
John Moulis estimates that they might be ready to make changes in 08/09 to make it work.
Councilor Donovan does not agree with the comment made by Councilor Grenier that this report puts an end to having a regional school. The Ward 1 Councilor says we should always keep the door open and we need regional cooperation.
Councilor Grenier explained his comment was not meant to dissuade both communities but was simply a fact that we would have no room to take on other school district needs.
Superintendent Moulis informed the Mayor and Council that the report will be discussed at the August 15 Board of Education meeting.
There being no further business before Council at this time, Mayor Danderson closed the Work Session at approximately 7:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Debra A. Patrick, CMC
City Clerk
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