February 4, 2008
Work Session
Members present were Mayor Bertrand, Councilors Boucher, Donovan, McCue, Goudreau, Lafleur, Remillard and Poulin; Councilor Evans was absent. Robert Pelchat and Jon Edwards from the Board of Assessors; Staff members: Andre Caron, Peter Morency, Pamela Laflamme and Patrick MacQueen; Joseph Dimauro, Tim Cayer, media and public were also present.
Parcel Map Maintenance
Ms. Laflamme explained that the City has been working with Cartographics for mapping services since 1992. We were using them primarily for paper maps and they would provide us with a disc as well. When we started using the information with GIS, we found that there were many errors. There had not been any new buildings added to the maps since 1992.
In an effort to make the data more useful for mapping both on line and in house, we put out a proposal for the service. There were three companies that responded: North Arrow Technologies from Fenton, MI; Terra-Map, Enfield, NH; and CGISMapping.com, Marion, MA. After reviewing the proposals with Sue Warren, CGISMapping.com was found to best meet the needs of the Assessing department and the Planning Department. As part of their proposal, they will move the City’s data from the Autocad format and transfer it into a language that our GIS better understands. Their proposal was for $3,000 for annual updates and quarterly updates would be $3,500.
Mayor Bertrand asked if the City paid Cartographics for work they did not perform. Ms. Laflamme responded they did the paper maps well but when there were services that they were not providing, we did not call them on it. She noted that the City has not paid them in the last year. Mayor Bertrand confirmed that there is $3,200 in the budget for mapping services. The agreement would be ready to start for April 1.
Councilor Goudreau asked if there is any advantage to the $3,500 proposal Ms. Laflamme responded that the only benefit would be to have more current data. Councilor Poulin asked if references were checked and if other communities use this company. Ms. Laflamme stated that she did check with other communities and the transition was seamless for them.
Councilor McCue questioned the feasibility of having the contract start as of July 1 and the run on a fiscal year. Mr. MacQueen indicated that he would check.
Mr. MacQueen established that the City has a purchasing ordinance that lays out the requirements for bidding etc. Professional services do not go out to sealed bid; they are based on the qualifications of those proposing. In this case the requirements for the work were prepared by staff and their recommendation comes to the City Council for review and the Council awards the contract.
Mayor Bertrand noted that there is money budgeted for this work and there is a question of how critical it is to mesh the contract with the fiscal year. Councilor Boucher confirmed that it is not likely that Cartographics would submit a bill at this time. Councilor Donovan felt strongly that the contract needed to be in place as of April 1. Councilor Donovan moved to allow the City Manager to enter into a contract for mapping services with CGISMapping.com. Councilor Donovan then withdrew his motion in favor of moving the question as Item 4 on the Regular Meeting agenda.
Utility Valuation Proposal
Mr. MacQueen reported that George Sansoucy has done a lot of utility valuation work for the City. The City had a standing agreement with Fraser that is now expired and that expiration resulted in the City having to get new values for the mill and hydros. Last year Mr. Sansoucy did $100,000 of valuation work to get starting values on most of the City’s utilities. He has a proposal to update those numbers for $30,000. which includes a base value for Portland Natural Gas.
Mr. MacQueen went on to say that we can invite Mr. Sansoucy to a meeting to talk about the proposal. Mayor Bertrand asked for a listing of what is paid in taxes by the properties being valued. Mr. MacQueen stressed the importance of keeping up with the values since hydro values have been going up dramatically.
Councilor Poulin asked if the City solicits proposals for this work. Mr. MacQueen noted that he is only aware of two companies that do this kind of work in the State. Because Berlin has had experience with Mr. Sansoucy, the Council chose to retain him to do the base values of the City’s utilities. It would now be difficult for someone else to update his figures. Bob Pelchat and Jon Edwards commented that Mr. Sansoucy is well respected in court and it would be considered expensive to get new figures. Councilor Lafleur added that our assessing company, Avitar, was using the services of Mr. Sansoucy for utilities as well.
Councilor Poulin asked what the harm would be if we obtained proposals from others. Mr. MacQueen responded that the $30,000 is to update existing numbers and soliciting from the beginning would be considerably more expensive than updating existing numbers. Councilor Poulin asked if there is anyone available to give advice to see if the proposal is fair. Mr. Macqueen established that he can call the State and talk with them to see if the prices are reasonable. He added that one of the reasons the council chose Mr. Sansoucy is that he’s done many of the hydros in the area and there is a consistency of values if they are challenged.
The consensus of the Council was to invite Mr. Sansousy to a meeting. Mr. Pelchat suggested inviting Sue Warren as well.
Ordinance re: Landlord/Tenant Requirements
Mr. MacQueen established that the draft of an ordinance spoken about at the last meeting is being presented. Mr. Caron explained that this would give the Police Department the ability to issue citations to tenants and if they are cited 3 times, it can become an order for the landlord to evict the tenant. If the landlord does not comply, his certificate of compliance would be revoked.
Councilor Remillard voiced that the city is compelling landlords to comply with codes and the certificate of compliance is associated with the building and its condition. Revoking the certificate of compliance does not seem to relate well with tenant issues. She could see the value of an ordinance but did not feel it should be linked to the certificate of compliance.
Mr. Caron theorized that this ordinance would help landlords who are having tenant problems. He added that it can be done in many ways and this is only one way.
Councilor McCue agreed that he is not comfortable with merging the two. The caliber of buildings is one thing and the quality of the tenant is something else. This ordinance also proposes to enter every tenant into a renter’s data base. Chief Morency stated that tenants move around and the Police Department ends up running the business for the absentee landlords.
Mayor Bertrand determined that the ordinance has a lot of issues and it would be prudent to have a work session on March 31 to discuss this item only. He asked that Joe Martin, Chief Trull and Chief Morency and any other staff members who work with such an ordinance be present. The meeting will be held in the auditorium
Final Review of Letters Requesting PILT from Non-Profits
Mr. MacQueen suggested going through the list of potential recipients of requests for a PILT payment. After some discussion about who should receive the letter and the method by which the request is being made, Councilor Goudreau moved to send the letter and remove the Coos County Nursing Home, Federal BOP, and State BOP. Councilor Poulin suggested adding a follow up telephone call from the City Manager to create dialogue. The motion was not amended; Council Lafleur seconded and the motion carried with Councilor Poulin and Donovan voting against
President’s Day Meeting
The consensus of the Council is to meet on President’s Day, February 18.
Other
Councilor Lafleur explained that he has been speaking with the Berlin High School civics class students to introduce them to city government. In the near future, the students will come to a council meeting and then go to a staff meeting to get an all around view of how the process works.
Respectfully Submitted,
Susan Tremblay
Administrative Assistant
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