Work Session
August 4, 2008
Mayor Bertrand called the Work Session to order at approximately 6:30 p.m. in the City Hall Executive Council Chambers. Present were Councilors Remillard, McCue, Lafleur, Evans, Cayer and Poulin. Councilors Donovan and Goudreau were absent. Also present: City Manager MacQueen, Fire Chief Trull, Andre Caron, John Moulis and the press.
Vacant Buildings Ordinance Presentation.
Fire Chief Trull emphasized that the intent of this ordinance is to protect public health safety. Vacant buildings have been an increased problem in our community. The plan is to establish a registration process to make owners responsible to begin to remedy this public nuisance.
Councilor Remillard considers the ordinance to be a good idea but it needs to be fine tuned. Charging fees to register is not a good practice in her opinion since it may discourage a building owner from registering. Local realtors can be an asset since they can provide the names of current building sales.
Chief Trull explained that without any fees collected up front, they would have no operating funds to conduct inspections.
Councilor Remillard claimed that owners could register at the closing or give a plan of attack. She would rather see notices sent to the landlord, owner AND agent. Another comment was about the lack of an address on the last page, so that would have to be amended.
Councilor McCue concurred work has to be done to this ordinance to make it clearer and more concise. Definitions have to be tweaked and residential and commercial should be clarified. Councilor McCue asked if a Board of Appeals does exist and if so, is it separate from Zoning?
Housing Coordinator, Andre Caron, interjected that the Board of Appeals is made up of volunteers but is not complete since they are still looking for contractors to get on board.
Councilor McCue’s first reaction is do we really need another ordinance on the books and if left alone would the situation improve?
Chief Trull defended that this problem has been escalation for many years and it is time to break the chain. We have to send out a strong message that vacant or abandoned buildings will not be tolerated in our community.
City Manager MacQueen added that due to low property values, we have more than our share of people who default on their payments and since they don’t have much money invested in the property, they just walk away.
Councilor Lafleur inquired if this action can legally be retroactive? He has a particular building in mind on High Street where the owner closed the building up but is current on tax payments what process would that fall under?
Mayor Bertrand wanted to know what happens if a person leaves their property vacant to go away for the winter are the supposed to follow the same rules and board up the property?
There should be an exception for such situations listed in the ordinance and Chief Trull will amend the ordinance to reflect those particular exceptions.
Councilor Evans asked for clarification about the terms for uncontrolled weeds on the vacant properties.
Councilor Lafleur wanted to know if another community has done this enforcement in the past and was a model tested?
Chief Trull said that Portsmouth has done this type of enforcement and has positive results in reducing the number of vacant buildings.
There were several other questions such as if an insurance policy is required, if the oil tank has to be removed as opposed to just emptied and if it was necessary to specifically spell out how the building had to be boarded up>
Councilor McCue is apprehensive about having this ordinance read for the first time tonight since it does not give Council much time to make the necessary changes.
Councilor Evans agreed that Council will need more time to properly review the ordinance.
Mayor Bertrand however, is concerned about the timing of the ordinance. He would like to get going on this as soon as possible so the enforcement process can begin.
Councilor Cayer asked if the City Attorney has reviewed the ordinance?
City Manager MacQueen replied “no, not yet.”
A straw poll was taken to see who wanted to have the ordinance read tonight. The result was 4 votes to leave it on the agenda and three to delay the first reading of the ordinance at a later date. As a result of the straw poll, the ordinance will remain on tonight’s agenda.
Other
Councilor Cayer is concerned about Laidlaw and how that has been on the back burner. He would like some follow-up to let those in charge know that we are still here and would like them to share any news they may have.
Mayor Bertrand suggested that the Economic Development Director could follow up on Councilor Cayer’s request.
Councilor Cayer then asked if a contract has been found regarding the Economic Development Director?
City Manager MacQueen replied there is nothing yet.
Mayor Bertrand countered it would be nice to hear it from CAP.
There being no further business before the Mayor and Council, Mayor Bertrand closed the Work Session at approximately 7:14 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Debra A. Patrick, CMC
Berlin City Clerk
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