June 30, 2008
Work Session
Present were Mayor Bertrand, Councilors Lafleur, McCue, Cayer, Goudreau, Remillard, and Evans; absent were Councilors Donovan and Poulin. Others present were: Mary Jo Landry, Pamela Laflamme, Michael Perreault, Ernie Allain, Patrick MacQueen, media and public.
Berlin Housing Authority Membership
Mary Jo Landry reported that she has an opening on the Housing Authority Board and has a person who is interested that lives just outside the city. He is extremely qualified and would bring skills that are unique to the Housing Authority board. Duties of the board include approval of all bills, budget, approve HUD targets, major issues, taking on projects; the Board has been instrumental in putting together the resources for a CDBG grant, polling tenants, and the procurement process.
Mayor Bertrand asked for clarification of the statement in the City Codes of Ordinances Sec. 2-44. Qualification of appointees. that states “All appointees shall be residents of the City unless otherwise stated.” He asked if the exception would have to come from the ordinances or if it could be derived from State law. Mr. MacQueen indicated that our ordinance says we can’t do it as it is more restrictive than State law. Ms. Landry noted that the Housing Authority asked for a legal opinion and the attorney reported that there would not be a problem with State law
Councilor Goudreau suggested asking the Local Government Center for an opinion, seeing that Ms. Landry confirmed there were no time constraints. Councilor Cayer saw a good opportunity to change the ordinance to add “unless approved by a majority of the City Council”. Councilor Goudreau added that there could be a high standard such as being approved by three quarters of the City Council. Councilor McCue proposed that the Council waive the residency requirement for this person. Mr. MacQueen noted that the Council has the ability to change the ordinance but he is not aware of the Council’s ability to waive portions of the ordinances unless there is reference that specifically says waivers are allowed.
Request for Sewer Abatement
Councilor Evans clarified that Sewer Abatement requests come to the City Council once per year. Mayor Bertrand noted that if there was a leak on private property that ends up in the sewer system, the City still has to treat it and the City has incurred cost. Michael Perreault indicated that he receives consumption amounts from the Berlin Water Works and the sewer bills are based on those amounts. The person making the request for abatement is responsible for providing the information that backs his claim for an abatement. Owners are responsible for the maintenance of their properties. Letters were sent out inviting the applicants to this meeting.
1. Wayne Andrews. Councilor Remillard moved to deny the abatement; Councilor Goudreau seconded and the motion carried.
2. Cecile Labonte. Councilor Goudreau moved to deny the abatement; Councilor Remillard seconded and the motion carried with Councilor McCue voting against.
3. Craig Martin. Councilor Remillard moved to deny the abatement; Councilor Goudreau seconded and the motion carried.
4. Jenny Tsang. Commercial property. Councilor Goudreau moved to deny the abatement; Councilor Remillard seconded and the motion carried.
5. Karen & Roger Laflamme. Mr. Allain noted that a credit of $180.00 was given by Water Works off the assessment charge. Councilor Evans moved to abate $350; Councilor McCue seconded and the motion carried with a 4/3 vote. Councilors Remillard, Lafleur and Goudreau voted against.
6. Bob & Jackie Catello. Councilor Goudreau moved to abate the sewer bill by $100; Councilor Evans seconded and the motion carried. Councilors Remillard, Lafleur and McCue voted against.
7. Melissa & Marima Belair. Councilor Goudreau moved to deny the request; Councilor Remillard seconded and the motion carried.
8. Roman Catholic Bishop of Manchester. Councilor Goudreau moved to deny; Councilor Evans seconded and the motion carried.
9. Leo Ouellet. Councilor Remillard moved to deny the request for abatement; Councilor Goudreau seconded and the motion carried.
10. Daniel Cote. Councilor Goudreau moved to deny the request; Councilor Remillard seconded and the motion carried.
11. Robert & Wanda Roberts. Consumption was verified with the water works. Councilor Remillard moved to deny the request; Councilor Goudreau seconded and the motion carried.
12. Department of Corrections is asking that the interest be abated. Councilor Goudreau asked for clarification of what looks like interest being charged on interest. Councilor Remillard moved to deny the request; Councilor Evans seconded and the motion carried with Councilors Goudreau, McCue and Mayor Bertrand voting against.
Local Government Center Floor Policies
Mr. MacQueen reported that every year the Local Government Center develops policy in order to set its goals for lobbying the legislature and they ask municipalities to participate. The prior council did not participate with this but the existing council may want the opportunity to weigh in. Mayor Bertrand stated that there is time to mull these items over and he suggested putting the polices on the agenda again in two weeks. Mayor Bertrand asked everyone to review the policies and proposed legislation that they would take a position on for discussion at the July 14 meeting.
Fuel Oil Bids
Mr. MacQueen explained that for the past several years, the City has been bidding for fuel oil with Gorham and local towns to achieve the best price. If the bids turn out to be accurate for the future, we are seriously under-budgeted by $200,000. Most of the communities want to reject all bides and try again in August. The question is do we want to go forward with such a contract or put it off?
Mayor Bertrand asked if the City can get on the State contract for fuel or if the County would fare better by going with a county wide bid. It is difficult to call as a County wide bid would call for small drops with many miles in between. The City could structure a bid specific to Berlin and go out for bids again. Mayor Bertrand suggested buying half of our quantities at the pre-buy price.
Councilor Goudreau confirmed that the oil distributor posts a bond to assure delivery of the oil promised. Councilor McCue recommended that the City reject all bids and look at creative ways of structuring a bid at a later time. The consensus was to reject the bids.
Other
Mr. MacQueen announced that he would be taking some vacation time.
Non-Meeting
Councilor Lafleur moved to enter into non-meeting per RSA 91-A2I (b) Strategy or negotiations with respect to collective bargaining; Councilor Remillard seconded and the motion carried unanimously by roll call.
Councilor McCue moved to return to public session; Councilor Evans seconded and the motion carried unanimously by roll call.
On a motion from Councilor Lafleur; second from Councilor Evans, the meeting was adjourned ending at 8:10 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Susan Tremblay
Administrative Assistant
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