PUBLIC HEARING – April 20, 2009
Ordinance 2009-03: Prohibited parking on Main Street from 650 - 730 Main Street.
Mayor Bertrand opened and called to order the duly advertised and scheduled public hearing at approximately 7:38 pm. to accept public comments. There being no one wishing to speak for or against the subject matter, Mayor Bertrand closed the public hearing at approximately 7:39 p.m. The Work Session was resumed at this time.
REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING – APRIL 20, 2009
Mayor Bertrand called the regular City Council Meeting to order at approximately 8:40 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall.~ The pledge of allegiance to the flag preceded roll call. Present: Councilors Remillard, Donovan, McCue, Evans, Goudreau and Cayer. Councilors Lafleur and Poulin were absent. Also present: City Manager MacQueen, Andre Caron, Michael Perreault, Pamela Laflamme, PWD employees, citizens and the press.
Minutes, Previous Meetings
Councilor Donovan moved with a second by Councilor McCue to accept the minutes of the 4/06/09 WS; 4/06/09 Regular Meeting and 4/13/09 WS. So moved, the motion carried.
Disbursements:
It was recommended by the Committee on Accounts/Claims that all bills start date 4/09/09–4/22/2009 total cash disbursement of $904,844.53 Draft #1589.~ Councilor Donovan moved with a second by Councilor Remillard to accept the disbursement summary and pay all bills as recommended by the Committee on Accounts/Claims.~So moved, the motion carried.
PUBLIC COMMENTS: No public comments
OLD BUSINESS:
- Council Committee Reports. No Reports
- Ordinance 2009-03 Amending the Code of Ordinances Chapter 15, Traffic & Vehicles Article III, Stopping, Standing and Parking, Sec. 15-69. Prohibited at all times in designated spaces. (tabled 4/04/09)
Be it ordained by the City Council of the city of Berlin, as follows: That Sec. 15-69 is hereby amended as follows: (a) When signs are erected or other markings made, giving notice thereof, no person shall park a vehicle at any time upon any of the following streets or parts of streets longer than necessary to load or unload passengers or commodities: Main Street, east side, forty (40) feet south of the new entrance to 650 Main Street (Courthouse /Department of Health & Human Services building) to forty(40) feet north of 730 Main Street’s (Woodlands Credit Union) southern
driveway entrance; twenty (20) feet from the entrance to Nexfor Fraser and twenty (20) feet after the entrance to the Woodlands Credit Union signs will indicate, "No Parking Between Signs - Monday through Friday - 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. This Ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after passage.
Councilor Donovan moved with a second by Councilor Remillard to remove the ordinance from the table. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor Donovan moved with a second by Councilor Remillard to have the ordinance read a second time by title only. So moved, the motion carried.
Councilor Donovan moved with a second by Councilor Remillard to pass the ordinance. Roll call resulted in unanimous affirmative votes of Council including Mayor Bertrand who declared the ordinance passed.
NEW BUSINESS
3. Resolution 2009-17 authorizing the sale of 411 School Street (Map 128, Lot 160) often referred to as the Burgess School or Notre Dame High School, the lot adjacent to it (Map 128, Lot 159), 28 Spring Street (Map 128, Lot 157) and 412 School Street (Map 128, Lot 188) for Twelve Thousand, five Hundred One Dollars ($12,501.00) and a commitment to rehabilitate three of the properties and to demolish 28 Spring Street.. (1st read)
Councilor Goudreau moved with a second by Councilor McCue to table the resolution and schedule a public hearing on May 4, 2009. So moved, the motion carried.
4. City Manager’s Report
Project Engineering
HEB Engineers is pursuing engineering of several projects for the City in anticipation of some type of funding. We have been meeting regularly on the status of this effort. There were six projects in the mix for this engineering. One of those, the Shelby Street/Clean Power connector is on hold by HEB pending decisions to be made by Clean Power with respect to their project. The other five projects are Hutchins Street Reconstruction, Rt. 110 Sewer, and the 12th Street, Bridge Street (actually Berlin Mills Bridge) and Hillside Avenue Bridge Projects. Preliminary design assessment work on each of these projects is being carried out.
It is fairly clear that none of the projects are likely to receive stimulus funding. However, the three bridge projects are eligible for the State Aid Bridge (SAB) program wherein the state pays 80% and the City 20% of the project costs including engineering. We simply have to document that the retaining of the engineer was carried out in accordance with the so-called Quality-Based Selection process which it was.
The Route 110 Sewer Project and the Hutchins Street rehabilitation project are both being developed as part of the City's economic development efforts and are being pursued to the point of Pre-Design and an Engineering Report and Study. It will be submitted to USDA Rural Development for funding at the end of May.
The Hutchins Street Reconstruction Project is being carried through schematic design which will allow us in May to submit an application for 80/20 funding through the NHDOT Transportation Enhancement program.
Senator Gregg Acknowledgment
Attached is a letter from Senator Gregg acknowledging the Mayor and Council's letter of support for federal funding appropriations for the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad.
New FRC Executive Director
Attached is correspondence from Denise Valley, President of the Family Resource Center Board of Directors. Kathy McDowell tendered her resignation as Executive Director of that organization effective end of June. The FRC has hired Tom Austin from St. Petersburg, FL to be the new Executive Director beginning May 4, 2009.
AVER Report Attached quarterly report from AVER detailing its activities for the first quarter of the year.
Legislative Matters
Budget Bills HB1 the operating budget and HB2, the trailer bill which enacts the statutory changes necessary to implement the budget were passed by the full house. This includes the return of the Rooms and meals tax distributions to municipalities. This still leaves Berlin $1M short of the revenue the City expected prior to the revenue sharing cuts. The Senate Finance Committee has already held three public hearings on this budget. None of these hearings were held near the North Country with the closest one being in Laconia on April 14th.
Most important to municipalities in this budget is more what is not in it than what is in it. Revenue Sharing (except for Rooms and Meals) is not in it. Certain DES grants such as the 20% reimbursement SAG grants for wastewater improvements is not in it. These have been deferred until at least 2012. School building aid is not in it at the moment. If this remains omitted, it will be another $363k on Berlin taxpayers as the debt service has to be paid. The word is that this amount is likely to be restored somehow.
Councilor Evans inquired if the City Manager’s budget projections anticipated the one million dollar state budget reductions and will it cause a shortfall? The City Manager replied that the state budget reduction is roughly the same number that he anticipated. There will be no shortfall within the City budget.
Councilor McCue questioned the status of the Main Street fire demolition. According to the City Manager, he will be meeting with the building owner tomorrow and will have a better idea after that meeting. The 155-B process is moving forward and is approximately half way completed.
Councilor Donovan moved with a second by Councilor Goudreau to accept the City Manager’s report and place it on file. So moved, the motion carried.
5. PUBLIC COMMENTS No Comments
6. COUNCIL COMMENTS
Councilor Donovan checked to see if Berlin was listed under the Great North Woods travel brochures at the Exit 1 rest stop and Berlin was not listed. Last fall, he took pictures of surrounding areas in the North Country and hand delivered them to the DRED office. None of those pictures are being used. Councilor Donovan would like the four area Chambers of Commerce to take the initiative to have Berlin recognized as part of the Great North Woods and is sending letters to the Governor and state officials to that effect.
Councilor McCue is a Board Member of the AV Chamber of Commerce and will talk to Bill York, the new Chamber of Commerce Director to solicit his help.
Councilor Cayer encouraged the Mayor and Council to review the activity report submitted by Norm Charest and to also read the AV Economic Developer’s report attached to the City Manager’s Report. He suggests that they check on the different perspectives offered in each of those reports.
7. Mayor’s Report - Appointments. Mayor Bertrand made the following nominations:
Zoning Board of Adjustment: Richard Tremaine, Ron Cote, and Norine Elliott each for three year terms set to expire April 2012. Councilor Goudreau moved with a second by Councilor Donovan to accept the Mayor’s Zoning Board nominations. So moved, the motion carried.
Planning Board: Aline Boucher, Ernie Allain, Lucien Langlois as regular members and Laura Jamison, Daniel Malone as alternate members all for three-year terms set to expire April 2012. Councilor McCue moved with a second by Councilor Goudreau to accept the Mayor’s Planning Board nominations. So moved, the motion carried.
Water Commission Ward 4 Representative: Stephen Tardiff, four-year term set to expire May 1, 2013. Councilor Goudreau moved with a second by Councilor Remillard to accept the Mayor’s Water Commission nomination. So moved, the motion carried.
BIDPA: Board Chair, Richard Huot, sent a letter recommending the appointment of Androscoggin Valley Economic Development Director Max Makaitis to the BIDPA Board. Due to possible conflicts with the Economic Development Director Position, this nomination was not acted upon.
Councilor Donovan moved with a second by Councilor McCue to send a letter of appreciation to Robert Delisle for the time he served as Ward 4 Water Commissioner and to send an appreciation plaque to Richard Merrill for the years he served on the Planning Board and to use the contingent fund for any fees incurred. So moved, the motion carried.
Mayor Bertrand announced that Berlin was selected as the 2008 recipient of the Arbor Day Tree Award.
Councilor McCue moved with a second by Councilor Cayer to accept the Mayor’s oral report and place it on file. So moved, the motion carried.
8. Adjournment: There being no further business to come before Council at this time, Councilor Remillard moved with a second by Councilor McCue to adjourn the meeting. So moved, Mayor Bertrand declared the Regular Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:23 p.m.
A TRUE RECORD, ATTEST:
Debra A. Patrick, CMC
Berlin City Clerk
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