March 17, 2008
Work Session
Present at the meeting were: Mayor Bertrand, Councilors McCue, Lafleur, Remillard, Goudreau, Cayer, Evans, and Donovan (6:50 p.m.); Councilor Poulin was absent. Ray Dube, Pat Tremblay, Chief Trull, Roland Berthiaume; Pamela Laflamme, Patrick MacQueen, Paul Ingersoll, media and public were also present.
Communication re: Fire Academy
Ray Dube explained a program that is put together by the NH Fire Academy in Concord. It is a one day fire ground operations orientation. The program will be offered on Sunday, April 13 and the Berlin Fire Fighters are inviting Council members to attend. The intent is to leave at 7:00 a.m. and be back by 5:00 p.m. Both newspapers will be invited as well. Anyone wanting to participate is asked to respond by 3/25. A medical history and baseline medical information will be gathered on participants as well as sizing for equipment. Mayor Bertrand and Councilor Lafleur volunteered to participate.
Directional Signage
Ms. Laflamme noted that there would be a revision to the ordinance that was in the packet. She noted that the Council should set the fee for the initial sign and fee to renew. It was clear that the initial fee is in addition to the actual cost of the sign. Changes proposed include: in order to stay with the State standard, every reference to “tourism” should be “tourist”.
Councilor McCue asked how this will affect the non-profits and Mr. MacQueen reported that the ordinance, with these changes, would include everyone from businesses to non-profits. Mayor Bertrand noted that the concern was that fees should cover the administrative process. Councilor Evans suggested fees of $75 to initiate the sign and $25 for renewal. The ordinance will be read for the first time with the changes.
Prison Utility Issues
Mr. MacQueen reported that typically a large developer would take on the task of coordinating utilities to their site; however the Bureau of Prisons had no plans to do this coordination. In addition to sewer, there is water, electric, gas, and telephone, all of which need to be coordinated.
The Bureau of Prisons has had the experience with other states that they spend money building roads to accommodate the project. The East Milan Road has become an issue. The State posted the road beyond the urban compact for mud season. Bell/Heery was hired to do on-site work and they are being told by the State that they can’t drive their trucks on the road or they have to post a bond for damage to the road. The City met with DOT last week to see what they were willing to do to ease the issue. DOT has no money for anything to assist with this road effort. They may be amenable to an agreement with the BOP to repair the road to its current condition.
Councilor Lafleur questioned whether utilities brought to the site could be put to use by other businesses and Mr. MacQueen acknowledged that having the utilities close by increases the ability of anyone who wants to tie into those utilities.
Councilor McCue mentioned that the road was discussed at Greenova’s site plan review with the Planning Board. Mr. MacQueen added that the State required the Bureau of Prisons to do a traffic study which will likely find that the exit from the site is not well visible and it may encourage the BOP to improve sight distances at the exit. Mayor Bertrand made the point that the road is in tough shape and utilities are likely to have to go up the middle of the road because of topography on one side of the road and flood plain on the other side. It is apparent that the road will need repair and hopefully something can be worked out to keep the road passable during mud season.
Other
Truck Route. Mayor Bertrand stated that the truck route signs still indicate the truck route as going by the post office even though the Green Street Bridge is open. Mr. MacQueen theorized that, because the road and Green Street will have to be closed again this summer, it is likely that the route was not changed. He will confirm.
Cole St. Bridge. Councilor Cayer asked what is wrong with the bridge on Cole Street since it is being called a red list bridge by the State. Mr. MacQueen will ask and report back.
Recording Meetings. Councilor Cayer made note that he records the Council meetings and posts the recording on the Internet. He added that the recording device is turned off during non-public sessions. Councilor Donovan stated that the written minutes are still the official record of the meetings.
Construction Work Force. Councilor Goudreau questioned whether the city is taking action with regard to many workers coming into the community and the effects it will have on roads, housing and services. Mr. MacQueen established that the city has been through the process once with the State prison. Ms. Laflamme added that other communities with prisons report that people come in and rent as a group and go home on the weekend. They eat, and shop in the host community but tend not to stay. Former mill workers are also getting jobs with the construction of the prison, making the number to come from elsewhere smaller.
Councilor Remillard stated that the construction will have 350 to 400 workers and they carpool to the work site. Councilor Donovan emphasized that the City has an infrastructure designed for 20,000 and we should welcome any extra money that comes into the community. The down side to having construction workers in the city is that apartment buildings will not see renovation for the next three years.
Dryers. Councilor Donovan stated that there are still dryers at the site of the closed laundry on the east side. They pose a safety risk and are unsightly. Mr. MacQueen stated that he would check with staff to see what has been done so far.
Signs. Councilor Goudreau reported that he and Councilor Evans received a call from a constituent regarding a sign at the Ming House with what she considered inappropriate language for an area (near the arena) that has a lot of children. Councilor Donovan offered to meet with the proprietors and Councilor Evans expressed that he would like to go along.
HB 1469 Councilor McCue commented that the bill that would have made safety requirements a part of collective bargaining was sent to a study committee by the House. The other two bills that relate to collective bargaining are coming up in the House this week.
Mayor’s Alliance Meeting Mayor Bertrand reported that he met with the Mayor’s Alliance where it was reported that HB 1469 went to interim study committee and that means it is dead for a year. HB 1645 regarding funding of the retirement system was also discussed.
There being no further business in the work session, at 7:25 p.m., the meeting was recessed until the public hearing at 7:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Susan Tremblay
Administrative Assistant
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