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City Council Minutes 05/04/2009 Regular Meeting
PUBLIC HEARING – May 4, 2009

Resolution 2009-17 authorizing the sale of 411 School Street

Mayor Bertrand opened and called to order the duly advertised and scheduled public hearing at approximately 7:40 pm. to accept public comments.  

Andre Caron, Housing Coordinator, urged Council to pass the resolution.  It is a key piece to neighborhood revitalization in that area and would be a shot in the arm for Berlin.

Dana Willis, potential developer of that site, encouraged Council to consider this as a benefit to the community.  All care will be given to keep the nostalgic facets of the building.

Lorraine Leclerc, 556 Western Avenue, urged Council to pass the resolution since it is the best thing ever to have a developer interested in the property.  

There being no one else wishing to speak for or against the subject matter, Mayor Bertrand closed the public hearing at approximately 7:44 p.m.  The Work Session was resumed at this time.

REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING – MAY 4, 2009
Mayor Bertrand called the regular City Council Meeting to order at approximately 7:46 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall.~ The pledge of allegiance to the flag preceded roll call.  Present: Councilors Remillard, McCue, Lafleur, Evans, Goudreau, Cayer and Poulin.  Councilor Donovan was absent.  Also present: City Manager MacQueen, Andre Caron, citizens and the press.

Minutes, Previous Meetings   
Councilor Evan moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to accept the minutes of the 04/20/09 WS; 4/20/09 Regular Meeting and 4/27/09 WS.  So moved, the motion carried.

Disbursements:
It was recommended by the Committee on Accounts/Claims that all bills start date 4/23/09–5/06/2009 total cash disbursement of $1,275,372.85 Draft #1590.~ Councilor Goudreau moved with a second by Councilor Poulin 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.  Safety Committee Report.
Mayor Bertrand read the recommendations made at the 4/20 and 4/27 Safety Committee Meetings:
a) Handicap Parking in front of 240 School Street.  Draft an ordinance to allow.
b) Parking in front of funeral cones.  No further action to be taken on this matter.
c) Planning Board request for review of Traffic issue at 1203 Main Street.  Draft an ordinance for no parking between 1203 and 1207 Main Street.

  • 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.     (tabled 4/20/09)  Resolved by the City Council of the City of Berlin as Follows:
  • WHEREAS, the City of Berlin took ownership of 411 School Street (Map 128, Lot 160), and the lot adjacent to it (Map 128, Lot 159) by tax deed in June of 2000; and
  • WHEREAS, the City of Berlin took ownership of 412 School Street (Map 128, Lot 188) by tax deed in August 2007 and 28 Spring Street (Map 128, Lot 157) by tax deed in April 2007; and
  • WHEREAS, for 411 School Street the City has had identified through Phase I and II Environmental Reviews contaminants such as lead and asbestos on the property which have to be dealt with appropriately; and
  • WHEREAS, the City is the only possible recipient of EPA funds for the cleanup of these contaminants which will occur prior to the transfer of 411 School Street; and
  • WHEREAS, the City has been engaged in the cleanup of this property over several years in an attempt to make it marketable where it could be purchased by an interested developer and turned into something positive for the neighborhood and the entire community; and  
  • WHEREAS, Dana V. Willis of 47 Commercial Street, Boscawen, New Hampshire 03303 and James N. Tamposi Jr. with a principal place of business of 91 Amherst Street, Nashua, New Hampshire 03064 or a new limited liability company when formed by them, or their designee have offered to purchase the properties for $12, 501.00 (which is $12,500.00 for 412 School St. and $1.00 for the other three properties) and the commitment that they will rehabilitate and demolish select properties in order to remodel the school building into an assisted-living complex; and
  • WHEREAS, it has been determined that the public interest is best served by this sale of the properties for these purposes.  NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Mayor and Council of the City of Berlin that they hereby authorize the City Manager to sign a purchase and sale agreement similar to the one attached but subject to a final legal review by the City’s attorney  and do all things necessary to effectuate this sale including executing the quitclaim deeds for the sale of 411 School Street (Map 128, Lot 160), 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 the amount of $12,501.00.  This resolution shall be in full force and effect from and after passage.
-Councilor Lafleur moved with a second by Councilor McCue to remove the resolution from the table at this time.  So moved, the motion carried.
-Councilor Lafleur moved with a second by Councilor McCue to have the resolution read a second time by short title only.  So moved, the motion carried.
-Councilor Lafleur moved with a second by Councilor McCue to pass the resolution.  Roll call resulted in unanimous affirmative votes of Council including Mayor Bertrand who declared the resolution now passed.  

NEW BUSINESS

3.      Ordinance 2009-04 Amending the Code of Ordinances, Chapter 15Traffic & Vehicles, Article III. Stopping, Standing and Parking, Sec.15-79. Parking spaces reserved for the disabled. (240 School St.) (1st read)
Councilor Evans moved to change the ordinance to read one space instead of two.  There was no second to the motion.  The motion failed.

Councilor McCue moved with a second by Councilor Lafleur to table the ordinance and schedule a public hearing on May 18, 2009.  So moved, the motion carried.

4.      Ordinance 2009-05 Amending the Code of Ordinances, Chapter 15Traffic & Vehicles, Article III.  Stopping, Standing & Parking Sec.15-69  Prohibited at all times in designated places.(1203-1207 Main St) (1st read)
- Councilor McCue is concerned about the size of the lot and the sidelines.  There are no set boundaries.
- Mayor Bertrand added that traffic pulling out of that driveway going north will have a problem.  He suggests placing a traffic sign for right turn only.
- Councilor Goudreau is concerned with the size of the lot and the fact that it is a highly congested area with a slight curve.  The ordinance would prevent homeowners from parking in front of their own homes.  
- Councilor McCue replied that 1203 is presently vacant and 1207 has issues with privacy but that area is in the business/general zone.
- Councilor Remillard encourages small businesses to open and moved with a second by Councilor McCue to table the ordinance and schedule a public hearing on May 18.  All votes in the affirmative with the exception of Councilor Goudreau who voted no.

5.      Resolution 2009-18 Accepting a grant from the Neil and Louise Tillotson Fund of the NH Charitable Foundation in the amount of Five Hundred Dollars and appropriating such funds to RiverFire. (1st read)
Councilor Lafleur moved with a second by Councilor Remillard to table the resolution and schedule a public hearing on May 18.  So moved, the motion carried.

6.                                      Resolution 2009-19Appropriating the sum of $4,260.00 to the Police Department for the purpose of effectuating the Berlin SMART Radar Trailer Grant awarded by the NH Highway Safety Agency.  (1st read)
Councilor Goudreau moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to table the resolution and schedule a public hearing on May 18, 2009.  So moved, the motion carried.

7.      Resolution 2009-20: Appropriating the sum of$1,746.77 to the Berlin Police Department for the purpose of effectuating the DWI Hunter Patrols Grant.  (1st read)
Councilor Poulin moved with a second by Councilor Cayer to table the resolution and schedule a public hearing on May 18, 2009.  So moved, the motion carried.

8.      Resolution 2009-21: Authorizing and providing for the incurrence of indebtedness and acceptance of a grant for the purpose of providing a portion of the cost of consultant services to provide best design solutions, competitive budding, and making improvements to its water supply system facility at Godfrey Dam to serve an area lawfully within its jurisdiction to serve.   (1st read)
Councilor Lafleur moved with a second by Councilor McCue to table the resolution and schedule a public hearing on May 18.  So moved, the motion carried.

9.      Councilor Donovan Letter of Resignation
Councilor Donovan submitted his resignation from the Ward 1 Council position effective 4/28/09.  Councilor Evans moved with a second by Councilor McCue to accept the resignation with regret, to send Councilor Donovan recognition for his years of service and to have the City Clerk advertise to fill the unexpired term.  So moved, the motion carried.  Councilor Goudreau added that Councilor Donovan was the historian for the group, more or less taught them the “ropes” and is sad to see him go.

10.     Pleasant Street Noise Complaint Communication
Fran Buteau, 286 Pleasant Street, wrote that there was an extremely loud concert on April 24 at the Big Scoop building which abuts her property.  She asked the Mayor and Council for some type of resolve to this problem before it continues throughout the summer.  

At the Work Session it was decided that staff will be asked to look at the codes to see if there is anything on the books for enforcement purposes.  A letter will be sent to the concert organizers asking them to cooperate and follow city codes.  

Councilor Lafleur moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to accept the letter and place it on file. So moved, the motion carried.

11.     City Manager’s Report
Swine Flu
In spite of still being technically 'at home,' Laura Viger and her assistants in the Health Department have kept Berlin very much in the middle of all the planning going on in preparation for whatever may develop with the national swine flu concern. There is ongoing communication in the region and with the state by email and conference call in preparation for all the various matters that will need to be taken care of if the flu becomes more serious in this area.

Trails Project Approved for Funding
We have received word that our application to DRED for some trails funding has been approved in the amount of $25,000 with a local in-kind match of $6,250. This should give our local trails groups some money to work with in its efforts to improve our local trails system through the City.

RSA 155B Orders and Meeting with Kandel and Woelfsjaeger
Contrary to what I previously indicated, the status of the RSA 155-B's with respect to the burnt out properties (74-80 and 90-92 Main Street) on Main Street in downtown is that we have just reached the stage where the Chief is asking the court to enforce the order brought by the Mayor and Council. The Order was signed by the Mayor and Council on March 30, 2009. April 28th was deadline for the respondent to contact the Chief with a disposal and/or razing plan. Since no answer was received, the Chief has conducted the required inspection and now is the process of asking the Court to enforce the orders. If awarded this enforcement judgment, the City will be able to enforce the order sixty (60) days after the award. If the order stands uncontested it will take about 70 days from the award to be able to move forward. If the order is contested, then it is hard to predict the amount of time necessary.

In any event, a meeting was held with Mr. Kandel and one of his partners a Mr. Woelfsjaeger on Tuesday April 21st at his request to go over the situation with the insurer to see what possibilities might exist. The City was represented by Chief Trull, Andre Caron and me. Mr. Kandel was advised that the City is proceeding with its RSA 155B order and that it intended to proceed with that order in spite of any discussions occurring at this meeting. The insurance company for Kandel on 90-92 Main Street Great Western was represented by Adjuster Larry Lombardi. There was a good deal of discussion about the amount of insurance money available from the company for demo and cleanup of 90-92 Main Street. This amount is between $30k and $40k for 90-92 Main only. Depending on the environmental condition of the properties, the clean up could run anywhere from the $40-$50k range to the $100k range. Because of this it was felt that getting an environmental going on this made sense and the insurance company agreed to pay for part or most of this review. If it turns out that the properties are clean (pretty unlikely), then it might make sense to move forward and clean up the property simply with the insurance proceeds. If the properties are not clean, then the cleanup will likely be much more expensive and probably require going the full RSA 155B route.

Notices to Quit  
The Fire Chief has ordered the following building vacated due to continuing Life Safety Code violations:
95 Mason Street (total vacate); 522 School Street (total vacate); 575 Champlain Street, Apts 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 with apts. 1 & 2 remaining occupied.

Meeting with Laura Simoes of Senator Shaheen's Office
On Wednesday April 29th, Mayor Bertrand, Pam Laflamme and I met with Laura Simoes of Senator Shaheen's office to review the various matters Berlin is engaged with ranging from the Rt. 110 Phase II project and the issues surrounding that with the State and Federal government to our discussion with the Federal Prison over connecting them to City sewer.

Saturday Fires
There were two fires on Saturday.  One was a shed and the other was a multi-family dwelling at 790 Third Ave. This latter is a recently vacated structure and the cause of the fire is still under investigation. The crew that was working that night did an excellent job containing the damage. The interior stairwell sustained minor damage.

National Fire Academy Class
On April 18 and 19th, the Fire Department hosted a National Fire Academy Class titled "Preparation for Initial Company Operations". The Class was held at the WMCC. 28 FF's from municipalities all over the state participated.

WMCC Ribbon Cutting
On Thursday April 23rd, the White Mountain Community College held a ribbon cutting and celebratory dinner to commemorate all the new improvements and addition to the college's facilities. President Kathy Eneguess provided a review of the college's current program and future plans. The improvements are quite impressive and provide a feeling of both warmth and newness to the facility. The center piece of all the new improvements is the student lounge which includes facilities all designed to encourage students to meet and get to know each other and create more of a connection among all the students.
Legislative Matters
As pointed out at a recent budget session, the cut of revenue sharing in the State budget will affect very negatively next year's budget ($1.1M revenue reduction), it also reduces this year's budget revenues by about $475K. This is because Revenue Sharing payments made on July 1, have always been treated as a receivable in the previous fiscal year budget. Because of this, it will be very difficult to end the year with any operating surplus on the City side as that whole loss has to be made up before any surplus could accrue. Obviously, an operating deficit will further reduce the City's current Undesignated Fund Balance of $822M. We had hoped this year that any operating surplus would be added to the UFB as it routinely should be in order to get it up to at least the Council's goal of the minimum 5% of appropriations (the way the state figures it) or about $1.1M. It does not look like that will be able to happen this year.

It should also be noted that even though Rooms and Meals appears to be re-instated in the state budget ($440K in our case), that amount may be reduced by about 1% in each year of the state budget biennium because of a House footnote at the back of the budget to make it balance.

The New Hampshire Municipal Association is supporting the House version (HB2 vs. the Governor's) because the House version includes a $.05 increase in the gas tax for each of the next three years which would yield increase in municipal Highway block grant funding in the future. This would go a small distance toward restoring some of the recent cuts in state revenue sharing.

There are a series of retirement bills to be heard tomorrow before the Senate Executive Departments and Administration Committee in LOB Room 101. These include HB 420 relating to Group II accidental disability retirement allowance, HB 532 which would exclude private duty pay from earnable compensation, HB 590 which would increase the Group II retirement age from 45 to 50 and the years of service from 20 to 25 for new hires after July 1, 2009, and HB 641 which relates to the so-called spiking provisions and how employers have to pay for it.

HB 121 is a so-called Revenue Enhancement Bill for municipalities. This bill would establish a study commission to examine "potential revenue enhancements" for municipalities which face demands for services which are disproportionate to their populations. Since "Home Rule" does not exist in New Hampshire, municipalities are not free to create their own revenue laws, but must instead rely on whatever the state devises in its laws.

Truck Route Signage
The old truck route signs are pretty well down and the new ones are pretty much up. Now the PWD and the PD will be embarking on an education program with temporary signs and such to educate the truck to the new route before actual enforcement begins.

Public Works Report
Attached.

Manager's Report
Attached.

Councilor McCue asked about the 155B order on Main Street and if it would be in effect by June 4.  If not, could the front part, at the very least, be taken down?

Councilor Cayer thanked the City Manager for his legislative report which helps people to know that the State budget cuts affect the city and its budget as well.  It helps to put things in perspective.

Mayor Bertrand agrees a report should be drafted that shows the numbers that are specifically impacted by the state budget cuts to inform the citizens that the Council has no control over those numbers.
Mayor Bertrand discussed the new truck route signage and would like to get the word out about the route to the Police Department for enforcement purposes and to reach out to businesses affected by the truck route changes.  He asked staff to draft a list of the new routes to give to the press for coverage.

Councilor McCue inquired about the 137 York Street web site complaint.

The Mayor forwarded the matter to the Water Works.

City Manager MacQueen asked the Public Works Department to work with the Water Works to stockpile gravel across from Granite Street.  The Water Works met with the tenants and not Mr. Edwards himself.

Councilor Lafleur moved with a second by Councilor Evans to accept the City Manager’s report and place it on file.  So moved, the motion carried.

12.      PUBLIC COMMENTS   No Comments

13.     COUNCIL COMMENTS

Councilor Remillard asked if there is any ordinance on the books that covers memorials set up at accident locations on streets and poles.

It was decided that this matter will be discussed at a future work session after the budget is done.

14.     Mayor’s Report
 Safety Committee Chair: Mayor Bertrand asked Councilor Evans to serve as chair and asked Councilor Remillard to fill the Ward 1 Safety Committee vacancy.  Both agreed to do so.

The Mayor proceeded to read a 1936 Berlin Reporter Article submitted by Walter Nadeau.  A copy of the article is available for public review on the city website:  www.berlinnh.gov under news.  The article resembles the situation faced by Council regarding Laidlaw and the biomass site.  Our forefathers had a similar dilemma with the YMCA building site back in 1939.  History seems to repeat itself.   

Councilor Evans moved with a second by Councilor McCue to accept the Mayor’s oral report and place it on file.  So moved, the motion carried.  

15.     Adjournment:
There being no further business to come before Council at this time, Councilor Cayer moved with a second by Councilor Poulin to adjourn the meeting.  So moved, Mayor Bertrand declared the Regular Meeting adjourned at approximately 9:02 p.m.

A True Record, Attest:
Debra A. Patrick, CMC
City Clerk